46 Bird - Lore 



rapid and erratic tide had swept us by; instead of twelve miles we had 

 run an unlucky thirteen, and back we turned, into the retreating fog, 

 which, rolling up before us, left Walrus Island not only perceptible to the 

 eye but, as we passed to leeward a quarter of a mile away, decidedly per- 

 ceptible to our noses. 



Nature has considerately furnished two landing places, very excellent 

 ones, too, provided the sea be smooth and the wind in the right direction ; 

 and we came to anchor off the most picturesque of these, a little steep - 

 walled cove, on one side of which it was possible to climb out upon a stone 

 quay. The cautious Burgomaster Gulls were circling high overhead with 

 wailing cries long before we reached land, and some of the Kittiwakes and 

 a few of the most nervous Arries deserted their nests or eggs, as the case 

 might be, as we drew near; but the bulk of the bird popvilation declined 

 to budge until we had landed and were close upon them. This bulk con- 

 sisted of thousands of the Pacific Murre ( Uria lomvia arra) , occupying 

 the cliffs and angular rocks of the southern and western portion of the 

 island, where their many-colored eggs lay thickly scattered about. Mr. 

 William Palmer notes that at the time of his visit in 1890 these birds were 

 mostly on the western side, while on the east and south were the legions 

 of the California Murre {Uria troile californica) , but no such striking 

 peculiarity of distribution was noticed by our party, nor were the California 

 Murres much in evidence. 



It had often been a matter of wonderment how any given member of a 

 great bird colony could find its own particular egg among the hundreds 

 available for a choice, and the behavior of returning Arries was watched 

 with no little interest. If one might judge by their directness of flight as 

 they came whirring in from sea, the birds had a good bump of locality and 

 a pretty clear idea of the whereabouts of their respective eggs. It has 

 been suggested that these birds do not of necessity get each its own egg, 

 but that often an egg is chosen because it seems convenient. Such, how- 

 ever, did not seem to be the case with the Arries. On the contrary, there 

 seemed to be a very definite selective process, for a bird would alight, cock 

 its head on one side, waddle a step or two, cast another knowing look 

 about, and after a few such trials apparently find an egg that seemed satis- 

 factory and settle contentedly down upon it. May it not be that the 

 wonderful variation in the color of the eggs, a variation that is most striking 

 when seen in nature, enables each bird to find its own with ease? Another 

 suggestion in regard to the eggs of Murres is that the very pale eggs (and 

 some are absolutely devoid of markings) are the later layings of birds whose 

 earlier eggs have been destroyed, and this suggestion seems very plausible. 



The Kittiwakes {Rissa brevirostris and R. tridactyla pollicaris) were 

 mostly confined to the ledges of rock about the landing place, but the 

 Burgomasters occupied the higher central portion of the islet where the 



