THE OOLOQIST '^^^ C"^^ , ^Xl 



133 



cality is one seldom visited in sum- 

 mer, as the lake affords no fishing, 



One day in spring, May 19, 1913, to 

 be exact, started out to visit this 

 remote region; and after a fifteen 

 mile journey, the last four miles of 

 which was made in the company of 

 several million of black files, finally 

 arrived at the shore of the lake. 



About twenty or more gulls were 

 flying overhead, sweeping about in 

 wide circles. The rocks chosen as 

 nesting sites were, naturally, far from 

 shore; so the first necessity was to 

 build some form of raft, a conting- 

 ency which I had anticipated. After 

 much strenuous labor in the hot sun, 

 I at last evolved something which re- 

 sembled a raft, until I board it, when 

 with disconcerting suddenness it im- 

 mediately took on the characteristics 

 of a submarine. Upon this perilous 

 craft, however, I embarked, armed 

 with a twenty foot pole; and soon, 

 more by good luck than good seaman- 

 ship, I touched at several boulders, 

 each of which contained a nest with 

 eggs, two or three in number. By this 

 time the Gulls had begun to gather in 

 large numbers, and soon nearly a hun- 

 dred were fiying about high above me. 



As I headed for one of the small 

 islands, about two hundred yards 

 from shore, I was surprised to see 

 what appeared to be a lone Gull 

 perched on the shore, which did not 

 fiy or give any other sign of alarm as 

 I approached. Knowing the exceed- 

 ing wariness of this bird at all times, 

 I at once knew that something was 

 wrong; and drawing nearer to shore, 

 I saw that it was dead. 



I was puzzled to account for this 

 tragedy occuring as it had, in such 

 an unfrequented spot. I discovered 

 that it had been dead some weeks, 

 and also that one leg was missing, 

 having been severed first below the 

 feathers. The next moment, however, 



the mystery was explained, all too 

 clearly. A few feet from the bird's 

 body, fastened to a long stout pole, 

 was an otter trap and in its serrated 

 jaws was the missing member, broken 

 off by the bird in its agonized efforts 

 to escape. Evidently it had been too 

 much exhausted by the struggle to 

 be able to fly, even after its liberty 

 had been so dearly gained. Close at 

 hand was a deserted nest, containing 

 three broken eggs. 



Indignant at the thoughtlessness 

 which had left this menace for the un- 

 suspecting spring arrivals, I lost no 

 time in flinging the trap into the lake. 

 But this was not the worst. A few 

 yards further on I spied another trap, 

 also sprung; and in the jaws of this 

 one I was shocked to discover the 

 beak of a Gull which had been cut off 

 close to the head. The fate of this 

 poor sufferer I could only imagine, — 

 a lingering death from starvation, no 

 doubt. No trace of it was to be seen. 

 This trap joined its predecessor in the 

 lake and my mental reflections as to 

 the perpetrator of these crimes could 

 scarcely be set down in cold print. 



After visiting several other nesting 

 sites I steered back to my landing 

 place. Altogether, I visited about 

 twenty nests, the sets from five of 

 which I collected. I tried, but with- 

 out success, to discover the identity 

 of the trapper responsible for this out- 

 rage; but I like to think that the early 

 breaking up of the lake ice had forced 

 him to leave them there. 



Robie W. Tufts. 

 Wolfville, Nova Scotia. 



Relaxing Dry Bird Skins. 



In relaxing dry bird skins for 

 mounting, I have found that instead of 

 using a box lined with plaster-of-paris, 

 or wet sawdust, etc., as recommended 

 in books on Taxidermy, that the fol- 

 lowing method will be found much 



