62 



We journeyed on, climbing up through the spruces, where 

 we saw numerous Fox Sparrows, Black-poll Warblers, and Red- 

 starts. In a moss-grown spruce a tiny Kinglet was seen with a 

 piece of moss as large as itself. The material was probably 

 intended for a near-by nest. 



As we were going through a little swamp on the hillside, sur- 

 rounded by alders and overgrown with , patches of grass and 

 rosebushes, Mr. Wilcox flushed a Wilson's Snipe. After a 

 search of half an hour or so, we found its four eggs resting 

 directly on the dried grass, with no semblance of a nest. The 

 eggs were green, heavily marked with brown, and were arranged 

 with the points close together. Focusing the camera on the 

 nest, I retired for half an hour, and then, sneaking carefully 

 back through the alders, pulled the cord attached to the shutter. 

 Although the bird seemed to jump from the nest, she did not, 

 unfortunately, appear on the developed plate. As I subse- 

 quently learned in watching others of the family. Shore Birds 

 come back to their nests in a very circumspect manner, and do 

 a good deal of walking about before they settle down on their 

 eggs. In this case I was a little too hasty in pulling the string. 



On the way back to the house we also found our first nest of 

 the Savannah Sparrow, a typical bird of the island, which is 

 seen in almost every locality. During our stay we accidentally 

 stumbled on half a dozen nests. The usual complement of 

 eggs was five. 



The next morning (June 17) dawned cold and clear. After 

 our usual breakfast of cold porridge, without cream or sugar, 

 and the inevitable pot of tea, we packed our traps in Quinn's 

 one-horse shay, and started on an eight-mile walk to the track- 

 less wastes of East Point. On our way down we passed the 

 tremendous headland. East Cape, which rises precipitously 

 to a height of two hundred feet above the surrounding beach 

 and swamp, and is one of the landmarks of the islands. Here 

 the Northern Raven breeds in security; it was now, how- 

 ever, long past the time for nesting, which takes place early in 

 April. 



We also stopped at a large reed-grown pond, known as Head- 

 of-the-Bay Pond, where we saw several pairs of Horned Grebes 



