70 



There used to be a tiny strip of beach where the boats landed, 

 but recently the British Government has built a stout pier there, 

 and in place of the crane and crate which aided visitors to the 

 top of the rock, one now finds a flight of steps; and for his 

 baggage a little car is hauled up and down on rails laid in a 

 great cut blasted out of the soHd cliff-side. So, in the calm of 

 a perfect June evening, we laid our craft across the end of the 

 wharf, — a feat which, according to Prest, had never before 

 been accomplished, and of which he was mightily proud, — and 

 disembarked, eager to see for ourselves the wonders of which 

 we had heard and read so much. With two young French 

 Canadians, assistant light keepers, we soon reached several 

 of the more easily accessible ledges, and secured a complete 

 representation of the eggs of all the species of birds which nest 

 on the rock, before the welcome sound of a dinner bell sum- 

 moned us. The head light keeper, Winnie Bourque, was away 

 when we landed, but his wife and niece and the two young men 

 made us very welcome. After a dinner to which we did full 

 justice, we began to prepare and blow the eggs which we had 

 taken, and to load the plate-holders for the morning's work. 

 Our task was not completed until well after midnight, when 

 we turned in, as tired a pair of ornithologists as one can well 

 imagine. 



We were out bright and early the next morning, and with 

 collecting bag and camera were soon scrambling and crawling 

 over the ledges on the northwest face of the cliff, where the 

 Gannets were most numerous. There they sat row upon row, 

 their white plumage and black-tipped wings making a striking 

 contrast to the gray rock walls about them. They were so tame 

 that we could almost touch them. Their nests were placed 

 thickly along the ledges or on jutting spurs of rock. They were 

 merely masses of seaweed and kelp, but in some a few feathers 

 were added. In the hollow of each lay a single egg. 



The Kittiwakes, too, frequented this part of the rock, but 

 owing to their habit of fastening their nests on small projections 

 on a perpendicular cliff, it was extremely difficult either to 

 photograph them or to collect their eggs. We succeeded, how- 

 ever, in locating a small group which we were able to photograph 

 at fairly close range. 



