Ocean Wanderers 



forth. As at our " Expositions," different classes or 

 nationalities have their " day," so off^ on the sea, 

 perhaps for purposes of exposition to the ornithol- 

 ogist kindly furnished by Providence, different kinds 

 of birds have theirs. Usually the Greater Shear- 

 water is the abundant " Haglet," outnumbering 

 their dark-hued relative twenty to one. But now 

 and then conies a " Sooty day," when the order is 

 almost reversed, though the disproportion is seldom 



"b 



ipropc 



as great. Perhaps there is a " colour-line " among 

 the Shearwaters, so that when the "coloured" Hags 

 in large numbers invade the " Crab Ledge," most 

 of the lighter-coloured aristocrats manage to find 

 more congenial marine pastures elsewhere. At 

 times in August we are treated to a " Phalarope 

 day," when rafts of these dainty little creatures dot 

 the water far off" shore. 



But, of all these special occasions, I know none 

 more entertaining than " Jaeger day " at this great 

 marine exposition of Nature. One such that I 

 shall ever remember was the 26th of August, 

 four years ago. Long before we reached " Crab 

 Ledge" I knew it was " Jaeger dav," for the great 

 dark fellows were everywhere about, chasing the 

 Terns and Bonaparte's Gulls in their savage fashion. 

 And what a strange fashion it is ! If a Tern or 

 small Gull happens near a Jaeger, there is almost 

 certainly trouble in store. The latter gives chase. 

 The pursued makes every effort :o escape. Bat the 

 Jaeger, — well named he is, " hunter," — is the better 

 ffier. With savage swoops, he strikes his little 

 white cousin from this direction and from that. 

 Mounting in the air is of no avail. So at last, in 



115 



