174 



BIRD STUDIES WITH A CAMERA 



wind drove the waves to the rock-set base of our 

 islet with terrific force, making landing or departure 

 out of the question. We had come just in time. 

 The light prohibited successful photography, and 

 the day was devoted to collecting and preserving 

 specimens and exploring the Rock. 



We had arrived in the height of the nesting sea- 

 son, all of the seven species breeding on the Rock 

 having eggs and young in various stages of develop- 

 ment. It was evident, however, that the number of 

 eggs and young was small as compared with the 

 number of adults, a condition which was explained 

 by Captain Bourque's statement, that he thought 

 about five thousand eggs had been taken from the 

 Rock by fishermen that year. These were the eggs 



of Murres and Razor- 

 bills, the former being 

 the most abundant 

 birds on the Rock. 

 Both the Common 

 and Brlinnich's Murre 

 were present, but I am 

 unable to say which 

 was the more numer- 

 ous. There were also a 

 few of the singular, so- 

 called "Ringed" Mur- 

 res,*' a bird whose 

 standing is in doubt, 

 some ornithologists regarding it as a distinct spe- 

 cies, others as an individual variety. 



Both species of Murre laid their single peculiarly 

 marked eggs on the bare shelves or ledges in the 



