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 Brtinnich’s Murre 
were present, but I am 
unable to say which 
was the more numet- 
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 
89. Murre’s egg. 
