WAPITAGUN 



to a few years ago they were to be counted by 

 hundreds. Among the few birds that flew off 

 from the cliffs at our approach, only one dis- 

 played the white markings about the neck 

 which showed it to be a common cormorant, 

 and not the double-crested kind that is so 

 much the more common here. The common 

 cormorants were really common in Audubon's 

 day. 



We found that the double-crested cormo- 

 rant had taken refuge on the islands, for on 

 landing on Gull Island off the cape we dis- 

 covered that these birds were even more nu- 

 merous than at lie au Large. How quickly birds 

 respond to treatment, good or bad! The sound 

 of a gun, no matter how distant, inspires terror 

 in all the birds within earshot, and the mere 

 appearance of a man, who is associated in 

 the bird's mind with the noise of a gun and 

 the accompanying pain and destruction, often 

 causes the same terror. On the other hand, 

 we found on these islands that if we moved 

 about slowly and carefully, fired no guns, and 

 avoided disturbing the birds in any way, they 

 soon got used to us and remained on their nests 

 or eggs. Cormorants are more timid than 



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