CONSERVATION OF THE EmER 



and sometimes making a gentle use of their 

 bills to remove our hands." 



Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway quote from 

 C. W. Shepard, as follows: "The islands of 

 Vigr and Oldey are their headquarters in the 

 northwest of Iceland. In these they live in 

 undisturbed tranquillity. They have become 

 almost domesticated, and are found in vast 

 multitudes, as their young remain and breed 

 in the place of their birth. As the island (Vigr) 

 was approached, we could see flocks upon flocks 

 of the sacred birds, and could hear them coo- 

 ing at a great distance. We landed on a rocky, 

 wave-worn shore. It was the most wonderful 

 ornithological sight conceivable. The Ducks 

 and their nests were everywhere. Great, brown 

 Ducks sat upon their nests in masses, and at 

 every step started from under our feet. It was 

 with difficulty that we avoided treading on 

 some of the nests. On the coast of the oppo- 

 site shore was a wall built of large stones, just 

 above the high-water level, about three feet 

 in height, and of considerable thickness. At the 

 bottom, on both sides of it, alternate stones 

 had been left out, so as to form a series of 

 square compartments for the Ducks to nest in. 

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