BIRD ROCK 173 



of buildings witli tiieir inhabitants, I seemed to have 

 been in another sphere. 



My oljject in visiting Bird Rock was not only to 

 secure pictures of its bird life, but a certain number 

 of birds for the American Museum of Natural His- 

 tory, where it is proposed to represent a portion of 

 the Rock with its tenants. Diiring my absence in 

 the world of birds my good assistant had turned one 

 of the supply houses into a laboratory, and was 

 already at work prei^aring specimens with which 

 the active Shelbourne and attentive keepers had 

 plentifully supplied her. 



A gun was necessary only in securing Gannets 

 and Kittiwakes, tlie Murres aud Razorbills being- 

 caught in a dip-net by the keepers ; one of whom, 

 having a rope about his waist which was held by his 

 associate, advanced to the edge of the cliff or "cape," 

 as it is termed locally, and looked cautiously over in 

 quest of the birds resting on the ledges immediately 

 below. Having learned their i)Osition the net was 

 thrust quickly downward, and the birds, in attempt- 

 ing to escape, often flew directly into it and became 

 entangled in its meshes. Puffins were captured on 

 their nests in crevices in the face of the Rock or in 

 the holes they had burrowed in the earth on the 

 top. The latter were sometimes shared with Leach's 

 Petrel, who also occupied small burrows of their 

 own. 



The schooner had dropped anchor near the Rock, 

 but the wind increasing in strength. Captain Taker 

 set sail for the lee of Bryon, and at midnight, when 

 we concluded our day's work, there was a promise of 

 a stormy morrow, which daylight fulfilled. The 



