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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



PIOUEROS COVERING THEIR YOUNG: GUANAPE ISLANDS 



The piqueros are the most abundant of Peru's sea-fowl and would rank first among 

 guano-producers were it not for the fact that they build their nests on cliffs and in places 

 inaccessible to gur.no-gatherers. 



time — the white-breast cormorant (gua- 

 nay), the big gray pelican (alcatraz) , 

 and the white-head gannet (piquero). 



"the guano bird" 



Of less present significance are the 

 cave-dwelling penguin and the small div- 

 ing and burrowing petrel, the latter flying 

 back and forth by night from the high 

 seas to their subterranean homes. All 

 the birds, however, so far as they use the 

 islands for breeding or for resting, con- 

 tribute in some measure to the general 

 supply of guano. 



Three species of cormorant are nu- 

 merous on the mainland coast and islands 

 of Peru. They are pronouncedly distinct 

 in plumage and in habit and of equal in- 

 terest to the naturalist, but only one is of 

 particular economic significance. The 

 white-breast cormorant is the most im- 

 portant guano - producing bird of the 

 coast, and the native Peruvians, having 

 long recognized it as such, have called it 

 guanax, meaning, apparentlv, "the guano 

 bird."" 



Strangely enough, many writers have 

 not recognized this bird as the principal 



