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  THE 
  NATIONAL 
  GEOGRAPHIC 
  MAGAZINE 
  

  

  A 
  BLUF.-EYED 
  SHAG 
  ON 
  ITS 
  NEST 
  

  

  The 
  shag 
  belongs 
  to 
  a 
  widely 
  distributed 
  Antarctic 
  branch 
  of 
  the 
  cormorant 
  family. 
  

   The 
  courtship 
  of 
  the 
  shags 
  goes 
  on 
  while 
  the 
  nest 
  is 
  building. 
  Standing 
  cheek 
  to 
  cheek, 
  they 
  

   bow 
  their 
  heads 
  and 
  twist 
  their 
  necks; 
  then 
  the 
  male 
  bird 
  launches 
  off 
  on 
  a 
  short 
  ecstatic 
  

   flight 
  and 
  returns 
  to 
  resume 
  the 
  love 
  dance. 
  

  

  defense 
  during 
  the 
  breeding 
  season. 
  In 
  

   the 
  course 
  of 
  my 
  observations 
  I 
  came 
  to 
  

   recognize 
  five 
  distinct 
  methods, 
  one 
  or 
  

   more 
  of 
  which 
  is 
  adhered 
  to 
  by 
  each 
  

   species. 
  

  

  The 
  penguins, 
  albatrosses, 
  giant 
  petrel, 
  

   shag, 
  kelp 
  gull, 
  and 
  tern 
  all 
  nest 
  in 
  the 
  

   open, 
  but 
  these 
  birds 
  are 
  singly, 
  or 
  at 
  any 
  

   rate 
  in 
  pairs, 
  more 
  than 
  a 
  match 
  for 
  the 
  

   skua. 
  The 
  eggs 
  and 
  young 
  of 
  the 
  gull 
  

   and 
  tern 
  are 
  additionally 
  protected 
  by 
  

   their 
  obliterative 
  coloration. 
  Conceal- 
  

   ment 
  of 
  the 
  nest 
  in 
  the 
  thick 
  grass 
  is 
  the 
  

   defense 
  of 
  the 
  titlark, 
  teal, 
  and 
  goose. 
  

  

  The 
  teal 
  is, 
  moreover, 
  a 
  master 
  at 
  de- 
  

   ceit, 
  contriving 
  by 
  feigned 
  lameness 
  to 
  

   lure 
  enemies 
  from 
  the 
  vicinity 
  of 
  its 
  

   family, 
  while 
  the 
  young 
  ducklings 
  dis- 
  

   appear 
  as 
  if 
  by 
  magic 
  among 
  the 
  tussock 
  

   hummocks. 
  

  

  The 
  remaining 
  birds 
  render 
  their 
  nests 
  

   inaccessible 
  by 
  building 
  them 
  in 
  clefts 
  of 
  

   the 
  rock 
  or 
  in 
  burrows. 
  The 
  sheathbill 
  

   and 
  the 
  "Cape 
  pigeon" 
  (Daption), 
  for 
  in- 
  

   stance, 
  are 
  cleft-dwellers; 
  the 
  other 
  spe- 
  

   < 
  ies, 
  including 
  whale-birds, 
  divers, 
  and 
  

  

  Mother 
  Carey's 
  chickens, 
  are 
  burrowers. 
  

  

  The 
  colonies 
  of 
  subterranean 
  breeders 
  

   supply 
  most 
  of 
  the 
  music 
  of 
  South 
  

   Georgia, 
  for 
  at 
  night 
  the 
  incubating 
  birds 
  

   pipe 
  up 
  in 
  a 
  tinkling 
  chorus 
  which 
  often 
  

   can 
  be 
  heard 
  far 
  out 
  over 
  the 
  fjords. 
  

   Some 
  of 
  the 
  smaller 
  species 
  of 
  these 
  bur- 
  

   rowers, 
  especially 
  the 
  divers 
  (Peleca- 
  

   noidcs) 
  and 
  the 
  whale-birds 
  (Prion), 
  dare 
  

   not 
  come 
  out 
  of 
  their 
  holes 
  except 
  under 
  

   cover 
  of 
  darkness, 
  but 
  the 
  skuas 
  never- 
  

   theless 
  succeed 
  in 
  capturing 
  thousands 
  

   upon 
  thousands 
  of 
  those 
  unfortunates 
  

   which 
  chance 
  to 
  be 
  a 
  few 
  fatal 
  moments 
  

   late 
  in 
  getting 
  back 
  from 
  sea 
  in 
  the 
  early 
  

   dawn. 
  

  

  The 
  ground 
  over 
  a 
  whale-bird 
  colony 
  is 
  

   always 
  strewn 
  with 
  acres 
  of 
  dismembered 
  

   bodies 
  of 
  victims. 
  Despite 
  this 
  destruc- 
  

   tion, 
  however, 
  and 
  despite 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  

   these 
  birds 
  lay 
  only 
  a 
  single 
  egg, 
  the 
  

   whale-bird 
  myriads 
  seen 
  over 
  the 
  neigh- 
  

   boring 
  ocean 
  are 
  like 
  the 
  old 
  flights 
  of 
  the 
  

   passenger 
  pigeon 
  or 
  a 
  plague 
  of 
  locusts. 
  

   It 
  is 
  a 
  pure 
  case 
  of 
  survival 
  through 
  

   strength 
  of 
  numbers. 
  

  

  