At Sea to the S. of Sable Island.
1909
Oct. 12 [October 12, 1909]
  Clear with gently-heaving sea only just ruffled by the
light south-easterly breeze.
  The smooth sea, soft air, and pleasantly warm sunshine
made the upper deck very attractive to our passengers and most
of them spent the entire day there. As no birds were reported 
during the forenoon I took only an occasional turn outside
the smoking room but the afternoon was so filled with interest
to the ornithologist that I scarcely left the decks from 2
to 6 o'clock. During this period birds were almost constantly in
sight but their numbers varied greatly. The ship seemed to
run across belts of ocean 8 to 12 miles in width where they
were rather evenly dispersed and very abundant and then to
cross intervening belts of comparatively [comparative] scarcity or even of almost
(but never quite) total absence. The widest and most populous 
belt occurred between 4.30 & 5.30 P.M. As far as I could 
see the general character of the ocean remained precisely the 
same during the entire afternoon. All the while we were
somewhere to the south of Sable Island and in constant 
Marconi intercourse with the telegraph station there.
The most abundant birds were Little Auks, Greater Shearwaters,
Wilson's (?) Petrels and Fulmars.
  The Little Auks were very evenly & generally dispersed over
the belts where they occurred. Where they were most numerous
we passed them every 200 or 300 yards. They sometimes occurred singly
but oftenest in pairs & occasionally in little groups of 3 to 5. The
largest number actually together was 8. All were seen in
the water when in advance of the ship and many allowed us to pass
within 50 yards or even less without flying or diving but when
within 100 yards or less the greater number flew or dove. Those
on the windward side of the ship rose and made off against the