140 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[April, 
COLLECTING SEA-FOWLS' 
rcOPTRTGHT SECTJKED.] 
EGG S.— Prom a Sketch et E. Jump.' 
«3 fresh. Go through the rows with a pronged 
hoe, or other implement, as soon as they can be 
distinguished. When large enough, thin the 
plants to stand 4 or 5 inches apart, and he sure 
that they stand singly. Keep the land clean 
by frequent hoeing. We raised last year 1,000 
bushels to the acre where the land was very 
rich, and not 500 upon land not highly manured. 
Collecting Sea-Fowls' Eggs. 
- -o 
It is only rarely that the eggs of sea-fowls are 
found in the markets of the Atlantic coast, but 
upon the Pacific side they form an important 
article of trade. The rocky islands along the 
Pacific are the resort of countless numbers of 
sea-fowls of various kinds. The bird, which 
lays the eggs that are valued, is a Murre or 
Guillemot. It has been supposed that it was 
identical with the Foolish Guillemot of the 
Atlantic coasts of this country, and of Europe, 
but our best authorities consider it different. 
Its scientific names are much confused ; it is 
the Una BrunnicMi, U. TroUe, Caiaractes Call- 
fornims, etc., of various authors. The bird 
makes no nest, but deposits a single egg upon 
the bare rock, upon which, like Hans' hen, she 
" sits standing," or in an upright position. The 
eggs, which are from the size of a goose egg 
down to one-fourth that size, are remarkably 
varied in color, being, for the most part, 
bluish, with blackish or brown spots, no two 
of them being marked alike. The bird be- 
ing very inoffensive and stupid, suffers at the 
hands of its more wide-awake neighbors, the 
gulls, which are always on the lookout for a 
chance to plunder its eggs. Dr. Heermann 
says: "I one day saw three gulls approach 
a single Murre sitting on her egg. Two of 
them feigning an attack in front, the Murre 
raised herself to repel them with her sharp- 
pointed bill; instantly, the third, advancing 
from behind her, flew off with the booty, 
the first two immediately following to claim 
their share." The egg gatherers visit the islands 
at intervals from May until July. Tiie birds, 
when their eggs are removed, continue to lay 
Drawn and .Engraved for the Amertmn Agriculturist. 
during these months. During a "drive," as one 
of the visits of the egg hunters is called, the 
islands present a scene of the wildest con- 
fusion. The birds fly against the rocks in their 
fright, or collect upon the ledges in such masses 
as to kill one another with their struggles. 
When the drivers take possession, the birds! 
leave the islands' and settle upon the water, 
covering it for a great distance. A few yeani 
ago, domestic fowls were very scarce in Cali j 
fornia, and the great demand for eggs in tho 
cities was mainly supplied from the islands 
along the coast. The trade in sea-fowls' eggl 
has reached nearly $200,000 annually. 
m ~*—— mmmyG w i m i mi i 
The Abronias. 
Among the pleasing annuals is Abronia %mi' 
bellata. It is a trailing plant, producing numer- 
ous clusters of pink flowers, which have the 
general appearance of those of the Verbena. 
This, and one with cream-colored flowers, A. 
armaria, are found in abundance along the 
