124 
THE CONDOR 
VOL. V 
As the day progressed we visited many parts of the island and secured nu- 
merous photos. 
Rock wrens were plentiful everywhere, their cheery song the only melodious 
note in the unceasing discord of the feathered multitude. They had their full- 
fledged young out receiving the first instructions in flight, although a nest was 
found containing fresh eggs. 
The tufted puffins form an interesting part of the bird-life of these lonely little 
rocks. They are scattered over the whole island, but nest most abundantly in the 
rocky crevices at the extreme western end. Their nesting burrows, like those of 
the guillemots, are crevices in the cliffs and cavities under boulders, but they se- 
lect deeper niches than the guillemots and are quite close sitters, it often being 
possible to find the bird on the nest. The single white egg is laid on the bottom 
of the crevice with no attempt at nest construction, and at this date the eggs were 
partially incubated. Often the mate of the incubating bird will take up its posi- 
tion like a sentinel on the 
reck close to the entrance 
of the burrow, and it was 
possible to approach with- 
in a few feet of them and 
secure a photograph. Deal- 
ing with the incubating 
birds, however, was a mat- 
ter of difficulty, as their 
narrow, powerful bill is 
armed with a cutting edge 
as sharp as a knife and 
they are not at all averse 
to putting it into operation. 
Not the least interesting 
of this colony are the west- 
ern gulls. Their numbers 
are decreasing and their 
nesting colonies are scat- 
tered, the largest being on 
WESTERN GULL ENTERING NEST , , r , 
the southwest part of the 
island. The nests are built of dried weeds, brown and mettled in color, and the 
nest and eggs so harmonize with the surroundings that it is difficult to see them 
readily until almost close enough to step on them. At this date they had eggs, 
some of the nests not }^et with a full complement and others with partially incu- 
bated eggs. The birds are wary and not close sitters, due doubtless to the fact 
that they are subjected to systematic robbing twice a week by the ligfit-house 
keepers, who make use of their eggs till the murres start to lay, w'hen the gulls get 
a chance to raise their young and the murres contribute to the daily fare of the 
men. Perhaps this is retribution, for the gulls themselves are the most arrant rob- 
bers among birds. It is no uncommon sight to see a flock of gulls hovering over a 
nesting colony of murres in an effort to drive them from their eggs, and seizing 
every egg that is exposed. Should another cause drive the murres from their 
eggs, the gulls reap a harvest. This is perhaps as potent a factor as any in the 
destruction of the murres, for while the human eggers took only the fresh eggs, 
they disturbed the whole colony of murres, and the gulls took everything in sight. 
