May, 1904 I 
THE CONDOR 
61 
it with their long hooked bills, fl3dng now above, now before, now below it, the 
hawks would so confuse their victims that eventually, feeling that the only safety 
for its life lay in letting go part of its store of supplies as a sop for its assailants to 
quarrel over, the booby would on a sudden drop one of its fish, whereat a hawk 
would swoop down, more rapidly than the eye could follow, and catch the food 
before it had touched the wave, then taking it securel}' in its bill would fly majes- 
tically off to feed its own ever expectant offspring. The unfortunate booby mean- 
while was farther pursued by the less fortunate hawks until, reft of all her quarry, 
she was allowed to return to her young. 
“On the fringing reef hereabout were exposed a number of large blocks of 
coral stone that served an interesting purpose in these sea battles. If a booby 
succeeded in warding off or evading her pursuers from the first attack she would 
set a course direct for one of these rocks, the hawks usually increasing in numbers 
at every moment in hot pursuit. Perhaps another fish would be dropped on the 
wa^', but if at last the bird was able to make tliis place of safety its pursuers would 
mount high in air, or, to use a sea term, la)' off and on, sailing back and forth 
always keeping the sharpest watch on the brown object sitting quietly on the 
rock. After a short rest, and choosing a favorable opportunity when its pursuers 
were at some distance, the booby would make a fl'ml dash for the shore. The 
nearer it got to the beach the more furious grew the conflict; for in addition to the 
hawks both the noddy and white terns would take a hand in the robbery. It 
often occurred that a bird that had let go its catch one by one as it came in would 
here, within fifty yards of its nest, disgorge its last fish, which would be eagerly 
caught up by any one of its pursuers that was able to secure it. Panting and 
excited the old boobies would drop down on arriving at the colony in an exhausted 
condition. 
“The frigate birds showed much discrimination, selecting at once the boobies 
that were most heavily laden and consequently more liable to pay generous toll 
when brought in contact with this high-handed system of exacting customs duties. 
Though tropic birds were attacked they were more rapid flyers and more expert 
in evading pursuit. As in the story of the two dogs that (juarreled over a bone, it 
was not uncommon in the performances I have described to see the tiny white 
tern reap the most substantial benefit from one of these encounters. Battles simi- 
lar to those mentioned were to be seen during the entire day, but towards nightfall 
they were more numerous as well as more severe.” 
Stanford Lhiiversity , Cal. 
The Farallone Islands Revisited, 1887-1903 
BY W. oTTO K.AI BKSOX 
ILLUSTRATED WITH PHOTOGRAPHS BY THE AUTHOR 
F rom the old Spanish Chronicles we learn of the discovery of the Farallone 
Islands in 1543 by Ferrelo. It was Sir Francis Drake, however, who gave 
us the first particular description of the “Island of St. James,’’ as they were 
then known (1579). Drake, it seems, landed to replenish his larder with seal 
meat. Doubtless he laid in a stock of eggs, for a man is never too old a boy to col- 
lect eggs where they may be had for the taking. In 1775 Bodega and Maurelle, 
