26 
Mr. R. Hall on the 
their bulky bodies ; and their wings are held in more varying 
attitudes than is the case with any other bird observed here. 
When frightened from the carcasses they run off as quickly 
as their legs will carry them to the water, then swim a short 
distance, and either fly or swim farther out, in a flock of from 
40 to 60 birds. I do not incline to the belief that these birds 
have gorged themselves so much that they are incapable of 
flying, because many times, in the rookeries by the water’s 
edge, I have noted them to act in this manner when they had 
not fed for an hour or more. Certainly, when they have 
worked head and shoulders into a seal’s carcass and have 
become bespattered with blood, they object to fly unless 
hard pressed; but my observations lead me to consider that 
not flying when quietly driven along the ground is due to 
their habits rather than to satiety. They vomit freely when 
frightened. Mr. Gundersen and I, one day, came suddenly 
upon one that was isolated at the head of a very small bay 
with cliff-sides. The moment we appeared on one cliff, some 
75 yards from it, the bird considered its passage cut off, and 
immediately started disgorging oily substances. After a short 
time, it rushed past us and swam out a long way. To see 
some forty sitting on the water, washing their heads after a 
seal-feast, is a striking sight, the birds seeming to be up and 
down just like a quantity of large brown corks ; and to get 
force for the head dip, a little jump is made by means of 
the feet. Unlike the Skua, these birds run away from the 
banquet when disturbed, and waddle into the water, remaining 
there until the stranger has gone. 
Since the date of the expeditions to observe the Transit 
of Venus, the birds of Long Island have shifted their rookery 
from tbe S.W. to the N.E. end of it. Having ascended the 
short eastern summit, I noticed near the bottom of a wind- 
sbeltered slope a fine colony. To commence with, I surprised 
two just below the crest, and they started running with wings 
outstretched but not flapping, and continued, with short 
stoppages, several hundred yards to the beach, keeping just 
ahead of me. Of the colony, some birds were sitting and 
others standing, a few with expanded wings, and others 
