1A 
£3 brs 
THE CENTURY MAGAZINE 
Vou. VET. 
JULY, 1899. No. 
co 
BIRD ROCK! \ti 
BY FRANK M. CHAPMAN. 
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS AFTER PHOTOGRAPHS BY THE AUTHOR. 
V ELL within the mouth of the Gulf of 
'Y St. Lawrence stands a rocky islet 
which, as early as the time of Jacques Car- 
tier, supported a population greater than 
that of the largest city of Canada to-day. 
Since its discovery by the French voyager, 
some three hundred and fifty years ago, the 
inhabitants of this rock have been perse- 
cuted without mercy; but to the government 
that should protect them they are only sea- 
birds, and year by year their numbers de- 
crease. Some day in the not very distant 
future the fishermen who kill these birds and 
rob them of their eggs will find only the 
inaccessible parts of the rock occupied by 
feathered tenants; then they will realize 
their own folly and the selfishness of their 
ancestors. 
It is, however, not too late to save this 
bird colony from extermination. Shooting 
during the summer months should be abso- 
lutely prohibited, and nest-robbing should 
not be permitted after July 1. Under these 
conditions the fishermen of the region, and 
their descendants, may feast on eggs during 
Junes innumerable, and bird-lovers may re- 
joice in the knowledge that one of the orni- 
thological wonders of America has escaped 
destruction. 
But in spite of the great diminution in the 
ranks of the inhabitants of Bird Rock, as it 
is well termed, the casual observer of to-day 
will believe with difficulty that it was ever 
more populous. 
Common and Brunnich’s murres, razor- 
billed auks, puffins, kittiwake gulls, and gan- 
nets are present in surprising numbers, and 
petrels, whose day begins at night, may be 
unearthed from their burrows on the rock. 
Without the assistance of a camera I 
should make no attempt to describe my visit 
to this avian metropolis; and if, in looking 
at the pictures secured, one can imagine 
hearing a chorus of harsh voices, seeing a 
constant procession of winged forms, and 
feeling an unspeakable sense of isolation, 
Bird Rock may become something more than 
a name. 
As a matter of fact, there are two rocks, 
known as Little and Great Bird. They are 
about three quarters of a mile apart, and 
while the smaller rock is inhabited by num- 
bers of birds, Great Bird possesses the larger 
colony, and is more interesting in every way. 
It is irregularly elliptical in shape, about 
four hundred yards in length and from fifty 
to a hundred and forty yards in width, and 
arises abruptly from the sea to a height 
varying from about a hundred to a hundred 
and forty feet. The summit occupies be- 
tween three and four acres, is fairly flat, and 
is covered with a thrifty growth of grass. 
Copyright, 1899, by THE CENTURY Co. All rights reserved. 
VoL. LVIII.—38. 
329 
