Soe Wes. 
LD wel 
PAS FW 
BY YS 
Cae OM 
flu a: 
-—I\\ 1 
A 
il AMIN 
PUFFIN’S OR PETREL’S BURROW. 
PETREL ON NEST AT END OF BURROW. 
pointment, and at ten o’clock we heard his 
fog-horn from the gray bank beneath the 
rock where the Sea Gem was anchored. 
Before leaving, I fastened a rope about 
my waist, and with sturdy Keeper Bourque 
at the other end of it as anchor-man, de- 
scended the northern side of the rock at a 
favorable point to secure photographs of a 
colony of gannets. Not only was it cloudy, 
but the birds were in the shadow, and there 
seemed to be little prospect of securing 
good negatives. The white plumage of the 
birds, however, was in my favor, and by us- 
ing a large diaphragm I succeeded beyond 
my expectations. 
The greater part of the colony was on an 
inaccessible ledge below me; but by ap- 
proaching carefully I managed to secure a 
fair-sized portrait of a single bird nesting on 
a ledge above them. 
These gannets are magnificent birds, ex- 
hibiting, on the wing, admirable grace and 
power. They dive for fish from a height of 
forty feet or more, half closing their wings 
until they resemble enormous spear-heads, 
YOUNG PUFFIN ON NEST. 
and descending with a force and speed that 
take them far below the surface of the 
water, which splashes five feet or more into 
the air as they strike it. It is a thrilling 
performance; one involuntarily applauds the 
winged fisher. 
Harly in the afternoon the weather gave 
promise of clearing, and we decided to leave 
the rock. My collections and outfit were 
placed aboard the schooner, and in a dory I 
went to visit Little Bird Rock; but before 
coming fairly abreast of it the fog crept 
back, Great Bird became only a periodic boom 
in the surrounding gray wall, and I returned 
to the schooner without further delay. 
The sail to Bryon apparently demonstrated 
Captain Taker’s possession of the much-dis- 
puted sense of direction. In spite of a head 
wind, violent squalls, and a strong tide, he 
made his way through the fog with perfect 
assurance, and dropped anchor at a particu- 
lar lobster-buoy, visible less than one hun- 
dred feet from the schooner, but which in 
effect he appeared to have seen before we 
left the rock. 
EB EDWARDS \\ 
BIRD ROCK FROM THE SOUTHWEST, DISTANT HALF A MILE, 
339 
