Peete UDG BIOeNT 8B Ut Iyer IN 17 
times to listen for the Herring Gulls which nest on the island. Seals were 
popping their heads out of the ocean all around us. 
We finally located the gulis and the island. After the boat was anchored, 
the assistant skipper took us to shore in the dory. We were on the east side 
of the island, and the regular wharf was on the west side, so we had to 
scramble across a quarter mile of granite rocks covered with slippery sea- 
weed. It was a heavy haul with our equipment. 
There were two small cottages on the island, plus a large barn which 
served as a dormitory for the male students. Dr. Charles Huntington, a 
wonderful host, was the head of the research center. Sidney Guptil was 
warden of the island and skipper of the boat which commuted between 
Grand Manan and Kent, bringing supplies. 
We were told where we could find the two permanent blinds used by the 
students in studying the Pigeon Guillemot and the Eider Ducks. The Fider 
Duck blind was on the east side of the island and the guillemot blind was 
southwest, across the island. The best chance to photograph Eider Ducks 
was at high tide, when the water would force them up on the rocks near 
the blind. As the tide would not be in for several hours, we crossed the 
island, wading tnrough knee-high weeds and scrub growth. We had to 
search up and down the beach, strewn with logs, broken boards and rocks, 
before we found the guillemot blind. It was facing the ocean and a huge 
mass of granite blocks under which the guillemots laid their eggs on the 
rocks or sand. The guillemots came in soon after we got in the blind, and 
we were disappointed to find that the white patch of the wings had been 
striped with red and blue paint, in order to band the parent birds. Each 
granite block above a nest had been numbered to assist in recording the 
nest for research. We found one unmarked nest in a triangle between two 
large blocks of granite which were leaning together, and were able to get 
pictures. At every nesting area on our trip we tried to get snapshots of the 
young and eggs, as well as the adult birds. 
After leaving the guillemot blind, we search for nests of the Great Black- 
backed Gull and Herring Gull. As the tide was still out, I went back to 
the dormitory. Dr. Huntington asked if I would like to go out to watch 
him band the Leach’s Petrel. This was an invitation I could not refuse. 
This petrel nests in a tunnel under tree roots and shrubs, at about arm’s 
length from the surface. It was easy to locate the tunnels, which were 6 
to 8 inches in diameter. The banders would smell the openings to see if the 
bird was home, as petrels have a terrible stench. They eat oily bits of fish 
left on the surface by other feeding birds, and I have read that they will 
drink the oil coming from a wounded whale. Dr. Huntington found a petrel 
at the first tunnel, brought it to me, and asked if I would like to photo- 
graph it. The bird struggled so much that we could not get a good picture 
as it had to be held so tightly. 
The Leach’s Petrel lays only one white egg, about the size of a pigeon’s 
egg. It is the only petrel which nests on the American continent. The bird- 
banders gathered about 6 eggs of the petrel for a Canadian naturalist who 
desired to incubate the eggs and study the embryos. Dr. Huntington had 
at least three infra-red light boxes which were placed over the petrel tun- 
nels. The night before we were on Kent island (July 1) he had stayed up 
all night watching the petrels through the boxes to study their night life. 
After the petrel banding I went back to the Eider Duck blind. On the 
way down the east side of the island I was buzzed by Tree Swallows which 
were nesting in boxes on posts at intervals along the path. We heard the 
Winter Wren, Blackpoll Warbler, Yellowthroat and Yellow Warbler in the 
