THE CONDOR VOL. V As the day progressed we visited many parts of the island and secured nu- merous photos. Rock wrens were plentiful everywhere, their cheery song the only melodious note in the unceasing discord of the leathered multitude. They had their full- fledged young out receiving the first instructions in flight, although a nest was found containing fresh eggs. The tufted puffins form an interesting part of the bird-life of these lonely little rocks. They are scattered over the whole island, but nest most abundantly in the rocky crevices at the extreme western end. Their nesting burrows, like those of the guillemots, are crevices in the cliffs and cavities under boulders, but they se- lect deeper niches than the guillemots and are quite close sitters, it often being possible to find the bird on the nest. The single white egg is laid on the bottom of the crevice with no attempt at nest construction, and at this date the eggs were partially incubated. Often the mate of the incubating bird will take up its posi- WE?$T[RN GULL E?NT[RING NEST tion like a sentinel on the r,ck close to the er, trance of the burrow, and it was possible to approach with- in a few feet of them and secure a photograph. Deal- ing with the incubating birds, however, was a mat- ter of difficulty, as their narrow, powerful bill is armed with a cutting edge as sharp as a knife and they are not at all averse to putting it into operation. Not the least interesting of this colony are the west- ern gulls. Their numbers are decreasing and their nesting colonies are scat- tered, the largest being on the southwest part of the
island The nests are built of dried weeds, bro?x-n and n,cttled in color, and the
nest and eggs so harmonize with the surroundings that it is difficult to see them readily until almost close enough to step on them. At this date they had eggs, some of the nests not yet with a full complement and others with partially incu- bated eggs The birds are wary and not close sitters, due doubtless to the fact that they are subjected to systematic robbing twice a week by the light-house keepers, who make use of their eggs till the murres start to lay, when the gulls get a chance to raise their young and the tourres contribute to the daily fare of the men. Perhaps this is retribution, for the gulls themselves are the most arrant rob- bers among birds. It is no uncommon sight to see a flock of gulls hovering over a nesting colony of tourres in an effort to drive them from their eggs, and seizing every egg that is exposed. Should another cause drive the tourres from their eggs, the gulls reap a harvest. This is perhaps as potent a factor as any in the destruction of the murres, for while the human eggers took only the fresh eggs, they disturbed the whole colony of tourres, and the gulls took everything in sight.
