to proceed to the eastern extremity of these islands in search of
certain ponds, wherein, so we were told, Wild Geese and Ducks of
different kinds are in the habit of resorting annually to breed. Our
informer added that formerly Brents bred there in abundance, but that
since the erection of several buildings owned by Nova Scotians, and in
the immediate vicinity of these ponds or lakes, the birds have become
gradually very shy, and most of them now proceed farther north. Some
of these lakes are several miles in circumference, with shallow, sandy
bottoms; most of them are fresh water, the shores thickly overgrown
with rank sedges and grasses, and on the surface are many
water-lilies. It is among these that the wild fowl, when hid from the
sight of man, deposit their eggs. Our way to these ponds would have
been through a long and narrow bay, formed by what seamen call
sea-walls. In this place these walls are entirely of light-colored
sand, and form connecting points from one island to another, thus
uniting nearly the whole archipelago. Our journey was abandoned just
as we were about to start, in consequence of the wind changing, and
being fair for our passage to Labrador, the ultimatum of our desires.
Our anchor was raised, and we bid adieu to the Magdalenes. Our pilot,
a Mr. Godwin from Nova Scotia, put the vessel towards what he called
"The Bird Rocks," where he told us that Gannets (_Sula bassana_) bred
in great numbers. For several days past we have met with an increased
number of Gannets, and as we sailed this morning we observed long and
numerous files, all flying in the direction of the rocks. Their flight
now was low above the water, forming easy undulations, flapping
thirty or forty times, and sailing about the same distance; these were
all returning from fishing, and were gorged with food for their mates
or young. About ten a speck rose on the horizon, which I was told was
the Rock; we sailed well, the breeze increased fast, and we neared
this object apace. At eleven I could distinguish its top plainly from
the deck, and thought it covered with snow to the depth of several
feet; this appearance existed on every portion of the flat, projecting
shelves. Godwin said, with the coolness of a man who had visited this
Rock for ten successive seasons, that what we saw was not snow--but
Gannets! I rubbed my eyes, took my spy-glass, and in an instant the
strangest picture stood before me. They were birds we saw,--a mass of
birds of such a size as I never before cast my eyes on. The whole of
my party stood astounded and amazed, and all came to the conclusion
that such a sight was of itself sufficient to invite any one to come
across the Gulf to view it at this season. The nearer we approached,
the greater our surprise at the enormous number of these birds, all
calmly seated on their eggs or newly hatched brood, their heads all
turned to windward, and towards us. The air above for a hundred yards,
and for some distance around the whole rock, was filled with Gannets
on the wing, which from our position made it appear as if a heavy fall
of snow was directly above us. Our pilot told us the wind was too high
to permit us to land, and I felt sadly grieved at this unwelcome news.
Anxious as we all were, we decided to make the attempt; our whale-boat
was overboard, the pilot, two sailors, Tom Lincoln, and John pushed
off with guns and clubs. Our vessel was brought to, but at that
instant the wind increased, and heavy rain began to fall. Our boat
neared the rock, and went to the lee of it, and was absent nearly an
hour, but could not land. The air was filled with Gannets, but no
difference could we perceive on the surface of the rock. The birds,
which we now could distinctly see, sat almost touching each other and
in regular lines, seated on their nests quite unconcerned. The
discharge of the guns had no effect on those that were not touched by
the shot, for the noise of the Gulls, Guillemots, etc., deadened the
sound of the gun; but where the shot took effect, the birds scrambled
and flew off in such multitudes, and in such confusion, that whilst
some eight or ten were falling into the water either dead or wounded,
others pushed off their eggs, and these fell into the sea by hundreds
in all directions. The sea now becoming very rough, the boat was
obliged to return, with some birds and some eggs; but the crew had not
climbed the rock, a great disappointment to me. Godwin tells me the
top of the rock is about a quarter of a mile wide, north and south,
and a little narrower east and west; its elevation above the sea
between three and four hundred feet. The sea beats round it with great
violence, except after long calms, and it is extremely difficult to
land upon it, and much more so to climb to the top of it, which is a
platform; it is only on the southeast shore that a landing can be
made, and the moment a boat touches, it must be hauled up on the
rocks. The whole surface is perfectly covered with nests, placed about
two feet apart, in such regular order that you may look through the
lines as you would look through those of a planted patch of sweet
potatoes or cabbages. The fishermen who kill these birds, to get their
flesh for codfish bait, ascend in parties of six or eight, armed with
clubs; sometimes, indeed, the party comprises the crews of several
vessels. As they reach the top, the birds, alarmed, rise with a noise
like thunder, and fly off in such hurried, fearful confusion as to
throw each other down, often falling on each other till there is a
bank of them many feet high. The men strike them down and kill them
until fatigued or satisfied. Five hundred and forty have been thus
murdered in one hour by six men. The birds are skinned with little
care, and the flesh cut off in chunks; it will keep fresh about a
fortnight. The nests are made by scratching down a few inches, and the
edges surrounded with sea-weeds. The eggs are pure white, and as large
as those of a Goose. By the 20th of May the rock is already covered
with birds and eggs; about the 20th of June they begin to hatch. So
great is the destruction of these birds annually that their flesh
supplies the bait for upwards of forty fishing-boats, which lie close
to the Byron Island each season. When the young are hatched they are
black, and for a fortnight or more the skin looks like that of the
dog-fish. They become gradually downy and white, and when two months
old look much like young lambs. Even while shooting at these birds,
hundreds passed us carrying great masses of weeds to their nests. The
birds were thick above our heads, and I shot at one to judge of the
effect of the report of the gun; it had none. A great number of
Kittiwake Gulls breed on this rock, with thousands of Foolish
Guillemots. The Kittiwake makes its nest of eel-weeds, several inches
in thickness, and in places too small for a Gannet or a Guillemot to
place itself; in some instances these nests projected some inches over
the edge of the rock. We could not see any of their eggs. The breeze
was now so stiff that the waves ran high; so much so that the boat was
perched on the comb of the wave one minute, the next in the trough.
John steered, and he told me afterwards he was nearly exhausted. The
boat was very cleverly hauled on deck by a single effort. The stench
from the rock is insufferable, as it is covered with the remains of
putrid fish, rotten eggs, and dead birds, old and young. No man who
has not seen what we have this day can form the least idea of the
impression the sight made on our minds. By dark it blew a gale and we
are now most of us rather shaky; rain is falling in torrents, and the
sailors are reefing. I forgot to say that when a man walks towards the
Gannets, they will now and then stand still, merely opening and
shutting their bills; the Gulls remained on their nests with more
confidence than the Guillemots, all of which flew as we approached.
The feathering of the Gannet is curious, differing from that of most
other birds, inasmuch as each feather is concave, and divided in its
contour from the next. Under the roof of the mouth and attached to the
upper mandible, are two fleshy appendages like two small wattles.
_June 15._ All our party except Coolidge were deadly sick. The
thermometer was down to 43 deg., and every sailor complained of the cold.
It has rained almost all day. I felt so very sick this morning that I
removed from my berth to a hammock, where I soon felt rather more
easy. We lay to all this time, and at daylight were in sight of the
Island of Anticosti, distant about twenty miles; but the fog soon
after became so thick that nothing could be observed. At about two we
saw the sun, the wind hauled dead ahead, and we ran under one sail
only.
_June 16, Sunday._ The weather clear, beautiful, and much warmer; but
it was calm, so we fished for cod, of which we caught a good many;
most of them contained crabs of a curious sort, and some were filled
with shrimps. One cod measured three feet six and a half inches, and
weighed twenty-one pounds. Found two curious insects fastened to the
skin of a cod, which we saved. At about six o'clock the wind sprang up
fair, and we made all sail for Labrador.
_June 17._ I was on deck at three this morning; the sun, although not
above the horizon, indicated to the mariner at the helm one of those
doubtful days the result of which seldom can be truly ascertained
until sunset. The sea was literally covered with Foolish Guillemots,
playing in the very spray of the bow of our vessel, plunging under it,
as if in fun, and rising like spirits close under our rudder. The
breeze was favorable, although we were hauled to the wind within a
point or so. The helmsman said he saw land from aloft, but the captain
pronounced his assertion must be a mistake, by true calculation. We
breakfasted on the best of fresh codfish, and I never relished a
breakfast more. I looked on our landing on the coast of Labrador as a
matter of great importance. My thoughts were filled, not with airy
castles, but with expectations of the new knowledge of birds and
quadrupeds which I hoped to acquire. The "Ripley" ploughed the deep,
and proceeded swiftly on her way; she always sails well, but I thought
that now as the land was expected to appear every moment, she fairly
skipped over the waters. At five o'clock the cry of land rang in our
ears, and my heart bounded with joy; so much for anticipation. We
sailed on, and in less than an hour the land was in full sight from
the deck. We approached, and saw, as we supposed, many sails, and felt
delighted at having hit the point in view so very closely; but, after
all, the sails proved to be large snow-banks. We proceeded, however,
the wind being so very favorable that we could either luff or bear
away. The air was now filled with Velvet Ducks; _millions_ of these
birds were flying from the northwest towards the southeast. The
Foolish Guillemots and the _Alca torda_[179] were in immense numbers,
flying in long files a few yards above the water, with rather
undulating motions, and passing within good gunshot of the vessel, and
now and then rounding to us, as if about to alight on the very deck.
We now saw a schooner at anchor, and the country looked well at this
distance, and as we neared the shore the thermometer, which had been
standing at 44 deg., now rose up to nearly 60 deg.; yet the appearance of the
great snow-drifts was forbidding. The shores appeared to be margined
with a broad and handsome sand-beach; our imaginations now saw Bears,
Wolves, and Devils of all sorts scampering away on the rugged shore.
When we reached the schooner we saw beyond some thirty fishing-boats,
fishing for cod, and to our great pleasure found Captain Billings of
Eastport standing in the bow of his vessel; he bid us welcome, and we
saw the codfish thrown on his deck by thousands. We were now opposite
to the mouth of the Natasquan River, where the Hudson's Bay Company
have a fishing establishment, but where no American vessels are
allowed to come in. The shore was lined with bark-covered huts, and
some vessels were within the bight, or long point of land which pushes
out from the extreme eastern side of the entrance of the river. We
went on to an American Harbor, four or five miles distant to the
westward, and after a while came to anchor in a small bay, perfectly
secure from any winds. And now we are positively on the Labrador
coast, latitude 50 deg. and a little more,--farther north than I ever was
before. But what a country! When we landed and passed the beach, we
sank nearly up to our knees in mosses of various sorts, producing as
we moved through them a curious sensation. These mosses, which at a
distance look like hard rocks, are, under foot, like a velvet cushion.
We scrambled about, and with anxiety stretched our necks and looked
over the country far and near, but not a square foot of _earth_ could
we see. A poor, rugged, miserable country; the trees like so many mops
of wiry composition, and where the soil is not rocky it is boggy up to
a man's waist. We searched and searched; but, after all, only shot an
adult Pigeon-Hawk, a summer-plumage Tell-tale Godwit, and an _Alca
torda_. We visited all the islands about the harbor; they were all
rocky, nothing but rocks. The _Larus marinus_ was sailing magnificently
all about us. The Great Tern was plunging after shrimps in every pool,
and we found four eggs of the _Totanus macularius_;[180] the nest was
situated under a rock in the grass, and made of a quantity of dried
grass, forming a very decided nest, at least much more so than in our
Middle States, where the species breed so very abundantly. Wild Geese
were seen by our party, and these birds also breed here; we saw Loons
and Eider Ducks, _Anas obscura_[181] and the _Fuligula [[OE]demia]
americana_.[182] We came to our anchorage at twenty minutes past
twelve. Tom Lincoln and John heard a Ptarmigan. Toads were abundant.
We saw some rare plants, which we preserved, and butterflies and small
bees were among the flowers which we gathered. We also saw
Red-breasted Mergansers. The male and female Eider Ducks separate as
soon as the latter begin to lay; after this they are seen flying in
large flocks, each sex separately. We found a dead Basking Shark, six
and a half feet long; this fish had been wounded by a harpoon and ran
ashore, or was washed there by the waves. At Eastport fish of this
kind have been killed thirty feet long.
_June 18._ I remained on board all day, drawing; our boats went off to
some islands eight or ten miles distant, after birds and eggs, but the
day, although very beautiful, did not prove valuable to us, as some
eggers from Halifax had robbed the places ere the boats arrived. We,
however, procured about a dozen of _Alca torda, Uria troile_, a female
Eider Duck, a male Surf Duck, and a Sandpiper, or _Tringa_,--which, I
cannot ascertain, although the _least_[183] I ever saw, not the
_Pusilla_ of Bonaparte's Synopsis. Many nests of the Eider Duck were
seen, some at the edge of the woods, placed under the rampant boughs
of the fir-trees, which in this latitude grow only a few inches above
the surface of the ground, and to find the nest, these boughs had to
be raised. The nests were scooped a few inches deep in the mossy,
rotten substance that forms here what must be called earth; the eggs
are deposited on a bed of down and covered with the same material; and
so warm are these nests that, although not a parent bird was seen near
them, the eggs were quite warm to the touch, and the chicks in some
actually hatching in the absence of the mother. Some of the nests had
the eggs uncovered; six eggs was the greatest number found in a nest.
The nests found on grassy islands are fashioned in the same manner,
and generally placed at the foot of a large tussock of grass. Two
female Ducks had about twelve young on the water, and these they
protected by flapping about the water in such a way as to raise a
spray, whilst the little ones dove off in various directions. Flocks
of thirty to forty males were on the wing without a single female
among them. The young birds procured were about one week old, of a
dark mouse-color, thickly covered with a soft and warm down, and their
feet appeared to be more perfect, for their age, than any other
portion, because more necessary to secure their safety, and to enable
them to procure food. John found many nests of the _Larus marinus_, of
which he brought both eggs and young. The nest of this fine bird is
made of mosses and grasses, raised on the solid rock, and handsomely
formed within; a few feathers are in this lining. Three eggs, large,
hard-shelled, with ground color of dirty yellowish, splashed and
spotted with dark umber and black. The young, although small, were
away from the nest a few feet, placing themselves to the lee of the
nearest sheltering rock. They did not attempt to escape, but when
taken uttered a cry not unlike that of a young chicken under the same
circumstances. The parents were so shy and so wary that none could be
shot. At the approach of the boats to the rocks where they breed, a
few standing as sentinels gave the alarm, and the whole rose
immediately in the air to a great elevation. On another rock, not far
distant, a number of Gulls of the same size, white, and with the same
hoarse note, were to be seen, but they had no nests; these, I am
inclined to think (at present) the bird called _Larus argentatus_
(Herring Gull), which is simply the immature bird of _Larus
marinus_.[184] I am the more led to believe this because, knowing the
tyrannical disposition of the _L. marinus_, I am sure they would not
suffer a species almost as powerful as themselves in their immediate
neighborhood. They fly altogether, but the white ones do not alight on
the rocks where the _Marinus_ has its nests. John watched their motion
and their cry very closely, and gave me this information. Two eggs of
a Tern,[185] resembling the Cayenne Tern, were found in a nest on the
rocks, made of moss also, but the birds, although the eggs were nearly
ready to hatch, kept out of gunshot. These eggs measured one and a
half inches in length, very oval, whitish, spotted and dotted
irregularly with brown and black all over. The cry of those Terns
which _I_ saw this afternoon resembles that of the Cayenne Tern that I
met with in the Floridas, and I could see a large orange bill, but
could not discern the black feet. Many nests of the Great Tern
(_Sterna hirundo_) were found--two eggs in each, laid on the short
grass scratched out, but no nest. One _Tringa pusilla_ [_minutilla_],
the smallest I ever saw, was procured; these small gentry are puzzles
indeed; I do not mean to say in nature, but in Charles's[186]
Synopsis. We went ashore this afternoon and made a Bear trap with a
gun, baited with heads and entrails of codfish, Bruin having been seen
within a few hundred yards of where the lure now lies in wait. It is
truly interesting to see the activity of the cod-fishermen about us,
but I will write of this when I know more of their filthy business.
_June 19._ Drawing as much as the disagreeable motion of the vessel
would allow me to do; and although at anchor and in a good harbor, I
could scarcely steady my pencil, the wind being high from southwest.
At three A. M. I had all the young men up, and they left by four for
some islands where the _Larus marinus_ breeds. The captain went up the
little Natasquan River. When John returned he brought eight _Alca
torda_ and four of their eggs _identified_; these eggs measure three
inches in length, one and seven-eighths in breadth, dirty-white
ground, broadly splashed with deep brown and black, more so towards
the greater end. This _Alca_ feeds on fish of a small size, flies
swiftly with a quick beat of the wings, rounding to and fro at the
distance of fifty or more yards, exhibiting, as it turns, the pure
white of its lower parts, or the jet black of its upper. These birds
sit on the nest in an almost upright position; they are shy and wary,
diving into the water, or taking flight at the least appearance of
danger; if wounded slightly they dive, and we generally lost them, but
if unable to do this, they throw themselves on their back and defend
themselves fiercely, biting severely whoever attempts to seize them.
They run over and about the rocks with ease, and not awkwardly, as
some have stated. The flesh of this bird when stewed in a particular
manner is good eating, much better than would be expected from birds
of its class and species. The _Larus argentatus_ breeds on the same
islands, and we found many eggs; the nests were all on the rocks, made
of moss and grasses, and rather neat inwardly. The Arctic Tern was
found breeding abundantly; we took some of their eggs; there were two
in each nest, one and a quarter inches long, five-eighths broad,
rather sharp at the little end. The ground is light olive, splashed
with dark umber irregularly, and more largely at the greater end;
these were deposited two or three on the rocks, wherever a little
grass grew, no nest of any kind apparent. In habits this bird
resembles the _S. hirundo_, and has nearly the same harsh note; it
feeds principally on shrimps, which abound in these waters. Five young
_L. marinas_ were brought alive, small and beautifully spotted yet
over the head and back, somewhat like a Leopard; they walked well
about the deck, and managed to pick up the food given them; their cry
was a "hac, hac, hac, wheet, wheet, wheet." Frequently, when one was
about to swallow a piece of flesh, a brother or sister would jump at
it, tug, and finally deprive its relative of the morsel in an instant.
John assured me that the old birds were too shy to be approached at
all. John shot a fine male of the Scoter Duck, which is scarce here.
Saw some Wild Geese (_Anser canadensis_), which breed here, though
they have not yet formed their nests. The Red-breasted Merganser
(_Mergus serrator_) breeds also here, but is extremely shy and wary,
flying off as far as they can see us, which to me in this wonderfully
wild country is surprising; indeed, thus far all the sea-fowl are much
wilder than those of the Floridas. Twenty nests of a species of
Cormorant,[187] not yet ascertained, were found on a small detached,
rocky island; these were built of sticks, sea-weeds, and grasses, on
the naked rock, and about two feet high, as filthy as those of their
relations the Floridians.[188] Three eggs were found in one nest,
which is the complement, but not a bird could be shot--too shy and
vigilant. This afternoon the captain and I walked to the Little
Natasquan River, and proceeded up it about four miles to the falls or
rapids--a small river, dark, irony waters, sandy shores, and
impenetrable woods along these, except here and there is a small space
overgrown with short wiry grass unfit for cattle; a thing of little
consequence, as no cattle are to be found here. Returning this
evening the tide had so fallen that we waded a mile and a half to an
island close to our anchorage; the sailors were obliged to haul the
boat that distance in a few inches of water. We have removed the
"Ripley" closer in shore, where I hope she will be steady enough for
my work to-morrow.
_June 20._ Thermometer 60 deg. at noon. Calm and beautiful. Drew all day,
and finished two _Uria troile_. I rose at two this morning, for we
have scarcely any darkness now; about four a man came from Captain
Billings to accompany some of our party to Partridge Bay on a shooting
excursion. John and his party went off by land, or rather by rock and
moss, to some ponds three or four miles from the sea; they returned at
four this afternoon, and brought only one Scoter Duck, male; saw four,
but could not discover the nests, although they breed here; saw also
about twenty Wild Geese, one pair Red-necked Divers, one _Anas fusca_,
one Three-toed Woodpecker, and Tell-tale Godwits. The ponds, although
several miles long, and of good proportion and depth, had no fish in
them that could be discovered, and on the beach no shells nor grasses;
the margins are reddish sand. A few toads were seen, which John
described as "pale-looking and poor." The country a barren rock as far
as the eye extended; mosses more than a foot deep on the average, of
different varieties but principally the white kind, hard and crisp.
Saw not a quadruped. Our Bear trap was discharged, but we could not
find the animal for want of a dog. An Eider Duck's nest was found
fully one hundred yards from the water, unsheltered on the rocks, with
five eggs and clean down. In no instance, though I have tried with all
my powers, have I approached nearer than eight or ten yards of the
sitting birds; they fly at the least appearance of danger. We
concluded that the absence of fish in these ponds was on account of
their freezing solidly every winter, when fish must die. Captain
Billings paid me a visit, and very generously offered to change our
whale-boat for a large one, and his pilot boat for ours; the industry
of this man is extraordinary. The specimen of _Uria troile_ drawn with
a white line round the eye[189] was a female; the one without this
line was a young bird. I have drawn seventeen and a half hours this
day, and my poor head aches badly enough. One of Captain Billings'
mates told me of the _Procellarias_ breeding in great numbers in and
about Mount Desert Island rocks, in the months of June and July; there
they deposit their one white egg in the deepest fissures of the rocks,
and sit upon it only during the night. When approached whilst on the
egg, they open their wings and bill, and offer to defend themselves
from the approach of intruders. The Eider Ducks are seen leaving the
islands on which they breed, at daybreak every fair morning, in
congregated flocks of males or females separately, and proceed to
certain fishing grounds where the water is only a few fathoms deep,
and remain till towards evening, when the females sit on their eggs
for the night, and the males group on the rocks by themselves. This
valuable bird is extremely abundant here; we find their nests without
any effort every time we go out. So sonorous is the song of the
Fox-colored Sparrow that I can hear it for hours, most distinctly,
from the cabin where I am drawing, and yet it is distant more than a
quarter of a mile. This bird is in this country what the Towhee
Bunting is in the Middle States.
_June 22._ I drew all day at an adult Gannet which we brought from the
great rock of which I have spoken; it was still in good order. Many
eggs of the Arctic Tern were collected to-day, two or three in a nest;
these birds are as shy here as all others, and the moment John and
Coolidge landed, or indeed approached the islands on which they breed,
they all rose in the air, passed high overhead, screaming and scolding
all the time the young men were on the land. When one is shot the rest
plunge towards it, and can then be easily shot. Sometimes when wounded
in the body, they sail off to extraordinary distances, and are lost.
The same is the case with the _Larus marinus_. When our captain
returned he brought about a dozen female Eider Ducks, a great number
of their eggs, and a bag of down; also a fine Wild Goose, but nothing
new for the pencil. In one nest of the Eider ten eggs were found; this
is the most we have seen as yet in any one nest. The female draws the
down from her abdomen as far towards her breast as her bill will allow
her to do, but the _feathers_ are not pulled, and on examination of
several specimens I found these well and regularly planted, and
cleaned from their original down, as a forest of trees is cleared of
its undergrowth. In this state the female is still well clothed, and
little or no difference can be seen in the plumage unless examined.
These birds have now nearly all hatched in this latitude, but we are
told that we shall over-reach them in that, and meet with nests and
eggs as we go northeast until August. So abundant were the nests of
these birds on the islands of Partridge Bay, about forty miles west of
this place, that a boat load of their eggs might have been collected
if they had been fresh; they are then excellent eating. Our captain
called on a half-breed Indian in the employ of the Northeast Fur and
Fish Co., living with his squaw and two daughters. A potato patch of
about an acre was planted in _sand_, for not a foot of _soil_ is there
to be found hereabouts. The man told him his potatoes grew well and
were good, ripening in a few weeks, which he called the summer. The
mosquitoes and black gnats are bad enough on shore. I heard a Wood
Pewee. The Wild Goose is an excellent diver, and when with its young
uses many beautiful stratagems to save its brood, and elude the
hunter. They will dive and lead their young under the surface of the
water, and always in a contrary direction to the one expected; thus if
you row a boat after one it will dive under it, and now and then
remain under it several minutes, when the hunter with outstretched
neck, is looking, all in vain, in the distance for the _stupid Goose_!
Every time I read or hear of a stupid animal in a wild state, I cannot
help wishing that the stupid animal who speaks thus, was half as wise
as the brute he despises, so that he might be able to thank his Maker
for what knowledge he may possess. I found many small flowers open
this day, where none appeared last evening. All vegetable life here is
of the pygmy order, and so ephemeral that it shoots out of the tangled
mass of ages, blooms, fructifies, and dies, in a few weeks. We
ascertained to-day that a party of four men from Halifax took last
spring nearly forty thousand eggs, which they sold at Halifax and
other towns at twenty-five cents per dozen, making over $800; this was
done in about two months. Last year upwards of twenty sail were
engaged in "egging;" so some idea may be formed of the birds that are
destroyed in this rascally way. The eggers destroy all the eggs that
are sat upon, to force the birds to lay again, and by robbing them
regularly, they lay till nature is exhausted, and few young are
raised. In less than half a century these wonderful nurseries will be
entirely destroyed, unless some kind government will interfere to stop
the shameful destruction.