Page:Bird-lore Vol 03.djvu/60

 Walrus Island, a Bird Metropolis of Bering Sea BY FREDERIC A. LUCAS With phoioghai'hs from nature bv H. 13. Chuhksikr IT was a sunny afternoon in July when the cutter Rush made a long detour around the treacherous shallows off Reef Point, St. Paul Island, and steaminij; hy Sivutch Rock, with its colony of fur seals fanning themselves in the unwelcome sunshine, headed for Walrus Island. We knew this spot from afar off and indistinctly, for, although hut six miles distant from N. E. Point, such is the average summer weather of Bering Sea that most of the time it is enshrouded in a mantle of fog. Some of its inhabitants we knew very well, for the Hurgomaster Gulls {Larus f^laucescens) which dwell there make daily visits to St. Paul in search of the offal of the seal killing-grounds, or to peck at the eyes of the iiing and dead pups on the fur seal rookeries, or to carry home a bit of vegeta- tion for a nest. The few walruses, whence the island derived its name, have disappeared, killed or driven away by the persecutions of man, and the last one was shot in 1891. The spot was never a breeding ground, merely the summer haunt of a score or so of old male walruses thrust out of the compan of their fellows by younger ant! abler beasts, or preferring a peaceful bachelorhood to the cares of married life. The birds, however, remain undisturbeil, save for a few visits in early simimer from the natives, who go over to load a boat or two with eggs that form an agreeable change from salt and canned provisions. Half the distance between St. Paul ami Walrus Island had been covered when a breath of cool air swept over the water, ami in .another minute everything had vanished and we were steaming through the fog. On we went until the patent log said that the islam! was not far distant, and accordingl' the Ru^h was slowi-d douii, while, in addition to the care- ful lookout that had been coiitinualK kept, tin- k-ad was cast in order that we nugiit not roiiic upon the Kind in more as than one. Ami now the fog thinned out and rolled up into (Icci clouds, leaving everthing visible for some (lisiance ahead, but ^(•(•allll^ no trace of Walrus Island. I he