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 May, t9o 4 [ THE CONDOR 6t it with their long hooked bills, flying now above, now before, now below it, the hawks would so confuse their victims that eventually, feeling that the only safety for itslife lay in letting go part of its store of supplies as a sop for its assailants to quarrel over, the booby would on a sudden drop one of its fish, whereat a hawk would swoop down, more rapidly than the eye could follow, and catch the food before it had touched the wave, then taking it securely in its bill would fly majes- tically off to feed its own ever expectant offspring. The unfortunate booby meau- while was farther pursued by the less fortunate hawks until, reft of all her quarry, she was allowed to return to her young. "On the fringing reef hereabout were exposed a number of large blocks of coral stone that served an interesting purpose in these sea battles. If a booby succeeded in warding off or evading her pursuers from the first attack she would set a course direct for one of these rocks, the hawks usually increasing in numbers at every moment in hot pursuit. Perhaps another fish would be dropped on the way, but if at last the bird was able to nmke this place of safety its pursuers would mount high in air, or, to use a sea term, lay off and on, sailing back and forth always keeping the sharpest watch on the brown object sitting quietly on the rock. After a short rest, and choosing a favorable opportunity when its pursuers were at some distance, the booby would make a fial dash for the shore. The nearer it got to the beach the more furious grew the conflict; for in addition to the hawks both the noddy and white terns would take a hand in the robbery. It often occurred that a bird that had let go its catch one by one as it came in would here, within fifty yards of its nest, disgorge its last fish, which would be eagerly caught up by any one of its pursuers that was able to secure it. Panting and excited the old boobies would drop down on arriving at the colony in an exhausted condition. "The frigate birds showed much discrimination, selecting at once the boobies that were most heavily laden and consequetitly more liable to pay generous toll when brought in contact with this high-handed system of exacting customs duties. Though tropic birds were attacked they were more rapid flyers and more expert in evading pursuit. As in the story of the two dogs that quarreled over a bone, it was not uncommon in the performances I have described to see the tiny white tern reap the most substantial benefit from one of these encounters. Battles simi- lar to those mentioned were to be seeu during the entire day, but towards nightfall they were more numerous as well as more severe." Xtanford Uniz,ersit),, tl. The Farallone Islands Revisited, x887-x9o3 BY Vq. oTTo EMERSON ILLUSTRATED %VI[TH PHOTOGRAI'H,q BY THIg AI7THOR ROM the old Spanish Chronicles we learn of the discovery of the Farallone Islands in t543 by Ferrelo. It was Sir Francis Drake, however, who gave us the first particular description of the "Island of St. James," as they were then known (x579). Drake, it seems, landed to replenish his larder with seal meat. Doubtless he laid in a stock of eggs, for a man is never too old a boy to col- lect eggs where they may be had for the taking. In t775 Bodega and Maurelle,