Bird lore - Project Puffin

326 Bird - Lore
2^irb=1Lore
A Bi-Monthly Magazine
Devoted to the Study and Protection of Birds
OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE AUDUBON SOCIETIES
Edited by FRANK M. CHAPMAN
Contributing Editor, MABEL OSGOOD "WRIGHT
Published by D. APPLETON & CO.
Vol. XVIII Published October 1,1916 No. 5
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
Price in the United States. Canada and Mexico, twenty cents
a number, one dollar a year, postage paid.
COPYRIGHTED, 1916, BY FRANK M. CHAPMAN
Bird-Lore's Motto:
A Bird in the Bush Is Worth Two in the Hand
The expedition of the American
Museum of Natural History, of which the
Editor of Bird-Lore is a member, and
concerning the work of which we wrote
briefly in our last issue, sailed from
Guayaquil, June 9, for MoUendo, Peru.
The voyage was made in a local steamer,
with frequent stops, nevertheless it gives
one some conception of the extent of
Peru's coast-line to know that Mollendo
was not reached until June 24! It is
difficult to conceive of a sea-journey on a
passenger steamer which would be more
interesting to a bird-student. From the
time we passed Cape Parina, the most
western point of South America, until we
reached our destination, there was not a
moment when birds were not in sight, and
often they were present in such numbers
that no words can convey an adequate
idea of their abundance. As far as the
eye could reach, the air above the water
fairly twinkled with feathered forms;
while a glass, like a telescope turned
toward the stars, revealed unsuspected
myriads beyond.
On such occasions the birds were
usually feeding, and their activity, added
to their numbers, greatly increased the
interest and impressiveness of the scene.
Pelicans dropped from the air with their
reckless plunge; Gannets, like gigantic
living spear-heads, shot downward; Terns
darted more quickly, while immediately
above the water an amazing throng of
Cormorants and Gulls hunted in a less
spectacular but no doubt equally effective
manner.
If one marveled at the numbers of the
birds, what could one think of the apparently
unfailing abundance of the fish on
which they were preying. Nor were these
inhabitants of the deep menaced only
from above. Where the birds clustered
most eagerly, the water was usually
broken by the heads of groups of seals
which, in their pursuit of fish below, drove
them within reach of the birds above.
Without considering the question of
food for the fishes, we have in the combin-
ation of bird and fish, plus certain coastal
islands and a rainless climate, the fundamental
factors in producing the guano
deposits for which the Peruvian coast is
famous, and which from the days of
the Incas to the present time have been
matters of government concern.
Those guano islands which we passed
near enough to see clearly—among others
the Chinchas—were practically without
birds. This was their non-breeding or mid-
winter season, a fact which no doubt ac-
counted for the general abundance of bird-
life in the area through which we passed.
In December they would probably have
been gathered on their nesting-grounds.
Of the birds named, there was one
species of Pelican, closely related to our
Brown Pelican, two of Gannets, two of
Terns—including the beautiful Inca Ternfour
of Gulls and at least two of Cormor-
ants, both more attractive than our black
species. There were vast numbers of Tu-
binares, including a large Albatross,
Shearwaters, and Petrels.
From Mollendo the expedition proceeded
to the Urubamba Valley, where,
in the interests of the National Geo-
graphic Society and Yale University, a
brief survey was made of the life-zones
from the cold paramo or puna to the
tropics, and specimens of birds secured on
which, in connection with those previously
obtained by Mr. Edmund Heller, it is
proposed to base a paper on the distri-
bution of bird-life in this remarkably
interesting region.— Cuzco, Peru, July
26 1916.