. The Canadian field-naturalist. 80 The Canadian Field-Naturalist [Vol. XXXIV. ing hours looking through her powerful telescope from the piazza of her house on Cape Cannon. Bonaventure Island, is three miles distant from Perce and is of still greater value and importance. It is about three miles long and a mile and a half broad. The outer side faces the sea in sheer cliffs of horizontal strata of red conglomerate and sand- stone four and five hundred feet high. On the cliffs and niches and along the shelves, tier above tier nest a very large and notable collection of water birds. The most impo
. The Canadian field-naturalist. 80 The Canadian Field-Naturalist [Vol. XXXIV. ing hours looking through her powerful telescope from the piazza of her house on Cape Cannon. Bonaventure Island, is three miles distant from Perce and is of still greater value and importance. It is about three miles long and a mile and a half broad. The outer side faces the sea in sheer cliffs of horizontal strata of red conglomerate and sand- stone four and five hundred feet high. On the cliffs and niches and along the shelves, tier above tier nest a very large and notable collection of water birds. The most important of these in size and num- bers are the Gannets which are most numerous to- wards the southern end. Mr. Taverner has esti- mated their numbers to be 8,000. Herring Gulls breed on the cliffs to the number of several hun- dreds if not thousands. A smaller number of Kitti- wakes nest near the northern end of this outer side of the island on vertical cliffs that possess but few and small niches. Murres and Razor-billed Auks, perhaps 500 pairs of the former and 100 of the latter also lay their eggs on the cliffs. A small number of Puffins and a few Black Guillemots are also breeders there, while in the holes and crevices on top of the cliffs Leache's Petrels nest. No Cormorants breed here but visitors from Perce Rock may often be seen. I visited Bonaventure Island three times, passing in a motor boat close under the cliffs and camping and spending two days on each of the first two occasions; the last time I spent only the day. It is possible to take up a position on the edge of the cliffs where one can sweep with a glass, tier on tier of nesting Gannets and be within thirty feet of the nearest. As they fly by they are almost within arm's reach. With an eight power prismatic bin- ocular and a thirty power telescope I spent many hours watching these birds. With the expert aid of Willie Duval, descendant of of Captain Peter John Duval the original owner of the island, I was able t
Size: 1803px × 1385px
Photo credit: © Book Worm / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookauthorottawafi, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, bookyear1920
