THE AUK
:
A Q_UARTERLY JOURNAL OF
ORNITHOLOGY.
VOL. V. April, 1888. No. 2.
THE BIRD ROCKS OF THE GULF OF ST. LAWRENCE
IN 1SS7.
BY FREDERIC A, LUCAS.
Three hundred and thirty-two years ago Jacques Cartier, voy-
aguig in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, wrote as follows: "We came
to three islands, two of which are as steep and upright as any
wall, so that it was not possible to climb them, and between
them there is a little rock. These islands were as full of birds
as any meadow is of grass, which there do make their nests, and
in the greatest of them there was a great and infinite number of
those that w^e call Margaulx, that are white and bigger than any
geese, which were sevei-ed in one part. In the other were only
Godetz, but toward the shore there were of those Godetz and
great Apponatz, like to those of that island that we above have
mentioned ; we went down to the lowest part of the least island,
where we killed above a thousand of those Godetz and Appon-
atz. We put into our boats so many of them as we pleased, for
in less than one hour we might have filled thirty such boats of
them. We named them the Islands of Margaulx."
While this description, as well as the sentences which immedi-
ately precede it, contains some statements that apparently are at
variance with existing facts, there is nevertheless good reason to
believe that Cartier here refers to the Bird Rocks in the Gulf of
I "20 Lucas on the Bird Rocks of the Gulf of St. La-ivrencc. [April
St. Lawrence.* The birds called Margaulx, "which bite even
as dogs," were Gannets whose descendants, in spite of centuries
of persecution, are to be found to-day, nesting where their ances-
tors did before them.
That Cartier's description of the islands does not accord with
their present appearance is not to be wondered at. The material
of which they are composed is a soft, decomposing, red sand-
stone that succumbs so easily to the incessant attacks of the sea
that Dr. Bryant's description ofthem in iS6o does not hold good
to-day. If, then, the Bird Rocks have undergone visible changes
in twenty-five years, it is easy to imagine how great alterations
the islets may have undergone during three and a quarter cen-
turies.
Dr. Bryant in 1861 wrote as follows: "These [theBird Rocks]
are two in number, called the Great Bird or Gannet Rock, and
the Little or North Bird ; they are about three-quarters of a mile
apart, the water between them very shoal, showing that, at no
very distant epoch, they formed a single island. . . . The North
Bird is much the smallest and though the base is more accessible,
the summit cannot, I believe, be reached, at least, I was unable
to do so ; it is the most irregular in its outline, presenting many
enormous detached fragments, and is divided in one place into
two separate islands at high water ; the northerly one several
times higher than broad, so as to present the appearance of a
huge rocky pillar.
"Gannet Rock is a quarter of a mile in its longest diameter
from S. W. to N. E. The highest point of the rock is at the
northerly end where, according to the chart, it is 140 feet high,
and from which it gradually slopes to the southerly end, where
it is from 80 to 100.
"The sides are nearly vertical, the summit in many places over-
hanging. There are two beaches at its base on the south-
erly and westerly sides, the most westerly one comparatively
smooth and composed of rounded stones. The easterly one, on
the contrary, is very rough and covered by irregular blocks,
many of large size and still angular, showing that they have but
recently fallen from the cliffs above. This beach is very difficult
* I am indebted to the courtesy of Commander J. R. Bartlett, Chief of the Hydro-
graphic Office, and to Mr. G. W. Littlehales, of the Division of Chart Construction, for
very kindly supplying me with data to aid in solving this problem.
iSSS.l Lucas on the Bird Rocks of the Gulf of St. Lazvrcncc. I '2
1
to land on, but the other presents no great difficulty in ordinary
weather ; the top of the rock cannot, however, be reached from
either of them. The only spot from which at present the ascent
can be made, is the i-ocky point between the two beaches ;...."
The Great Rock has apparently altered but little during the
past twenty-five year's, but such changes as have taken place
have tended to improve the character of the southerly beach,
which has been selected by the keeper of the lighthouse erected
here, for the customary landing-place. Two long ladders, bolted
to the rock, now lead to the summit, to which, by means of a
winch and a fall, the lightkeeper raises his little boat.
The westerly beach, is, however, the most accessible, and it
is here that the heavy lighthouse supplies are landed, a large
hoisting apparatus having been placed at the top of the over-
hanging cliff.
If the Great Rock is but little changed, its lesser relative has
suffered greatly from the ravages of time, and sea and frost, rain
and ice, have wrought sad havoc with it. It cannot be called
an easy spot to land on in any but the smoothest of seas, but
once a landing has been effected it is now an easy matter to
climb to the summit of either of the two portions into which it
is divided.
The wide cleft which forms the division seems to be of com-
paratively recent origin, and it is only a question of time when
there shall be two islets instead of one. The rocky pillar off the
northeastern end still stands, but is separated from the little rock
even at low tide, although if one does not mind cold water and
slippery rocks, it is then easy to wade across the connecting
ledge.
It is quite possible, or even probable, that the shoal running
from Little toward Great Bird Rock marks the site of the third
island and little rock mentioned by Cartier. Or again Cartier may
have been at the islands only during flood tide, in which case
the Pillar would represent the third island, then undoubtedly of
much greater extent.
The birds do not seem to be divided into colonies according
to species, Gannets and Murres being found in close juxtaposi-
tion, and although the Gannets prefer the upper ledges, yet their
distribution is to a great extent regulated by the width of the
rocky shelves, the Murres taking possession where there is not
132 L.VCAS on the Bird Rocks of tke Gulf of St. La-cvreiice. [April
sufficient room to accommodate their larger companions. There
is, however, a tendency of birds of a feather to flock together
in little groups of a dozen or two, and at a distance the cHfts
appear seamed with white, owing to the lines of perching Gan-
nets.
The top of the rock is now entirely deserted by all birds except
the little Leach's Petrels, who burrow in security among the
fragments of stone that everywhere show through the shallow
soil. Like all their kind these little birds stay at home all day
in order to indulge in the reprehensible practice of staying out
all night. Consequently none were visible at the time of our
landing, late in the afternoon, although a few minutes digging
unearthed, at the extremity of a single rat-like burrow, four
birds and five eggs.
It is very evident from a little comparison that the interesting
colony at the Bird Rocks has become sadly diminished in num-
bers. At the time of Cartier's visit, every inch of available
space seems to have been occupied by breeding birds, and even
so late as the time of Audubon this still appears to have been the
case. The Gannets were then largely used for bait by the fisher-
men of Byron Island, and it is related how a party of six killed
with clubs 640 birds in less than an hour. In 1S60 Dr. Bryant
estimated the number of Gannets breeding on top of the Great
Rock alone at 50,000 pairs., although this is very likely too high
a figure. In 1872, owing to the erection of a lighthouse, the
colony on top of the rock had become reduced to 5000, and in
1881 Mr. Brewster found that the Gannets had been entirely
driven from the summit, although the Little Rock was still
thickly populated. He places the total Gannet population of
the Rocks at 50,000 which is still an extraordinary and impres-
sive number, though much less than the figures of previous
observers.
At the time of Mr. Brewster's visit the Murres were rapidly
decreasing in number owing "to the recent introduction of a
cannon which is fired every half-hour in foggy weather. At
each discharge the frightened Murres fly from the rock in clouds,
nearly every sitting bird taking its e^^ into the air between its
thighs and dropping it after flying a few yards. This was re-
peatedly observed during our visit and more than once a perfect
shower of eggs fell into the water around our boat. So serious-
iSSS.] Lucas on the Bird Rocks of the Gulf of St. La-vrencc. I •J
^
ly had the Murres suffered from this cause that many of the
ledges on the side of the roci-c where the gun was hred had been
swept ahnost clear of eggs."*
Mr. Turbid, who very kindly afforded us all the assistance and
information in his power, told us that the birds were gradually
becoming used to the cannon and that the destruction from its
use was now comparatively small.
In 1SS7, only six years later, not a single Gannet bred on the
Little Rock although perhaps, a hundred and fifty may have
found nesting places on the Pillar, while according to Mr. Tur-
bid's figures not more than 10,000 dwelt on the ledges of the
Great Rock. The decrease of the Gannets is most apparent,
but the smaller birds have doubtless suftered in the same pro-
portion. Scarce a day passes when the weather is at all favora-
ble, without a visit from some party of fishermen desirous, like
those we met at the Little Rock, of obtaining a few Murres for
their table. In fact, while we were on the rock, thi-ee men
landed on the westerly beach and opened fire on the Murres
perched along the overhanging ledges, killing some and wound-
ing more.
Many barrels of eggs are also gathered during the season, so
that altogether the birds lead a precarious existence. Still a large
portion of the island is, practically, so inaccessible that unless
the feather hunters afflict this interesting spot with their pres-
ence the birds may continue to breed here in diminished numbers
for a long time to come.
Besides that of the Bird Rocks the only large colony of Gannets
in the Gulf of St. Lawrence is at Bonaventure Island, where, on
the lofty and vertical clifls of the eastern side, these birds breed
in a state of semi-security. Dr. Bryant inadvertently locates this
colony at Perc6 Rock, but although this curious and inaccessible
island is only a mile or so distant, and the birds breeding on its
summit are perfectly safe, not a single Gannet is to be found
among them.
During the last twenty years the niunber of Gannets at Bona-
venture Island has greatly diminished, and Capt. J. W. Collins
told me when we visited the island in September, 18S7, that he
was surprised to see how the colony had fallen off.
Brewster. Proc. Bost. Soc. iVat. Hist. \'ol., XXII, p. 410.
134 ^vc\^ 071 the Bird Rocks of the Gulf of St. La-wrcncc. [April
That it ever compared in extent with the Bird Rock colonies
seems to me extremely doubtful, although Dr. Bryant has so
stated. At Bonaventure some of the ledges are accessible to a
good climber, while many others may be reached by the aid of
ropes, so that by the continued pillaging of their nests the Gan-
nets have greatly decreased in number.
A few Gannets still linger at Perroquet Island, of the Mingan
group, in spite of the fact that Dr. Bryant predicted twenty-seven
years ago that it would soon be deserted. In 1881 Mr. Brewster
speaks of having seen several hundred birds, but in 1887 Capt.
Collins found but a dozen or fifteen sitting by their empty nests.
The Indians regularly make a clean sweep of this island, and it
seems wonderful that a single Gannet should still exist here.
It was my fortune to visit the Bird Rocks on the 9th of July
in company with Capt. J. W. Collins and Mr. William Palmer,
our object being that of everyone who lands there, to kill birds
and gather eggs.
We were favored with an unusually light wind and calm sea,
and with a little precaution succeeded in beaching our boat on
the shelving ledge on the southerly side of the Little Rock, with
no farther accident than that of shipping a bucketful or so of
water.
We found that we had been preceded by a party of three
fishermen, who had killed a few Murres and Razorbills in order
to make a little change in their daily bill of fare, stewed Murre
being a dish by no means to be despised. Scores of Gannets
were seated on the top of the islet or wheeling anxiously over-
head, but a careful search revealed the fact that not an egg or
nestling of this bird was to be found. Neither did there appear
at first sight to be either ^^'g or young of the Murre or Razorbill
in any spot accessible to man, although by dint of much peering
under ledges and peeping among the masses of fiillen rock a few
of each were brought to light. Some of these little nestlings
were found in crevices of the rocks scarcely above the level of
the tide, and had it not been for their faint but continuous peep-
ing, their presence would have been quite unsuspected.
On the northern side, under the overhanging clifls, a small
number of Murres, Razorbills, and Puffins had their nesting
places on the inaccessible ledges, and on the perpendicular walls
of the southern side a few Kittiwakes had literally reared their
young.
iSSS.] Lucas on the Bird Rocks ofthe Gulf of St. Laxvretice. I^^C
The top of the Pillar was closely jDacked with breeding Gan-
nets, while here and there a few were dotted along its sides. As
this isolated rock is not particularly easy to reach, these birds,
together with a considerable colony of Murres, probably succeeded
in raising their young, although their number was small com-
pared with the number that might have been raised on the
Little Rock had it not been swept clean by the fishermen. Three
young Gannets, varying in age from one to three days, were
secured from the sloping side of the Pillar, these, according to
Mr. Turbid, the lightkeeper, being the first of the season, as the
Gannet's period of incubation is much longer than that of the
other birds breeding in company with it.
A visit to Great Bird Rock showed it to be the real breeding-
ground of the birds, Gannets, Murres, Razorbills, and Pufiins
being both abundant and tame in spite of the fact that they are
subjected to continual persecution.
No Gannets were seen on the Labrador coast east of Mingan,
and none on the eastern coast of Newfoundland. At the time of
Cartier there seems to have been a colony of these birds on Funk
Island, and if one may credit the testimony of the fishermen, they
were breeding there thirty years ago. But after the extermina-
tion of the Great Auk the fishermen and eggers seem to have
done their best to extirpate the remaining denizens of this isolated
spot, and it may well be that the Gannets were as efiectually
annihilated as the unfortunate Garefowl. Certain it is that no
Gannets are to be found on Funk Island to-day, and but compar-
atively few Murres and Razorbills. Twenty years ago one boat
took away eleven barrels of eggs on one trip ; this year it is
much to be doubted if (aside from the Puffins) there have been
two barrelfuls laid on the island. Gannets are peculiarly liable
to extermination from the pertinacity with which they cling to
their old established breeding places ; for once they have made
a spot their home nothing short of complete destruction seems
to drive them from it; and while there are many islands in the
Gulf of St. Lawrence which would furnish suitable nesting-places
for them, yet, year by year, they return to Bonaventure Island
and Bird Rock.