278 THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE

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STEI'I.IKE NESTS OF THE GUANAVES ON A SLOFE OF A VALLEY ON LOBOS HE TIEKKA

ISLAND, OFF THE COAST OF PERU
In thc foreground, and mingled among thc cormorants on thc hillside, are the half-grown chicks
of pelicans; adult pelicans stand along the crest, and still others are in flight.

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THE MOST VALUABLE BIRD IN THE WORLD
BY ROBERT CUSHMAN MURPHY
AMEBICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL IIISTURY, AUTHOII O* " S O ü I H GEORGIA, AN OUTPOST OF THE ANTAüCTIC,"
IN THE NATIONAL GEOCRAPHIC MAGAZINE

With Illustralioiis jroin Photograplis by the Altthor

T
HE title of this article is a State- never-failing seasonal presence, their
ment of opinion, not a elaini to boldness, their beauty of voiee or color,
onmiscience. What niortal can ap- their exemplary parenthood, or even by
pnuse a living creature? Which of the the seeming possession of such foibles as
18,000 or innre existing kinds of birds mischievous or irritable temperaments,
tliat gladden every land and sea can be with which man can sympathize because
ealled niost valuabie, and upon what he so well understands them.
criteria ? Thercfore, lest our Standard of wortb
Exchtding from the reckoning domcs- be obliged to compete with the Inspiration
tic poultry of all sorts, as well as the which Shelley and Keats derived respec-
stork, which, wherever European tradition tively from skylark and nightingale, or
holds sway, is saddled with the r«sponsi- which Anatole France, in a different tield
bility for nur very existence, we may cast of letters, drew from certain flightless and
about almost at randoni and might con- extraordinarily manlike seafowl, it should
sider, for example, the swallnws, which be stated that we are here taking no ae-
spend their days in ridding the air of in- count of esthetic or traditional values.
sectS that in 011c way or another are detri- Figuring in doDars and cents, and with
mental to the growth of Vegetation. reference to eii'ect npon human life and
With less satisfaction but equal justice, human geography, we heg to present our
we tnight turn to vultures and other candidate for the post of lang among
seavengers which, throughout the Tropics avian benefactors—the Peruvian cormo-
and large portions of the Tempcratc rant or guanay, known to science by the
Zones, clear away Carrion which results ponderous name of Phalacrocorax bou-
from the common fate of all animals. gaiuvillci.
We sliould have to take aecount also of Readers of the NATIONAL GEOGRAPH IC
many important game birds, sources of MAGAZINE will recall that they have
sport and food to myriads of human already made the acquaintance of the
beings; of woodland dwellers, such as guanay through an illuminating descrip-
the jays, which directly or indirectly plant tion of "Peru's Wealth-Producing Birds,"
forests; of the humming birds, which, by Dr. Robert E. Coker, which was pub-
aside from being incnmparably beautiful lished in the issue of June, 1920. Dr.
feathered creations, fertilize in the Amer- Coker's remarks nn this cormorant were
ican Tropics the loveliest of all plant included in a gcneral aecount of the orni-
forms, the orchids. thology and life conditions of thftPeruvian
Nor may we omit to think of the egrets coast, and were based, moreover, upon
and birds of paradise. victims of an hn- investigations made during the years 1906
nieasurably large traffic, which pay with and 1907. Recently the writer has had
their bim id for the value man sets upon the enviable opportunity of working in
them. the same field, with Dr. Coker's manu-
script notes in bis possession.
MANY IURDS HAVE ENDEARED THEMSELVES
Since the Status of the guanay has
TO MANKIND
changed greatly during the intervening
And yet few would admit that the years, partly as a result of one of the most
qualitications of the birds mentioned eiTective steps toward conservation that
weigh heavily in the balance against those has ever been put into force, this classic
of more familiär kinds, which in all parts sea bird is well worthy of more extendcd
of the populated earth have from time commemoration.
immemorial endeared themselves by their For an adequate description of the

2/"9

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Copyright© National Geographie Society, All Rights Reserved
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FLICHT STUDIF.S MADF AT T i l i ; I'KSiWDOUES ISLANDS
The guanay differs from all othtr cormorants in that it hunts its prey from the air like a hawk (see text, page 285).
2S2 THE NATIONAL CKOCRAHIIC MAGAZINE

of which isnotablycooler
than that of the outlying
tropical Pacific.
Chiefly because of its
low temperature, the cur-
rent is peopled by a prob-
ably unequaled profusion
of marine organisms, in-
cluding anchovies and
other small fishes which
are the food of the gua-
nay, and which, bucause
of their vast numbers,
make possible a corre-
lated abundance of the
birds.
The g u a n a y e s are
strictly creatures of the
Humboldt Current; their
huge flocks im ive up and
down the coast as the
birds forage amoiig mi-
grating schools of fish;
they breed, likewise in
vast numbers, upon thc
many islands lying from
one to a score of miles
from the coast; but they
do not stray outside the
field of the current, to
the northward, the south-
waid, or ot'fshore.
Theislets of the Hum-
boldt Current, which are
most thickly distributed
along thc northerly tvv<>-
Drawn 1>y A. 11. Bufflflteftd froni tln* antlior's sketch
thirds of Peru, partake
of the same desert char-
A M A P o i : T i l i ; P I : K U V I A N COAST
acter of the opposite con-
Showing the Islands on wliich tlic guanayes have their rooherics. tinenlal mainland. This
climatic fact is the secret
geographic and climatic environnient in of the guanay's economic iinportancc, for
whidi the guanay exists in countless mil- the guano or exerement of sea birds is
lions, the reader is rcferred to Dr. Coker's preserved on the nesting gnmnds without
paper. Suffice it to say that the ränge of loss of fertilizing efficaey such as would
the species is restricted to coastwise be caused by moisture.
waters along tlie arid, western shores of From prehistoric times guano from
South America between Point Pariiia, tbese islands has been used in the agricul-
just south of the Cmlf of Ouayaquil, and ture of the native peoples of Peru,* but
the vicinity of Corral, Chile. the importance and money value of this
A CKEATURB OF TUE IIUMHOLDT CURRENT * An exccllcut summary of the history of
guano from anti(|uity, as well as of thc wanton
This Stretch of shore line, some 2,400 System of exploitation which obtained during the
sea miles in length, is bathed by a rela- latter half of the niiu-tcenth Century, is given 011
P'iges 539-54.1 of Dr. Coker's article in the
tively narrow, northward-flowing oeeanic NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE for June,
stream, the Humboldt Current, the water 1920.

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 THE MOST VALUABLE BIRD IN THE WORLD 283

> m
Mr-
2Ä1-"

3^«S3&^äPä!
GUANO ADMINISTRATION' LABORATORY AND GUARDIAN S RESIDENTE ON CENTRAL
CHINCHA ISLAND
The meteorological observatory is in the lcft wing. The upper floor of Ihis building was given
up to the author during his visit.

natural fertilizer and of its chief pro-
ducer are greater to-day than at any time
in the past.
DENSE MASSES OE 1URDS PRESS ALONG
TUE SEA
Picture to yourselves the shining, rain-
less coast of Peru, washed by ocean
waters to which Stomas are unknown,
where the swells surge northward froni
month to month and year to year before
winds that blow regularly from a south-
erly quarter. On such an ocean dark
flocks of guanayes form rafts which can
be spied miles away.
Slowly the dense masses of birds press
along the sea, gobbling up fish in tlieir
path, the liinder margins of the rafts con-
tinually rising into the air and pouring
over the van in some such manner as the
great flocks of passenger pigeons are said
to have once rolled through open North
American forests in which oak or becch
mast lay thick lipon the leafy floor.
At other times, when the guanayes are
moving toward distant feeding grounds,
they travel not in broad Bocks, but rather
as a solid river of birds which streams in
a sharply marked. unbroken column,
close above the waves, until an amazed
observer is acrually wearied, as a Single
formation takes four or five hours to pass
a given point.
Hqually impressive are the homeward
ilights of these cormorants after a day of
gorging lipon anchovies, when in late af-
ternoon slender ribbons, wedges, and
whiplashes of guanayes in Single file
twist and flutter, high in air, toward the
rounded plateaus of white Islands, Which
gradua-lly turn black as the packed areas
of birds swell out from clustered nuclei
toward the borders of the available Stand-
ing room (see pages 296 and 298).
Whence came this astounding sca bird,
which bss made the Peruvian coast its
own ? The evolutionary history of pres-
ent-day animals is in most cases impossi-
ble to decipher unless we have a clear
fossil record such as, for example, that of
the camel, whkh is known to have orig-
inated during the early part of the Age

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Till': GREAT COLONV AT SANTA ROSA JUST AS TUE GUANAYKS BKGAN TO POUK OUT TO SI'.A
Mure than a billion dollars' worth of guano has bcen taken from the islands along the Peruvian coast.
 THE MOST VALUABLE BIRD IN THE WORLD 285

of Mammals in the western United Furthermore, because of the normal

States, where it no longer occurs, and superabundance of food, conditions seem
to have spread thence by diverse routes to have been prearranged for the increase
to Asia and to South America, where of the birds to numbers limited only by
highly modified descendants of the North competition with other animals and by
American progenitors are still fnund, the amount of safe, insular Space for re-
Palreontology offers no such clue to the produetion.
primeval home of the guanay's ancestors, Although suitable islets are very nu-
but fortunately we can read the history merous, the enormous food supply in the
of the species in other pages of Nature's Humboldt Current is still out of all pro-
tcxt-book. For the guanay belongs to a portion to the area of the breeding places.
well-defined antarctic branch of the cor- This doubtless explains the excessively
morant family. all the members of which colonial nesting habit of the guanay, in
are characterized by certain anatomical which it surpasses all other birds, even
peculiarities, as well as by external the penguins, for in the middle of a
marks, such as white breasts and "warts" bounteous sea there would be a constant
above the bill. tendency for the cormorant population to
The other species of this branch inhabit become more and more congested upon
high southern latitudes. The guanay's the islets. The doctrine of Malthus ap-
nearest relatives, in fact, are cormorants plies to birds as well as to men.
of the Strait of Magellan, New Zealand,
THE GUANAY FISHES BY SICHT
various subantarctic Islands, and the
shores of the Antarctic Continent all These facts suggest that the geographic
around the pole, while its relationship background does not teil the whole story.
with other cormorants of South America, Evolution is, at least in part, the result of
or with those of any part of the Northern interaction between a living being and its
Hemisphere, is relatively remote. surroundings. The guanay itself bas had
to undergo considerable modification in
ANTARCTIC BIRD MAKES ITS HOME NEAR order to fit into a new environment,
EQt'ATOR espccially as regards the particular char-
In the northward extension of this rep- acter of its food in the 1 lumboldt Current.
resentative of an antarctic group to a Several such adaptive changes are ap-
point withiu six degrees of the Equator, parent. changes which have progressed so
we recognize one of the profound effects far that they now strongly differentiate
of the Humboldt Current. The cool the Peruvian species from its antarctic
stream, lyingbetween a tropical continent cousins and from every other kind of
on the one band and the heated surface cormorant in the world.
waters of the open South Pacific on the For instance, the guanay, unlike any
other, forms, as it were. a tongue of lit- other cormorant, "hawks" its food—that
toral ocean in which the environment, is, it hunts exclusivelv by sight and from
and consequcntly the marine flora and the air, locating the fishes which it seeks
fauna, is such as ordinarily holds for the before descending to the water to catch
subantarctic zone rather than for equa- them.
torial or even temperate scas. Most cormorants search for their prey
This condition is more or less common individuallv, swimming alone or in loose
to all western continental coasts, but no- groups at the surface, then plunging in
where are its results, as expressed in the what seem to be favorable places and
distribution and abundance of life, so condueting the bunt as well as the capture
marked as in the Humboldt Current. while they are submerged. For the most
Given, therefore, a belt of cool ocean part, moreover, they subsist upon bottom-
waters replete with small organisms of living species of fish, often diving down
more or less polar type, together with many fathoms in pursuit of Single vic-
nesting sites lipon islands which for cli- tims.
matic reasons could never become encum- But the guanay feeds altogether upon
bered with Vegetation, and the geographic surface-swimming fishes, such as ancho-
stage was set for the northward emigra- vies, young herrings, and the toothsome
tion of the ancestors of the guanay. silversides which the Pcruvians call

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286 THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE

GUANAYES INCUBATIXG SECOND SETS OF I-GCS AT PESCADORES ISLANDS

Some of thc nests wcigh as much as 12 pounds apiece.

pejerreyes (kingßsh). Stich formstravel
in tremendous schools, which are assaüed
ni masse by proportionately large Bocks
of birds.
SCOUT BIRDS SENT OTT TO LOCATE
SCIIOOI.S OF FISH
The correlation between the numbers
of the fishes and the extreme gregarious-
ness of the corniorants results aniong the
latter in a system uf efficient co-opera-
tion which almost suggests certain cus-
toms of ants or other social insects.
The vast Bocks of guanayes which
spend their nights lipon the Islands do not
start hunting in a body when morning
breaks. On the contrary, the birds first
sally forth only in small scouting parties,
which can be seen flying erratically above
the ocean, usually keeping well in air, and
frequently "back-pedaling" or hovcring
when they see the silvery glint of school-
ing fish or the ruffled appearance of the
sea, which indicates the prescnce of fish
below.
The dropping of the scouts to the sur-
face and the shaJlow dives which mark
the beginning of an org)' are the signals
that cause the approacli of such rivers of
birds as have been described (p. 283). The
cohort of guanayes then spreads out like a
great fan ovcr the unfortunate anchovies,
which are likely to be no less harried
from beneath by bonitos and sea lions.

Copyright© National Geographie Society, All Rights Reserved

 THE MOST VALUABLE BIRD IN THE WORLD 287

GUA.NAY FAMILIE», SHOWING TUE CHICKS IN VAUIOUS STAGES

From the pepper-and-salt down to the sleek gray plumage of the fledgling.

Small wonder that the Peruvian fisher-
men who are familiär with such sights,
believe that the guanayes and the seals
have a working understanding! How-
ever this may be, the gorging proceeds
until botli sea lions and birds tnust cease
long enough to allow their rapid digestions
to rit them for another meal. From the
crop and gnllet of a dead guanay the
remains of no less then seventy-six an-
chovies, four or five inches in length,
have been taken.
Sometimes the guanayes pursue the
fishes to the very beaches, so that a rare
view of a one-sided fray may be enjoyed
by a landsman. One morning during the
writer's snjourn at Independencia Bay,
Peru, shoals of silversides were packed in
deep, glittering ranks dose to the quiet
shore, when a raft of guanayes, accom-
pairied by a fcw pelicana and a horde of
screaming gulls, drove the fishes before
them against the shelving sand.
Soon the water gleamed like ilashing
quicksilver, and in wild rioting the birds
janimed and crowded each other until
hundreds of them were pushed clear be-
yond the tide-Iine by the scrambling mob
behind.
THfi GUANAY WALKS ERRCT LIKE A
PENGUIX
The guanay Stands and walks erect,
somcwhat after the manner of a penguin.
Its height is in the neighborhood of 20
inches and the weight of a full-grown

Copyright® National Geographie Society, All Rights Reserved

288 THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE

birds breed upon the

plateaus and wind-
ward hillsides of tlie
Peruvian islands in
concentrated commu-
nities, the nests aver-
aging three to each
s q u a r e y a r d of
ground (see p. 299).
Dr. Coker's meas-
urements show that
no fewer than a mil-
lion adult birds clwelt
within the limits of a
s i n g l e homogeneous
colony on South Chin-
cha Island during 0110
of bis visits. Anothcr
naturalist has written
that these cormorants
"congregate to the
number of ten mil-
lions."
BREEDING SEASON IS
CONTINUOUS
The breeding sea-
son, like that of most
tropical ocean birds, is
practically continuous,
but it reaches a climax
during the southerij
summer months of
December and Janti-
ary. In its adaptation
to an all-the-year nest-
CROUPS OF GUANAYES ON TUE CUFFS OF PESCADORF.S ISLAND ing habit, the species
has, of course, di-
bird is about four and a half pounds, It verged widely from the ways of its ant-
has a glossy grcen and blue-black neck and aretie relatives, the reproduetive season of
back, a white throat-patch, which is a con- the latter being rigidly lixed by the cli-
spieuous mark in llight, a white ander matic cycle.
surface, and pinkish feet. During tlie Individual pairs of guanayes are be-
courtship season a crest of plumes de- lieved commonly to rear two broods dur-
velops at the back of tlie head. ing a single year. The rlight of the last
The guanay's iris is brown, but an area families of the young of one season, in
of green, naked skin surronnding the May or June, is, at any rate, followed
orbit makes it look at dose ränge like a hard by the courting and love-making of
veritable personilication of envy. A sec- adults in preparation for the breeding
ond ring of turgid red skin outside the season of the second spring.
staring "green eye" heightens its extraor- In early October, 1919, when the writer
dinary expression. arrived at the far-famed Chincha Islands,
Since the fame of the guanay proeeeds off Pisco, Peru, the resident guanayes
chiefly from sheer numbers, it is not un- were in the early stages of mating. From
natural that observers have made ex- this place and date, as investigations were
tremely high estimates or guesses concern- carried northward from island to island,
ing the population of its colonies. The successive manifestations of the birds'

Copyright© National Geographie Society, All Rights Reserved

 THE MOST VALUABI.E BIRD IN THE WORLD 280

life history were re-

vealed. until at Lobos
de Tierra, in January,
1920, full-fledged
young were observed
taking to the ocean,
quite independent of
parental care.
At South Chincha
Island in mid-Octobcr
the breeding grounds
w e r e covered with
just one year's ac-
cumulation of s u n -
baked guano, and the
cormorants were get-
ting ready to nest
again. They stood in
compact bodies, cach
comprising thousands
of birds, and, when a
h u m a n being ap-
proached, all those on
the nearer side began
to stir—not en bloc
nor yet individually,
but in groups of a
few hundred, each of
which for the time
constituted a unit.
One group would
move rapidly away,
the b i r d s carrying
themselves bolt up-
right. Another group
would advauce toward
the observer, so that UOMEWARD rsOL-\D GUANAYES ABOVE TUE CHINCHA ISLANDS
this section of the The birds are seen from directly beneath and are in characlcristic
army would gleam wedge and line formations.
with white breasts in-
stead of shiny, dark backs. Still another moments the number returning to earth
unit would rush to the right or to the left, once niore exceeded the number taking
so that botli the dark backs and the white wing.
breasts showed at once, and the long bills
and red nasal warts became conspieuous. TUE IIUM OF COUNHESS WINGS
Such closelv huddled companies soon When an observer makes bis way
collided with others moving in different slowly and very quietly into tlie heart of
directinns, producing much confusion a colony in which nesting has definitely
about the margins. A few of the birds begun, the guanayes gradually retreat,
showed no fear at all, stolidly permitting and one may sit down in a clear circle
a man to approach within a few feet. which is at first 50 or more feet in diam-
Tlie greater proportion, however, franti- eter. But almost imperceptibly the birds
cally took to flight, rushing helter-skelter will edge in again, until the bare circle
down a slope and raising a cloud of dust narrows to but three or four paces. From
with their whistling wings. The air be- such a point of view it seems as if the
came bewilderingly thick with birds as ground were covered with as many pairs
thev circlcd overhead, but within a few of sprawling webbed feet as there is room

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290
Copyright© National Geographie Society, All Rights Reserved
 THE MOST VALUABLE 131RD IN THE WORLD 291

for, and yet new arrivals plump down by Indubitable quarreis between birds of
scores or hundreds every minute. dilterent pairs also go on without cessa-
Over the ocean, moreover, to the north, tion, and occasionally many join in a
soutli, east, and west, one may commonly melee. Every now and then, for example,
see endless black riles still pouring in to- some unfortunate guanay, which seems to
ward the island (see pp. 296, 297, 298). be the butt of all bystanders, will go
The huni of wings is like the effect of dashing through the throng, holding its
an overdose of quinine lipon the ears, and head as high as possible in order to avoid
the combined voices seem like mutterings the jabs and bites which all others direct
of the twelve tribes of Israel. It reminds at it. If the victim would but stop flee-
one of all sorts of stränge, oppressive ing, perbaps the blows would cease, but
roarings, such as the noise of railroad it keeps more and more desperately run-
trains in river tunnels. ning the gantlet, flapping its wings,
The near-by voices, which can be dis- bumping into innumerable neighbors, un-
tinguished individually, are merely sono- til eventually it bursts from the vicious
rous bass grunts and "screepy" calls. It crowd into a clear space, shakes itself
is the multiplication of such sounds by with an abused air, and opens and shuts
numbers almost too large to imagine that its mouth many times with an expression
makes the outlandish and never-to-be- of having just swallowed an unpleasant
forgotten babel. dose.
Toward evening of such October days
1-*T\1-: SUITORS SEEK ONE BIRü's FAVOR
most of the guanayes would be courting,
after strenuous hours at sea, during which In the early stages of courtship it often
all their energies had doubtless been de- happens that several cocks select the same
voted to winning the sustenance of life. female for their addresses. In one in-
Privacy does not enter into their notion stance, five assiduous suitors, all with
of fitness, and while six or seven birds necks expanded, were observed bowing
occupy each square yard of ground, the around a single hen, which crouebed in
love-making antics are often in füll prog- their midst.
ress. These are in general not unlike the But by no means all the birds are en-
courtship habits of the closely related gaged in love-making at every moment,
antarctic cormorants.* for they spend much time preening their
Two guanayes stand side by side, or feathers, fre<|iiently raising the coverts of
breast to breast, and ludicrously wave the tail and thrusting the bill toward the
their heads back and forth or gently caress oil gland. Thcn, after combing their
each other's necks. The crests upon their heads and necks thoroughly with their
crowns are frequently erected, and tlie claws—a real feat in balancing—they
feathers of the nape puff out so that the promenade in small troupes along the
velvety necks appear twice their normal outer edge of the colony.
thickness. Checks nnd chin-pouches con- Visible actions, rather than unusual
tinually tremble, and chattering bills are sounds, alarm the courting birds. A
held wide open. quick motion of the hand will start sud-
den pandemonium. Even wlien an ob-
RIWX1NG TUE CAXTLET server rises to leave them as slowly,
Now and again one will bend its body silently, and unostentatiously as possible,
forward and at the same time extend the a small panic inevitably results, many of
hcad upside down along the spine and the ncarer birds beginning to scamper
toward the tail, holding this curious, ahout or to take llight.
paralyzed attitude for several seconds. On the other hand, the firing of a gun
Sometimes the birds of a pair snap so straight into the air produces scarcely a
mach at one another that it is hard to stir, provided the weapon is not bran-
jiulge whether they are making love or dished The effect of human conversation
quarreling. is, however, most amusing. Whenever
the writer, sitting perfectly still, has be-
* See pages 437 and 438 of the author's article, gun to talk to the guanayes in a loud
"South Georgia, an Outpost of the Antarctic,"
in the NATIONAL GI-OCüAPHIC MAGAZINE for voiee, a silence has fallen over all the
April, 1922. audience within hearing. Their mumbles

Copyright® National Geographie Society, All Rights Reserven"

2fl2 THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE

which can be heard

from afar. It is
often audible during
morning fogs, when
the Bocks are invisi-
ble, and as a boat
draws near such a
gathering it is easy
tomistake the sound
f o r t h e dreaded
crashing of waves
upon unseen rocky
shores.
HOMEWARD FLICHT
A WONDERFUL
SPECTACLE
Inhabitants of the
Peruvian coast are
agreed that the gua-
nayes never spend
the night upon the
ocean, as the native
pelicans often do,
but that they return
to their island roost-
ing p 1 a c e s even
when the journey
involves a flight
which must con-
tinue long after
dark. The writer
has s o m e t i m e s
watched f r o m 2
o'clock in the after-
noon until night fall,
or for about five
hours, while they
CONDOKS BENT ON DESTRUCTION AND SOARING ABOVE THE streamed uninter-
GUANAY COLONY ON ASIA ISLAND ruptcdly homeward.
Tlie great birds, wliich are ordinarily pure scavengers, have become A few white gan-
vcry detinitely birds öf prcy on tlie coast of Peru. They make periodical nets (Stria varic-
raids froni the high Cordillera for the purpose of eating eggs of the gata) often aecom-
guano birds (sce text, pagc 293).
pany them, as if
filling honorary positions in the line, but
and grunts die away, and they listen for
ftilly 999 in every thousand birds are
a while as if in amazement.
gnanayes.
During the course of a few hours' rest-
ing on any Island the birds get much be- The grandest sight of the day, when
fottled with fresh guano, which hardens the homeward flight is at its maximum,
lipon their plumage. They periodically usually comes during the hour before
rid themselves of this by rlying some dis- sunset. From some point far away the
tance off the lee side of the island, where birds make a bee line for the center of
they plunge and violently beat the water their island, but, as they near their desti-
with their wings. nation, they invariably skirt the shores so
Sometimes most of the inhabitants of as to come down across the wind.
a colony will make their toilet in this way The instinet of following a leader is
at one time, producing a tlninderoiis roar, evidently strong; if, for any reason, a file

Copyright© National Geographie Society, All Rights Reserved

 THE MOST VALUABEE BIRD IN THE WORLD 293

A GOVERNMENT GUARDIAN OF TUE CHINCHAS WITII TWO CONDORS W1IICII HE HAS

SHOT ON TUE IIEIGIITS OF SAN GAU.AN ISLAND
Condors riflc the nests of the guanayes and suck the eggs through their trough-shaped tongues
(sec text, page 294).
is broken, and the rear birds turn toward
the left coast instead of the right, those
behind will obey the signal and all Swing
into the new course. Close over gulches
and ridges of their home island the 011-
coming streams of birds flow, the sepa-
rate "rivulets" cutting across each other
like the blades of scissors. At the same
tinie these flies also rise and fall in beauti-
ful undulations, which can best be seen
from the crest of a hill above them.
Sometinies three or more such lines
will flow along for a white 10 or 15 yards
apart, but sooner or later one of them
will make leeway until two files inter-
weave. Then the soft, humming swish
of wings is interjected with sharp clicks
as the quills of two guanayes strike to-
gether in air. When one beholds the end-
less mingling, the crossing and recrossing
and tangling of the lines, it seems incred-
ible that more birds do not clash (see
illustrations, pages 297 and 298).
THE ENEMIES OF THE GUANAYES
It goes without saying that such gre-
garious creatures as the guanayes must
have natural enemies to prey upon their
abundance. The sea Iions of the coast
have been accused of devouring the lledg-
lings when they lirst take to water, but, so
far as the writer's observations go, there
is little evidence to Support the charge.
The naked, black-skinned, and very
ugly chick.s, which hatch from rather
small greenish eggs, are apt to be thickly
infested with feäther-eating lice (Maüo-
phaga) transferred from the plumage of
their parents, and yet, so long as the sen-
sitive nestlings are sbielded from the bot
sun, they seem to suffer no ill effects from
these parasites. Other birds, in fact, ap-
pear to be their only serious enemies.
When the writer landed upon Asia
Island, off central Peru, on Decetnber 4,
1919, great destruction of guanay eggs
had been wronght by gulls, turkey vul-
tures, and condors. Although a colony
containing countless eggs and yottng still
covered about half of the western slope,
extending from the summit almost to the
water and Alling a deep ravine as well as
the rounded hillside, the other half had
become a waste of empty nests and

Copyright® National Geographie Society, All Rights Reserved

294 THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE
i of guano which constituted the rim of
PORTRAIT OF AN INCUBATING GUANAY
Three examples of parasitic flies belonging to
a group which lives in the feathers of birds can
bc secn on the head of tliis individual.
broken eggshells and Iiad been deserted
for the season by the parent birds.
Early in the morniug of Ulis day, gua-
nayes were leaving their breeding ground
to pour out over the Pacific in an un-
broken coluinn, which was following a
school of fish in a tremendous sigmoid
curve toward the north. The colony was,
however, still densely peopled with honie-
keepers—i. e., the birds of each pair
which had remained to Cover the eggs or
the ncwly hatched, squeaking chicks (see
page 306).
The nests were luxuriantly feathered
with ijiolted quills, which, by the way, the
brooding birds were forever stealing from
one another's foundations. Manv walked
about carrying bunches of feathers, or
flew elsewhere with a bill füll.
In the heart of the colony stood a con-
dor, with a small circle of abandoned and
rirled nests roundabout. When this pil-
ferer had been shot and picked up by the
feet, the albumen and mostly nnbroken
yolks of a round dozen fresh eggs sbd
out of its gullet. Scarcely any pieces of
shell were visible in this rieh meal, the
supposition being that condors must suck
the contents of the eggs through their
trough-shaped tongues.
Copyright© National Geographie Society, All Rights Reserved
Later in the month of Decembcr the
guanayes were observed in more ad-
vanced stages of the nesting period at the
Pescadores and Huaura Islands, to the
northward of Callao. Herc their robber-
enemies were less in evidence, perhaps
because the govemnient guardians had
been using their guns freely, and few
empty nests or broken eggs were noted.
Although a certain proportion of the
adults were ineubating new sets, the lat-
ter probably represented second broods,
for the nests were exceedingly large, and
the quills which had once formed a lining
were now buried deeply under the craters
each nest Chamber. Moreover, nearly
full-grown young, in pcpper-and-salt
plumage, were abundant everywhere (see
illustration, page 287).
These chicks were inclined to be indis-
creet in wandering away from their own
heaelquarters; whereupon they would
presently be chastised by old birds and
would have to scurry ignominiously back
to their respective home sites.
YOUNG GUANAYES TEASK PARENT DIRDS
Among the larger chicks the approved
method of obtaining food was to shiver
and plead before their eiders until the
latter acted as though they were frantic
from the teasing. As ' 'ng, indeed, as the
adults were at the ne: is, the youngsters
never let up trying to ram their heads
down the parental throats, and it was
nothing unusual to see two or even three
dive together into a capacious and well-
stocked crop,
At this season the sound coming from
a colony bore some resemblance to an
April frog-chorus, for the high-pitched
voices of the chicks tended to drown out
the munibling of the old birds.
Still older fledglings had gone down in
droves to the quiet rock pools around the
shores, where they flapped their wings
and dived until they had beconie proli-
cient in the ways of maturity. Late every
afternoon thousands of these apprentices
could be seen scrambling up the steep
hillsides from their training grounds,
striving to get back with the crowd before
dark.
Such was their stränge indifference to
the presence of man that they made no
 THE MOST VALUABLE BIRD IN THE WORLD 295

TN TIIK MIDST OF TUE PRINCIPAL COLONY Ol? THE PESCADORES ISLANDS

At this timc the chicks wcre mostly full-fledged and ncarly as large as their parents.

protest when we picked thera up by their
pinions and helped them on their way.
FLEDGLINGS INDIFFERENT TO FRESENCE
OF MAN
This lack of fear is not necessarily in-
nate. It may be due ratlier to the fa-
miliarity of the birds witb guardians who
never härm them, an idea suggested dur-
ing a later visit to an isulated colony of
guanayes on the large Island of Lobos de
Tierra, where both old and young were
unwontedly timid and where all the
chicks that were big enougli to walk left
their nests pell-mell at the approach of a
human heing.
At Mazorca Island, of the Huaura
group, a splendid colony of guanayes oc-
cupied practically all of the southern or
windward slope, from the very brink of
low precipices, over which the spray flew,
to the crest of the island.
Breeding gannets mingled to a certain
extent with the cormorants along the
lower border of the nesting ground. A
few birds of both kinds had established
themselves also on the northern slope, out
of the wind, but here their enemies had
been active and had succeeded in devour-
ing niany eggs.
It seems to be characteristic of the vul-
tures and gulls to attack at the edges
rather than in the midst of a colony, and
thus they tcnd to annihilate projecting
portions and small outlying groups. Per-
haps this is one of the evolutionary fac-
tors which have caused the guanayes to
breed in such compact hordes.
NO CUANAY MISTAKES ITS NEST
The birds at Mazorca were most tena-
cious in clinging to their nests, even when
a man stepped over them. In latc after-
noon many of the broods were covered by
both parents, which were so huddled to-
gether that they looked like single birds
with two heads. One usually had a
wing, for instance, over the back of its
mate. When approached, they bristled
all over until their plumage resembled
that of Japanese bronze eagles. They
would then wave their heads threaten-
ingly and hiss with widely opencd bills.
In the forenoon the colony usually ap-
peared thin and gray when viewed from
the lofty balcony of the lighthouse; but

Copyright® National Geographie Society, All Rights Reserved

296 THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE

by 3 o'cloek in tlie aftcrnoon it would

be Black, owing to tlie return of tens
of thousands of additional birds. Be-
fore alighting, most of tlie home-
comers soared back and forth consider-
ably in die fresh breeze.
Whenever one canie to earth in the
wrong place, it would immediately dis-
close its mistake by what can only be
called a "lost" expression. ütber gua-
nayes in the vicinity would grasp tlie
cc Situation at once and would then as-
Ol sault the newcomer, forcing it to take
wing again at much sacriiice of dignity.
It was a genuine misfortune for birds
to aligilt where they were not welcome,
for they seldoni got off without belog
thoroughly pecked and jabbcd.
Such extraordinary reactions answer
the question, so oftcn asked, as to
whether colonial birds always find tlieir
individual homes among mvriads of
seemingly identical nest-hollows dis-
tributcd over acres of undifferentiated
surface. Above all eise. Nature jeal-
ously guards the unity of the faniily;
each mated pair must fulfill its own
Obligation of rearing offspring to ma-
turity, and every unconscious tendency
to depart from this responsibility is
dipped in the bud.
w
PERU EN'FORCES WISE CONSERVATION
l'OUCY

The guanayes have not always had

the freedom from disturbance which
they now enjoy along the whole Iciigth
n f the Peruvian coast. Dr. Coker has
described the decades of mismanage-
ment which cnded in the exhaustion of
the ancicnt guano deposits and in such
a vast rcductiiin of the insular bird life
that the future of the national agricul-
ture was seriously threatened.
The rehabilitation of guano trafric,
the conversion of an exploitation into
a true industry, the repopulation of the
harren rocky islands with colonies of
birds whose numbers may be compared
with those of the llocks protected by
the aboriginal Indians, and the building
up from the wreck of the past of the
greatest of all business enterprises
based upon the conservation of wild
animals, make an inspiring story of
modern Peru.

Copyright© National Geographie Society, All Rights Reserved

 0
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297
Copyright© National Geographie Society, All Rights Reserved
298 THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE

1IOMEWAKD-BOUND GUANAYES, IN CHARACTERISTlC WHIPLASII FORMATION, AUOVß

CENTRAL CHINCHA ISLAND (SEE TEXT, PAGE 20,2)

In the short space of fifteen years the redations which hacl formerly caused
larger part of the change has been ac- havoc in the colonies, ceased at once. The
complished. The contract System of old method of extracting guano without
guano extraction, with its cutthroat com- regard to the presence or condition of the
petition and waste, has been abolished, birds has, of course, been abolished.
and control has been centered in a Na- The islands, under the new rule, are
tional Guano Administration, the policy worked according to a System of rotation
of which makes immediate advantage sec- which leaves ample and congenial breed-
ondary to a rigid protection of the birds ing grounds always available. Courting
lipon which future resources de])end. or nesting birds are shielded with particu-
Credit for the reOrganization belongs in lar care.
the main to the farsighted and patriotic Aloreover, after removal of the guano.
Citizens of Peru who succeeded in push- an island is promptly vacated and is there-
ing through, against odds, the necessary after given over to the complete posses-
legislation, but the inrluence of foreign sion of the birds for a period of approxi-
investigators, such as Dr. H. 0 . Forbes mately thirty months, at the expiration of
and Dr. Coker, trittst by no means be over- which the date for a renewal of digging
Iooked. Operations is determined only after thor-
The first undertaking of the National ough reconnaissance.
Guano Administration, under the able di-
rectorship of Senor Francisco Ballen, was ANNUAL OUTPUT OF FF.RTII.IZER IN-
CREASES FR0M 25,000 TO 90,000 TONS
to make each of the numerous guano
islands a bird sanctuary, closed at all sea- The creation of a technical section of
sons of the year to unauthorized visitors. the Guano Administration, in charge of
Coni]>etent guardians, with duties an agricultural engineer, Senor J. A. de
scarcely less exacting than those of light- Lavalle y Garcia, has resulted in impor-
house-keepers, were posted as permanent tant scientific work upon the islands, in-
residents upon every group. cluding meteorological and zoölogical
Clandestine guano extraction, the steal- investigations, and a detailed study of
ing of eggs for food or for the use of the diseases of the birds. The same depart-
albumen in Clearing wine, and other dep- ment has also conducted a progressive

Copyright© National Geographie Society, All Rights Reserved

 TIIK MOST VAI.UABI.E BIKD IX TIIK WORLD 209

GUANAYES OF TUE CHINCHAS DUKIXG TIIK COURTSIIII' SKASOX, HKKORE TIIK BIR0S
IIAVK SKI.ElTED SITES EüK TIIK1K XKSTS

They are all panting bccausc of the extreme Iieat of the sun reflected frum the guano-covercd
surface.

#?^**fc

• •

4
•t

• •>.

HAVOC (.'Al'SKD 1!Y CONDORS IN THE Gl'AXAY COI.OXV OX ASIA »LAND

This dead city of guanayes extendcd over many acres, the condors and otlier rapacious
birds having devoured the eggs and newly hatched chicks in thousands of nests (see text,
page 293).

Copyright® National Geographie Society, All Rights Reserven1

 TUE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE

CENTRAL CHINCHA tStAND IN MID-AJTERNOON, W11IC\ TUE GUANAYES ARE

HEGINNING TD SETTl.K AND TO SI'READ OV'ER ITS SLKEACE
Dark masses of hirds cau bc Seen on the sunimit nf the hill.

TUE IIOMK-KEEI'ERS: I'ARENT GUAN'AVES PROTECTING THEIR NESTS

This is part of the colony on Asia Island during the middle of the day, when the other half
of the nesting hirds was away at sea. These guanayes guard the eggs and young birds from
their encmies and from the heat of the sun (see text, page 294).

Copyright© National Geographie Society, All Rights Reserved

 THE MOST VAI.UABI.F. BIRD IX THE WORLD 301

GUANAYES 0 \ ASIA ISLAND AT AliOUT THK IIATCIIIN'G DATF, OF TUR YOUNG BIRDSI
AIiri.T BIRDS ARE SKF.N SI'AKTING TO SKA
The long, hook-like file Stretches out {or a distancc of some two miles over the quiet Pacific.

DAAD GUANAYF.S COLLECTF.D BY Tili; GUARDIAN* AT CENTRAL CHINCHA ISLAM)

These birds represent not the restilt of an epidemic. but merely the normal mortality in a
cotony containiug several luindred tliousands of birds. In order to prevent the pussihle spread
oi infection, tlie dead guanaycs are heaped up in this way, saturatcd with oil, and bumcd.

Copyright© National Geographie Society, All Rights Reserved

302 THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE

r
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.T

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r „ •*• ' .
K' •
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^ ^ " ^ • *T "S1
•^p-,v ^T^^gjf^^^^m
m

"WJL

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• •••••"'*' "
*.r il i' -JT »

W/9T i J ^ y i^f^W^t^p*
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mUrttf A rfflmm . Ji '
\L.w 'HP*^LL tut.*
A FLOURISHTNG COLONY OF GUANAYES ON SANTA ROSA ISLAND, INDEPF.N'DEN'CIA HAY

advertising campaign in order to make the
value and availability of guano familiär
to'planters throughout the Republic.
The regime of the National Guano
Administration, with its wcll-balaneed
regard for bnth husiness and conserva-
tion, has resulted in a nearly uniform
growth in the increment of natural fer«
tilizer. Ten years ago the annual Output
was less than 25.000 tons, while to-day
it is about 90,000 tons, of which 70,000
tans are used in Peru and the remainder
exported.
Even to-day's figures may seem small
when compared with the many million
tons of guano shipped from the Peruvian
Islands duriog the latter half of the nine-
teenth Century. But the old exploitation
only drew upnn the deposits of past ages,
with a constantly diminishing return,
while the new method builds up its future
as it goes.
The guanayes, as well as birds of lesser
importance, are rapidly repopulating the
anccstral brceding grounds.
Unless quite unexpected circumstances
intervene, it is probable that the im-
pressive, Streaming flocks, which alone
connote a healthy and productive condi-
tion of the guano-making colonies, may
always be seen along the famed scacoast
of the Incas.

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