THE ROCK-BREEDING BIRDS OF THE BUTT OF LEWIS 67 



hungrily claiming parentage of the white Wyandotte pullets 

 in the poultry-runs. 



In my opinion there are no British birds so elegantly 

 plumaged, so cleanly spick and span, as are the Kittiwake 

 Gulls, and they may well be chosen as emblems of purity. 

 They were first seen at their breeding cliffs on i/th April, 

 and began nest-building about the middle of May. Here 

 they land in two colonies not far apart. The first young 

 were seen on 2nd July; a few were on wing on 8th August; 

 on 28th there were still some late ones in the nests. Before 

 flying they also are seen violently exercising their wings, but 

 on their narrow nesting ledges they have comparatively little 

 room for the operation. In a convenient niche in the centre 

 of the largest colony, a brood of three Shags has been reared. 

 One unlucky pair of Kittiwakes had their nest on the same 

 ledge, only a foot or so from the recess of the Shags. One 

 day I observed a Shag attack one of the parent Kittiwakes, 

 and hold it (struggling, over the ledge) by one wing. As 

 there was only one chick, instead of the usual three, one 

 feels suspicious that Mr. Shag had at some evil moment 

 pushed the other eggs or chicks out of his way, though 

 latterly the young Shags and single Kitty have fraternised 

 and fledged together. 



Terns were first seen on I9th May. About forty pairs 

 bred on an outlying rock, and were unmolested this year. 

 Young were seen on 3rd July, and they all left their breeding 

 rock on /th August, and frequented the adjoining sandy 

 beaches. In rain and haze on the morning of I2th August, 

 five were flying in the rays of the light; and on I5th a 

 % young one was picked up in a dying condition, a quill 

 feather about seven inches long being fixed in its throat. 



Black Guillemots or Tysties returned to the rocks in 

 early March, and gradually increased in numbers as the 

 weather improved, and the sea got smoother, for they do not 

 care to remain near the rocks when a surf is breaking. 

 They seemed more numerous than in previous years, and 

 bred all along the rocks, even where they were not over 

 twenty feet in height. The Tysties are late breeders here, 

 and young were not seen until loth July, and one grey 

 chick was still in the nesting cleft on 25th August. It is 



