SULE SKERRY, ORKNEY, AND ITS BIRD LIFE 23 



other. The young remain where hatched for over 2 weeks if 

 not disturbed, and I have seen a young one remain ashore 

 until fully fledged. They all, young and old, leave in 

 August. 



Very few of the Common Guillemots visit Sule Skerry. 

 Their great haunt is on the Stack, where they are to be 

 seen in myriads on the perpendicular side facing the west. 

 Crowds of them sometimes rest on the outlying reefs, 

 amongst which I have seen a few of the ringed form. 

 Every year there are a few eggs to be found in out-of-the- 

 way corners, but they are so seldom seen that they attract 

 very little attention. 



The Black Guillemot is a very regular visitor, arriving 

 off the island in February and March. An occasional one 

 in winter plumage may be seen in November and December, 

 but as a rule they do not winter near the island. They are 

 never seen ashore before the end of April, and don't lay till 

 the end of May. Their nests, in which are always 2 eggs, 

 are made under stones, or out-of-the-way crevices, and not 

 easily discovered. The young are fully feathered before 

 leaving the nest. 



In the early spring a few Kittiwakes make their appear- 

 ance, but, unlike the Puffins, their time of arrival is very 

 irregular. Every year from 6 to 10 pairs hatch their young 

 in the most inaccessible part of the island. The work of 

 nest building with them is a serious piece of labour, but 

 before they begin, an unusually long period is devoted to 

 love-making. From the end of March till the middle of 

 May they seem to do nothing but make love, sitting on or 

 near the ledges where they intend building, billing and 

 cooing the whole day long. They always build in a some- 

 what similar manner to the Swallow, the chief constituent of 

 the nest being mud plastered on to the side of a rock. The 

 mud is mixed with dried grass to keep it together, and the 

 inside is finished with a layer of soft dry grass. They lay 

 3 eggs about the end of May or ist June. Every year 

 large flocks visit the island in July, sometimes remaining till 

 the end of August. 



Next to Puffins in numbers are the Terns the Arctic 

 Tern. They are also like the Puffin in their regularity of 



