22 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



April, landed 22nd. 1899. First seen /th April, landed 

 1 6th. 1900. First seen I2th April, landed iSth. 1901. 

 First seen loth April, landed 1 8th. 1902. First seen 9th 

 April, landed 1 8th. After spending a few hours on the 

 island they all disappear, and don't land again for 2 or 3 

 days. But when they come back a second time there is no 

 ceremony about the business ; they come in straggling flocks 

 from all points of the compass, and at once start clearing 

 out the old nesting holes and making new ones. Early in 

 May they begin to lay the earliest observed was on 6th 

 May. The greater part of them burrow under ground in 

 the loose peaty soil, but large numbers lay their single 

 whitish egg under loose stones and rocks. We easily know 

 when the young are hatched by seeing the old birds coming 

 in from sea with herring fry or sand eels, which are carried 

 transversely in their bills. The sole work of the parents 

 for the next 3 or 4 weeks is fishing and carrying home 

 their takes to the young. The young are at first covered 

 with a thick coat of black down, and in about a fortnight 

 the white feathers on the breast begin to show. As near as 

 I can calculate, they are fully fledged in 4 weeks, when they 

 leave the land for what we may call their native element. 

 As soon as they get afloat, young and old leave the vicinity, 

 and about the middle of July we can easily detect that their 

 number is decreasing. After that time they dwindle away 

 day after day as the young are ready for the sea, until the 

 first week of September i ith September is the latest I 

 have seen one. If they all laid at one time and brought 

 out their young together, they would all be away in July ; 

 but accidents will happen, and so necessitate another effort 

 to obey the law of nature. This means delay, and while 

 the young one is alive the old one won't leave it. 



A considerable colony of Razor Bills visit the island for 

 breeding purposes. They generally arrive a week before 

 the Puffins, but rarely land before the ist of May. They 

 lay their single egg on a bare ledge, or under a large stone, 

 towards the end of May. Some authorities say that the 

 male bird brings food to its mate whilst sitting, but I have 

 never noticed this, though watching carefully to see if such 

 was the case. I have distinctly seen the one relieve the 



