NOTES 215 



all June, and nine pairs still remain. With the exception of the 

 single pair which bred last year, this is the first season we have seen 

 any frequent here. As no eggs have been seen we cannot say for 

 certain that they are breeding. The most suitable ledges are taken 

 up by the Kittiwakes, which are more numerous than usual this 

 year. R. Clyne, Butt of Lewis. 



Fulmars at Fowlsheugh, Kincardineshire Coast. On iSth 

 June 1 9 14 we visited the famous bird-cliffs of Fowlsheugh, with 

 intent to discover whether the Fulmar had yet extended so far south 

 on the east coast of Scotland. Almost the moment we arrived one 

 sailed past us, along the face of the cliff, and on further investigation 

 we counted ten of these interesting birds flying about or sitting on 

 the ledges. We frequently saw them sitting in two different places 

 pretty close to each other; two were specially faithful to one spot 

 and we quite hoped they had an egg, but on putting them off, 

 found they were sitting on an empty hollow. We noticed, with 

 interest, their rather curious display ; two sat facing one another, 

 opened their beaks wide showing all the pale leaden-green interior, 

 and shook their heads from side to side, making the while a 

 clattering sound. When two birds were sitting on a ledge and a 

 third came up and lit, the two made a great deal of noise, clattering 

 loudly at the intruder. This struck us particularly, Fulmars being 

 generally described as very silent birds. Both phases of plumage 

 were represented, one of the ten being of the darker type, the 

 legs and feet were leaden-pink. As Fulmars seem to prospect 

 a new locality for a year or so before breeding there, next year we 

 shall hope to see a colony established on this famous bird-cliff. 

 The formation of the cliffs at Fowlsheugh is "sandstone con- 

 glomerate, pierced in many places by dykes and beds, of greenstone." 

 They consist largely of round boulders of varying size, cemented 

 together by softer material ; every here and there the boulders have 

 fallen out, leaving round holes. Almost every one of these was 

 crammed with breeding birds, and we saw Herring-gulls, Kittiwakes, 

 Razorbills, and Guillemots all nesting in these cavities, sometimes 

 so far in that only the tip of the beak or tail of the sitting bird could 

 be seen. It struck us as curious to find these birds breeding thus 

 under cover ; in some cases the Razorbills and Guillemots were 

 packed so tightly that it looked as if not one more could possibly 

 get in. We also noticed that almost all the Kittiwakes' nests were 

 much higher and more elaborately built than those on the cliffs of 

 the Isle of May. Leonora Jeffrey Rintoul, Evelyn V. Baxter, 

 and L. R. Sutherland, Largo, Fife. 



