ii6 The Irish Nahcralist. 



all day long. It is kept up by many of the birds — at the time 

 of year referred to, when there are immense numbers of 3^oung 

 ones — quite irrespective of the presence of human visitors. 

 It was going on just the same when I approached the cliffs 

 the morning after arriving on the island, when there was a 

 thick mist which must have prevented my being seen. It 

 was a calm, quiet morning, and I heard the cries of the birds 

 when a quarter of a mile from the largest colony, and before I 

 saw a single bird. 



The Kittiwakes and Herring Gulls were perhaps the noisiest. 

 With the exception of the Kittiwakes on their nests, the birds 

 on the wing seemed to make most noise. Those on the rockr 

 and on the grass generall}^ remain silent, unless there is so«" 

 particular cause for alarm. Every now and then scorei i 

 Kittiwakes, seemingly all in the vicinity, set up loud cries, 

 sometimes when a Cesser Black-backed Gull, or other enemy, 

 or supposed enemy, came too near their nests, and then after 

 a time they relapsed into silence. 



After having spent the morning on the water, fishing, a 

 number of Cormorants congregated on one rock — a large 

 prominent one, from which a good look-out could be kept 

 — and rested as solemnl}^ and silently as the Puffins, until 

 towards evening, when they scattered themselves over the 

 water again. 



Though not as numerous as the Puffins, the Kittiwakes are 

 the most plentiful of the gulls on the island. They are the 

 latest with their nesting operations of any of the gulls, not 

 arriving at the island until near the end of May. They v/ere 

 all busily "sitting" at the time of our visit; and it was 

 an interesting sight to see their partners feeding the birds 

 on the nests. The latter seemed to feel the wearisomeness of 

 continued "sitting," for now and then, first one and then 

 another would stand up on the edge of the nest and stretch 

 its wings, or shake itself, and then settle down again. 



The Kittiwakes, with few exceptions, nest in compact little 

 colonies hy themselves, often so close together that neigh- 

 bouring nests and birds touch each other. The nests are 

 placed on slight ledges, or on very small projections on the 

 face of rough perpendicular cliffs, where it would be impossible 

 to obtain a foothold. ^ 



With the exception of Puffins and Herring Gulls, whose 

 nesting places are rather more widel}^ scattered, the different 

 kinds of sea birds, although nesting in considerable numbers, 

 in tolerably close proximity to each other, at the several 

 breeding places around the island, mostly form compact little 

 nesting colonies composed of their own species only. The 

 Guillemots and Razorbills nest on ledges, particularly about 

 large fissures or openings in the cliffs; Herring Gulls on 

 grassy slopes and ledges, or among broken rocks, nearly 

 always in places where you can easily walk up to the nests ; 



