THE BASS ROCK AND ITS BIRDS. 145 



mots breeding on St. Kilda. During my visit I 

 must have examined tliousands of eggs of the 

 Guillemot, yet I did not meet with one specimen 

 remarkable for special beauty of colouring. The 

 St. Kildan in taking these eggs has no eye what- 

 ever to their beauty, all are picked up indiscrimin- 

 ately, but as the handsome eggs are much the 

 rarest they are by far the soonest exterminated. I 

 think it may be safely said, that wherever the eggs 

 of the Guillemot are much taken, the standard of 

 brilliancy and variety of colour will be a low one. 

 I have remarked in the case of the Ring Ouzel, the 

 Song Thrush, the Common Sandpiper, the Rook, 

 and some other species, that in certain districts the 

 eggs have been much more richly marked than in 

 others, and this relatively higher standard of beauty 

 has been maintained for many seasons in succession. 

 The subject is one of considerable interest to the 

 scientific oologist, and requires careful investigation. 

 But to return to the Bass. Here and there a 

 few Razorbills may be met with, but the bird is 

 scarce and the eggs difficult to obtain. More 

 interesting, owing to its greater abundance, is the 

 Puffin. There is a very remarkable colony of this 

 species established here in the masonry of the old 

 fortress overlooking the sea, whilst numbers of 



