190 



Pictures of Bird Life 



purpose in eiiablin<>- eud\ bird to identify its own eo<.-, wiiicli 

 would, if tlie et><>'s resembled one unotlier, be a matter of 

 some diffieulty. Tlieir remarkably pointed shape lias been 



supposed to be tor 

 the purpose of les- 

 sening the risk of 

 their rolling over 

 the edge of the 

 roek — a risk to 

 whieh they are pe- 

 euliarly liable, 

 being simply de- 

 posited on the bare 

 surfaee without the 

 slightest vestige of 

 nest to keep them 

 in position. It 

 nuist be admitted 

 that their shape 

 does make them 

 less likely to roll, 

 the tendency being 

 for them to re- 

 volve on their own 

 axis. 



Guillemots and Kittiwakes on the Pinnacles. 



All the birds are in constant motion, continually bowing 

 their heads up and down in a particularly grotesque fashion, 

 and emmged in preening their feathers and quarrelling with 



