BIRDS OF THE SEA 445 



brown. They are laid in some recess or lateral 

 cleft in the cliff without semblance of a nest. 

 When the young are hatched the parent birds may 

 be seen constantly flying, with drooping red legs, 

 to the nesting-place, bearing tiny fish in their bills. 



It has been said that when the little ones descend 

 to the sea the care of the parent ceases, and that 

 the young gather together in isolated companies. 

 I cannot believe, however, that this is invariably 

 or even usually the case; indeed I have many times 

 in August seen parties together which included 

 young birds plainly unable to fly. 



Although the Black Guillemot is generally con- 

 fined to the northern parts of Great Britain, it 

 breeds occasionally on the English coasts, and is 

 known to occur as a casual visitor about the rocks 

 of Flamborough. 



On the less exposed sides of the island the sheer 

 precipice falls away and its place is taken by 

 gentler declivities, where rank herbage grows 

 amidst detached boulders. Here, as well as upon 

 the isolated stacks and holms, the Great and the 

 Lesser Black-backed Gulls congregate, and here 

 their deep nests of dry grass may be found. The 

 eggs of both are usually three in number and are 

 of a drab or light-olive ground colour, blotched 

 with grey and dark-brown. 



As he soars, snowy-breasted, against the blue 

 sky, the Great Black-backed Gull is a singularly 

 majestic bird : the largest of his race. His pow^er 

 is matched by his voracity, and not content with 

 fish or with the W'holesale destruction of eggs and 



