THE MANX SHEARWATER 287 



night of my voyage to St. Kilda. Our smack, the Robert 

 Hadden, had lain becalmed in the Sound of Harris all day, 

 but at night we caught the breeze, and were soon bowling 

 along in grand style to the greatest bird bazaar our islands 

 can boast. About midway across we met with the Shear- 

 waters, and their gambols in the gloom were most interesting. 

 AVe must have passed hundreds of birds busy feeding 

 above the restless waves — birds all the way from their 

 grand colony on St. Kilda; but a flight of fifty miles is 

 nothing to a species of such rapid powerful wing. Not a bird 

 was heard to utter a sound of any description, though on 

 shore they are noisy enough, as we shall presently find when 

 we visit their breeding-places. The Shearwaters cease their 

 ocean flights at dawn, and hurry off on rapid wing to their 

 retreats. The Shearwaters are the Swifts of the ocean — their 

 long wings never seem to tire ; following the curves of the 

 mighty waves they search hundreds of miles of sea almost 

 every night of their lives. They are the night birds of the 

 watery wastes, coming out with dusk and going home with 

 dawn. 



St. Kilda is the grand headquarters of the British Shear- 

 waters, and there the present species is one of the commonest 

 of birds. Its great stronghold is on the island of Soay, although 

 many pairs are scattered up and down the grassy cliffs of Doon 

 and St. Kilda proper. For the greater part of the year the 

 Shearwater's island is absolutely inaccessible to man. It rises 

 sheer up from a troubled sea, save in one corner where the 

 rocks are broken and form a bit of rugged beach, over which 

 the tremendous Atlantic swell is almost constantly breaking. 

 The sole landing-place is in the narrow strait between the 

 island and St. Kilda, in which several stacks of rock rear their 

 hoary peaks from the water, birds in thousands clustering on 

 them in absolute safety. The island is covered with greenest 

 turf, and the soft soil is well adapted to the needs of the 



