THE RAZORBILL 



71 



cliff is full of crevices and cracks, and the broad platforms 

 thickly strewn with big boulders that have from time to time 

 fallen from above. The Eazorbill must have a cranny or a 

 hole of some kind in which to lay its ^gg. Where the cliffs 

 are very rugged and broken, I have often known it wander 

 under the loose rocks for several yards and lay its ^gg in a 

 place absolutely inaccessible. The rugged cliffs at Flam- 

 borough are the Eazorbill's paradise ; but the wild precipices 

 of St. Kilda make even these large colonies look small and 

 insignificant. I have taken the eggs of the Eazorbill in 

 many places and in all parts of the cliffs, yet I have never 

 seen them in the open. As you climb barefooted along ..the 

 face of the rugged rocks, the Eazorbills on every side eye you 

 with suspicion. Sitting bolt upright, the birds sway their 

 heavy bodies from side to side, and often bob their heads up 

 and down ; and as you approach them still more closely they 

 dart downwards into space on rapid wing to the wild 

 tumultuous sea hundreds of feet below. You may also 

 hear them scrambling about in the rock fissures, and catch 

 momentary glimpses of dozens of birds peej)ing out of the 

 nooks and from under the boulders. Birds are ever leaving 

 the cliffs and returning to them ; on every little projection 

 a Eazorbill or other rock-bird is sitting. The Eazorbills in 

 many cases are so reluctant to leave their %gg that you may 

 catch them in your hand as they crawl out of the crevices. 

 The Eazorbill lays one ^gg only, but if this is taken she will 

 lay a second and often a third or a fourth, if they are as 

 repeatedly removed. The bird makes no nest of any kind. 

 On the bare rocks or loose soil under them the egg is laid. I 

 am of opinion that the Eazorbill pairs for life, and every 

 season frequents one particular part of the cliffs. I once 

 took the egg of this bird from a Puffin's burrow on the 

 island of Doon, and I was assured by my companion 

 Donald that this one burrow was occupied by a pair of 



