276 OUR RARER BIRDS 



many eggs in their hurried departure ; and by the time we 

 have reached the summit not a bird is left, but the white 

 rock is thickly strewed with hundreds upon hundreds of 

 their beautiful eggs of almost every conceivable variety of 

 colour. The sea is now one mass of Guillemots, waiting 

 patiently for us to leave, when they will hurry back again to 

 their e<]jos. 



Many Guillemots breed at the Bass Eock, and I have 

 taken their eggs from most parts of the cliffs, but nowhere do 

 the birds crowd so thickly together as at the world-famed 

 " Pinnacles." At the Bass the Guillemot lays its egg on the 

 narrow ledges and amongst the little chinks and cracks. It 

 has been said that the pear-shaped egg of this bird is so 

 formed as to turn round on its own axis when blown by the 

 wind. This statement is erroneous, and was never made by 

 one who had explored the cliffs and seen the eggs of the 

 Guillemots on the ledges. The theory must have originated 

 through some learned book-maker rollincj and blowinf^j the 

 egg-shells of this bird about his study table ! Of the 

 absolute boat-loads of ef^grs of this bird which I have taken 

 in almost every part of its rocky home, I have never seen 

 one saved from falling over the cliffs by so turning on its 

 axis ; and I have been down the rocks many a time in half a 

 gale of wind. The birds in their hurry to leave the rocks 

 often knock their eggs over into the sea ; but as a rule the 

 eggs are laid on uneven ground in hollows of the shelves and 

 ledges, where they are absolutely safe. I have often been 

 amused, when exploring the cliffs for the eggs of this bird, to 

 see an old Guillemot pushing her egg from under her with 

 her feet as I approached, previous to quitting the rocks for 

 the sea beneath ; and it is more than probable that the 

 sitting-birds are very careful when they leave their eggs 

 voluntarily. At St. Kilda, too, the Guillemot breeds in 

 incredible numbers. The birds may be seen sitting in long 



