COMMON RAZOR-BILL. 351 



islanders cheered themselves with the hope of a speedy fall of 

 rain, the sea having been unnsually distnrhed, although the 

 weather had heen calm, and this phenomenon, they said, 

 invariably indicated a change. 



The Island of Berneray is of an elliptical form, about a 

 mile in length, and upwards of half a mile in breadth. It 

 presents the appearance of a mass of rock, considerably in- 

 clined, the northern side dipping into the water, and the 

 southern exhibiting an abrupt section rising to the height of 

 several hundred feet. On a kind of peninsula, jutting out 

 from the face of this precipice, is the rude fort mentioned 

 above, in the form of a double wall laid across the isthmus, 

 and roofed with long slabs. Viewed from the sea, the rocks 

 present an imposing spectacle, exhibiting masses of inclined, 

 perpendicular, and projecting cliifs, smooth, largely cleft, or 

 minutely fissured. The whole face of the precipice, to the 

 extent of half a mile, was covered with birds which had 

 assembled there for the purpose of breeding. Only four 

 species were seen by me : the Guillemot, the Auk, the 

 Puffin, and the Kittiwake. These birds inhabit the cliifs, 

 not promiscuously, but with a degree of regularity and dis- 

 tinction which seems not a little wonderful. On the grassy 

 summits breed the Puffins, burrowing in the turf. From 

 thence to half way down is the space selected by the Auks, 

 while in the remaining division are stationed the Guillemots 

 and Kittiwakes, the latter coming almost to high-water mark. 

 The Auks and Guillemots lay each a single egg, which is 

 placed on the bare rock. On a shelf about three yards in 

 length, and as many feet in breadth, one may often see fifty 

 or sixty crowded into a solid mass, and each sitting on its own 

 egg. Such masses are of frequent occurrence, the shelves 

 being larger or smaller ; but in general two, or three, or four 

 are seen together, and sometimes an individual is seen sitting 

 solitarily, if one may say so, when it is surrounded by others 

 at no greater distance than three or four feet at farthest. 

 The Gull, on the other hand, forms a nest of grass and sea- 

 weeds, and lays two or three eggs. This, I believe, is the 

 most numerous species, and in many places covered the face 

 of the rocks ; but, in truth, the number of all the species 



