20 Dr. R. 0. Cunningham on the Solan Goose. 



monarchs ; and more recently were much esteemed by the citi- 

 zens of Edinburgh and other towns, being roasted and eaten as 

 a relish before dinner. Now, I believe, their consumption is 

 chiefly limited to the lower classes ; and I have been informed 

 on good authority that, after being parboiled and having their 

 legs cut off, they are sold in considerable numbers to the Irish 

 peasants who come over to Scotland at harvest-time. 



Ailsa Ci-aig, the breeding-station of the Solan Goose in the 

 Firth of Clyde/ consists of a mass of columnar trap of a conical 

 form, rising nearly 1100 feet above the level of the sea. It is 

 about two miles in circumference, and there is only one point 

 where it is possible to land. The north-west side is almost 

 perpendicular, and composed of successive tiers of columns re- 

 sembling those of Staffa, but on a larger scale ; while the other 

 sides are clothed with grass, and gradually slope down to the 

 level of the sea. The Solan Geese build in great numbers on 

 the cliffs, and may be seen fishing in abundance in the neigh- 

 bourhood. 



St. Kilda, the outermost of the Hebrides, measures about 

 three miles long and two broad. Its sides are formed of per- 

 pendicular precipices, rising in some parts to a height of 1300 

 or 1400 feet, and it possesses but one landing-place, situated on 

 the south-east, which can only be reached in very propitious 

 weather. The Solan Geese form one of the principal sources of 

 the sustenance of the inhabitants, who make use of them in a 

 variety of ways — the women, for example, employing their 

 skin in the manufacture of shoes. 



In Iceland, according to Faber, the Solan Goose is much 

 more abundant in the south than in the north. It does not 

 appear to breed on the mainland, and its principal stations are 

 those islands which I have already mentioned. It comes to 

 them towards the end of April, and builds a large nest, princi- 

 pally of seaweed, which it often brings from a considerable dis- 

 tance. The egg is deposited about the middle of May, and the 

 young bird is hatched in the beginning of July. As in Britain, 

 the birds leave their breeding-places in October, and spend the 

 winter cruismg about the sea-coasts. 



Of the American breeding-stations of the Solan Geese we 



