A Fortiiighf s Stay on Los Far a Hones 383 



only discover a very small spring of water, so thoroughly impreg- 

 nated with guano, that even after being boiled and allowed to 

 settle, it was very strong, although I conclude not unhealthy, as 

 none of us suffered any bad effects from its use. Besides the 

 guillemot, there were other birds laying on the island. First there 

 were the gulls, but they do not lay in the profuse and promis- 

 cuous manner of the guillemot. We had to search for their nests. 

 They were generally to be found in little cozy nooks, where the 

 detrition of the rocks had foniied miniature valleys. The nests 

 were neatly constructed of dry grass, and usually contained three 

 eggs, sometimes two, rarely four. These eggs were very different 

 from the others. Smaller than a hen's egg, of nearly the same 

 shape, of a light olive-brown colour, sprinkled profusely with streaks 

 of a darker shade, and with a very thin shell. As an article of 

 food we soon discovered their superiority, and during our sojourn 

 on the island used none but them. 



Next, there were the puffins, or sea parrots, as our sailors 

 called them. They build their nests, or rather I should say they 

 lay their egg (they lay but one) in crevices, or holes in the rocks, 

 sometimes so far in as to be beyond reach. These puffins very 

 much resemble those which come to breed on the small islands off 

 the coast of Wales and Scotland (in which latter country they are 

 called coultemebs or Tammie Norries), but are more beautiful, 

 inasmuch as they are adorned by a long silky tuft of a golden 

 yellow, on each side of their head. The egg is white, and nearly 

 round. On one occasion I ventured to put my hand into a hole, 

 when the bird was on its nest, and got a terrible bite for my pains. 

 Their beak is very strong indeed, designed, I believe, for cracking 

 mussel shells, and admirably adapted for the purpose. 



Then there were the shags, but they built their nests on the very 

 summit of the highest pinnacle in the island. This abode looked 

 inaccessible from below, but I scaled it without much difficulty, 

 and found on the top a platform, on which there were several 

 nests of these birds. The nests were very large, and shabbily con- 

 structed of sticks and sea-weeds. In one there was a brood of 

 young ones, fledged, and nearly ready for flight, or I might per- 

 haps better say, ready for sea. In the others there were eggs, 

 varying in number from five to seven, white, and not much larger 

 than a pigeon's egg : this struck me as strange, for the bird is much 

 bigger than the guillemot, whose egg is larger than a duck's. 



I only took a specimen of the eggs, as they did not seem to be 



