92 THE GANNET 



are not very accessible at Ailsa, and it requires nerve to 

 clamber down to them.* As at the Bass Rock the nests 

 are chiefly composed of seaweed, and great untidy heaps 

 some of them are, while others are so trodden down that 

 they hardly deserve the name of nests. As long ago as the 

 fourteenth century the size of these substantial structures 

 attracted attention, but as a matter of fact some are not 

 more than eighteen inches in diameter. Besides the seaweed 

 a great deal of the Red Campion and Bladder-Campion 

 which grow upon Ailsa, is made use of, and I believe also 

 stalks of the bracken, but they have their choice of materials 

 for the flora of the Craig is luxuriant to the extent of 

 rankness. " Nowhere," says Mr, Lawson, " will you see 

 such beds of Wild Hyacinth, Red Campion, Bladder- 

 Campion, and Scurvy-Grass. "t The Tree-Mallow is also 

 found, and several kinds of fern, and many other plants 

 known to botanists. 



As T expected, very few young Gannets were hatched by 

 June 27th — the date of our visit — for which we were sorry. 

 One youngster, about as large as a Turtle-Dove, and just 

 below me, was donning its jacket of white down, while 

 another, about two days' old, was of a dark grey tint, 



* Afterwards at the Bass Rock I found indiarubber-soled shoes very 

 useful for rock climbing. 



•{• Lawson's " Ailsa Craig," p. GO. 



