STORM-PETREL. 1 39 



beyond description, most of the island being at an elevation of 

 three or four hundred feet above the level of the waves. 

 Rocky promontories stretched far into the sea; huge 

 masses of rock protruded from the ocean and rose one or two 

 hundred feet high. Here the waves dashed against perpen- 

 dicular cliffs, and there they foamed and fretted against craggy 

 piles of rocks ; and in many places the sea had hollowed out 

 caves underneath the cliffs or worn chasms in the coast, which 

 extended up into the mainland like Norwegian fjords. Such 

 was the home of the Stormy Petrel ; but at first we did not 

 suspect the existence of these birds on the island. The natives 

 (with whom we were obliged to converse through our 

 " Buttons," a young Celt who accompanied us to do the dirty 

 work) continually assured us that we should soon be able to 

 add the dainty dish of fried " Blasquet Chickens " to our 

 modest menu ; but it was not until the nth of September that 

 they were able to produce these wonderful birds, which proved 

 to be young Stormy Petrels, as large almost as their parents, 

 with half feathers, half down. Cooked on toast like Snipe, we 

 found them delicious eating, very rich, but not at all fishy. As 

 soon as we discovered that we were encamped in the midst of 

 a colony of these interesting birds we commenced a diligent 

 search, and soon found plenty of young, besides catching a few 

 old birds which were still sitting on unhatched eggs. The 

 nests, which seldom consisted of more than a dozen blades of 

 dead grass, were placed in holes in the rocks or the rough walls 

 put up to protect the little potato patches from the sheep. We 

 could often detect their presence in the evening by the faint 

 cry of the young bird clamouring for food, and in places where 

 the loose stones had been piled into heaps we found that the 

 removal of half of them often disclosed several nests to view. 



*'Onthe 17th of September I took the boat and crossed 

 over to the adjoining island of Inishnubro, and found many 

 young Petrels and a few still unhatched eggs. On this island 

 the nests were principally on the steep grassy slopes in old 

 rabbit burrows. We never by any chance saw a Stormy Petrel 

 on the wing during the day ; but when the nights became 

 enlivened by moonlight we could see them flying about like 

 bats, bringing food to their young. So far as we were able to 

 judge, this was entirely oil. As soon as the young bird was 



