120 BRITISH BIRDS. [vol. vi. 



the help of an " electric torch " and the beetle-net we 

 captured and " ringed " about twenty-five birds in as 

 many minutes, as they fluttered along the ground before 

 rising into the air. It was most unfortunate that I had 

 to leave the island then, as I wished to observe when the 

 Shearwaters and Petrels returned to their nests. Mathew 

 writes {o}). cit., p. 405) : " At the first streak of dawn the 

 noise of the birds (Shearwaters) gradually ceased, and 

 when the sun was up silence again reigned, and all had 

 returned to their burrows." The sun rises at 3.44 on 

 July 19th. The Shearwaters did not come out of their 

 burrows until tAvo-and-a-half hours after sunset, so that 

 if we suppose they return one-and-a-half hours before 

 sunrise, they only have about three-and-a-half hours to 

 obtain their food, a time which would be still more 

 restricted further north. There is evidently a very good 

 reason why the Shearwaters do not leave or enter their 

 nesting-holes during the daytime, although they are 

 certainly not inconvenienced by sunlight. On one 

 occasion I took a Shearwater, which I had extracted from 

 its burrow, down to the sea to watch its action on the 

 water. On returning to the neighbourhood of its burrow 

 a short time after, I found a quite freshly killed Shear- 

 water with a wound in its side, which had no doubt been 

 inflicted by a Lesser Black-backed Gull. The Manx 

 Shearwater is so clumsy and defenceless when on land, 

 that were it not entirely nocturnal during the breeding- 

 season, it is certain that it could never have established 

 itself on an island like Annet, where Gulls abound. 

 Pufifins are suffering severely here from the attacks of 

 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, which Mr. Dorrien-Smith tells 

 me are much on the increase, and they would un- 

 doubtedly suffer more if they nested in burrows on flat 

 ground more than a few yards aAvay from the sea, as 

 most of the Shearwaters do. 



I have to thank Mr. Dorrien-Smith for kindly allowing 

 me to examine the birds' nests, as Annet is strictly 

 preserved. 



