126



Rev. F. L. Blathwayt,



A few pairs of Herring- Gulls (Larus argentatus) were

nesting among the Black-backs, and the soft soil on the top of

the island, overgrown with sea-campion, was honeycombed with

the nesting burrows of the Puffins (Fratercula arctica). The

ground w T as constantly giving way beneath us, and we often

found that we had trodden through a Puffin’s burrow the owner

of which, if ‘ at home,’ did not appear to be very pleased, biting

fiercely with her formidable bill, if handled. Usually, however,

the sitting birds scuttled away from beneath our feet as they

heard us approach, and made off to sea, leaving in the hole

either a single, much discoloured egg, or a young bird covered

with sooty down. The sea below was dotted all over with the

odd-looking ‘ Tammies,’ and many others were flying about in

all directions, some carrying little fish in their bills.


Just off Staple Island stand the curious flat-topped rocks,

known as the Pinnacles. We had passed close under them before

lauding, and had seen Guillemots hurrying off them in streams,

but we were hardly prepared for the sight which met our gaze

when looking down on to them from the cliffs of Staple Island.

The surface was absolutely covered with Guillemots ( Uria troile),

most of them sitting upon a single egg, laid on the bare rock,

and one could not help wondering how any more birds could

possibly find a resting place, yet many were continually coming

in from the sea, and these, alighting on the backs of their

comrades, squeezed themselves in amid a chorus of purring and

grumbling notes. It seems impossible that each bird can

know exactly where her own egg has been laid, and though

some observers say that this is the case, it would be an exceed¬

ingly difficult statement to prove. Many Guillemots, finding no

room on the flat summit, had clustered on the ledges, looking

like swarms of bees, and some, finding no room even here, were

forced to leave the Pinnacles and had laid their eggs on the

cliffs of Staple Island just opposite the main colony.


On the sides of the Pinnacles and on the ledges and in

the clefts of the steep cliffs opposite, the Kittiwakes (Rissa

tridactyla ) were breeding in fairly large numbers. Their nests

were made chiefly of sea-weed and were stuck against the face

of the cliffs wherever a small ledge of rock afforded sufficient



