548 BIRDS OF. SOMERSETSHIRE. 
immense numbers, and about Tenby, I am sorry to 
say, they are most ruthlessly shot down by sporting 
tourists. I have seen whole boat-loads brought 
home from Caldy Island to Tenby and thrown away 
on the beach, to say nothing of dead and wounded 
left about on the sea: when we consider that this 
was in the middle of the breeding season and very 
many of the birds thus shot were employed in feeding ~ 
their young, who must have been left to starve on 
the cliffs, it does seem almost a pity that we have 
not an Act of Parliament to protect these and all our 
other sea-birds for the short time of their breeding 
season—say June to August.* 
The eggs of the Guillemot are placed on the bare 
ledges of the rocks, without any nest, and often in 
very exposed situations, where it seems wonderful 
they are not blown off by the wind, but probably 
their pear-shape protects them from this, as they 
only run round when moved by the wind. Whether 
these birds have any predilection for their own eggs 
I cannot say, but I should think not, as it must be 
very difficult for them to identify their own amongst 
the numbers lying about on the rock, in spite of the 
extraordinary difference of colour in the eggs them- 
selves. The parents are said to carry their young 
down to the water on their backs, but I have never 
* Such an Act of Parliament, but giving a longer time, 
has now been passed. 
