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NESTS AND EGGS. 
IN the pairing season, sea-birds abandon the waves and waters, 
and come to the shores and rocks. Many species assemble in 
large flocks on rocks or on desert islands. Faber considers that 
these birds obey an instinct of sociability. Boje thinks that 
they are attracted thither by the abundance of food. Both reasons 
may be equally true; but probably there are others also; for 
instance, the aspect of the rocky fortress, in whose clefts and 
cavities excellent shelter is to be found; the absence of all car- 
nivorous animals, and safety from their enemy, man; in short, 
solitude, tranquillity, and security. 
Graba observes that water-fowl always choose rocks turned 
westward or north-west, for their nests, and disdain every other 
situation. Amongst the islands most frequented by nest-building 
birds, the little archipelago of Faroe, between that island and 
the Shetland Islands, ranks first. This archipelago is formed of 
twenty-five great rocks, called Vogelberg (Bird-rocks). These 
have often been described. One amongst them deserves special 
notice. Imagine a black rock composed of horizontal layers, rising 
1,600 or 1.800 feet above the level of the sea, which roars and 
seethes at its foot. The water dashes up to the height of one 
hundred feet during tempests, and rebounds from the face of the 
cliffs, falling in foaming cascades. In calm weather, the waters 
undulate gently and ripple softly round the rocks. The steep sides 
of the cliff present a very singular appearance; millions of birds 
are perched side by side on the projecting ledges; the females on 
their nests, the males close to them, or at no very great distance. 
An amphitheatre full of spectators would give but a meagre 
idea of the prodigious number of birds thus symmetrically placed, 
their heads all turned towards the sea. The arrival of man hardly 
troubles them, and the report of a gun only makes the male birds 
