186 BIRDS OF GUERNSEY. 



La Fauconniere, a few also breed, but not so 

 many as in Guernsey, and we did not find any 

 breeding on the Amfrocques or the other rocks to 

 the north of Herm. On Sark they breed in great 

 numbers, mostly on the west side nearest to 

 Guernsey, and on the Isle de Marchant or Brechou, 

 especially on the grand cliffs on both sides the 

 narrow passage which divides that Island from the 

 mainland of Sark, and from there to the Coupee, 

 and from there round Little Sark to the Creux 

 Har])our on the south-east. On the east side, that 

 towards the French coast, there are few or none 

 breeding, the cliffs not being so well suited to 

 them ; a great number breed also on Alderney, on 

 the high cliffs on the south and east, but none on 

 Burhou. The Shags appear to breed rather earlier 

 than the Herring Gulls ; when I was in the Islands 

 in June, 1876, almost all the Shags had hatched, 

 and the young were standing by their parents on 

 the rocks close to their nests. When I visited some 

 of the breeding-places of the Shags on the 27th of 

 May, 1878, neither Gulls nor Shags had hatched, 

 but when I went to the Gull Cliff on the 20th of 

 June I found nearly all the Shags had hatched, 

 though none or very few of the Herring Gulls had 

 done so ; some of the young Shags had left the 

 nests and were about on the water ; others were 

 nearly ready to leave, and several were little things 

 quite in the down. Though it is generally easy to 



