Mopern CrirrF-DWELLERS 
to ‘protect the birds 2)’ Phis “1s something that 
bird-lovers may well strive to have accomplished. 
Never can I forget the impressions of the Sunday 
that I spent on Bird Rock. ‘The sky was overcast, 
with a very strong wind from the south-east, raw 
and chill, with occasional showers. ‘The mercury 
did not rise above 50 degrees during the day, and 
the heaviest clothing was none too warm. Bundled 
up in overcoat and rubber-boots, I sat on the edge 
of the cliff among the rocks at the south end, and 
“wbeneld=the fowls of the air.’ If possible; the 
spectacle was even more impressive than on the 
previous days of my stay, for it seemed as though 
every bird was in motion. This was in accord ath 
the Keeper’s observation that the birds fly most in 
windy weather. They were like the ships, that 
spread their sails to the favouring breezes. Each 
individual bird, seemingly, woul: sit upon its egg 
or eggs just enough to keep them warm, starting 
away for a few turns out over the water at frequent 
intervals. I could never tire of these sights. 
On Monday morning the sky was again over- 
cast, and, just as I had set out the camera to try a 
chert “time exposure’? on some Puttins, the rain 
began, and poured down furiously most of the day. 
Banks of fog lay off around the Rock, and the 
dynamite bomb exploded regularly every twenty 
minutes, the warning to vessels. The time was 
when these fog-signals frightened the birds, causing 
them to start so hurriedly from their nests as to 
cause many eggs to fall down the cliffs. But now I 
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