ST. KILDA. 165 
with kittiwakes, auks, and guillemots; all the grassy spots are 
tenanted by the fulmar, and honey-combed by myriads of 
puffins; while close to the water’s edge on the wet rocks, which 
are hollowed out into deep recesses, 
sit clusters of cormorants, erect and 
motionless, like so many unclean 
spirits, guarding the entrance of some , _. 
gloomy cave. . 
On rolling down a large stone from 
the summit, a strange scene of con- 
fusion ensues. Here, falling like a 
thunderbolt on some unfortunate fulmar sitting upon its nest, 
it crushes the poor creature in an instant; then rolling down 
the crags, and cutting deep furrows 
in the grassy slopes, it scatters in 
dismay the dense groups of auks and 
guillemots. Its progress all along 
is marked by the clouds of birds, 
which affrighted shoot out from the 
precipice to avoid the fate to which 
nevertheless many fall a prey, until 
at length it reaches the bottom along Common Puffin. 
with its many victims. The scared 
tenants of the rock now return to their resting-places, and all 
is again comparatively quiet. 
Several species of gulls are of common occurrence on St. 
Kilda: Larus marinus, fuscus, canus, and tridactylus. The 
last, or kittiwake, is the most abundant; a social bird, choosing 
the most inaccessible spots. On disturbing a colony of kitti- 
wakes, most of the birds leave their nests and fly about the 
intruder, uttering incessantly their clamorous but not unmusical 
ery. The noise from a large flock is almost deafening; the 
flapping of their wings and their loud screams, joined to the 
deep guttural notes of the passing gannets, and the shrill tones 
of the larger gulls, form a combination of sounds without a 
parallel in nature. Probably on account of its vigilance, the 
kiitiwake is not pursued by the fowler. 
The fulmar breeds in almost incredible numbers on St. Kilda 
(the only place in Britain where he is found), and is to the 
natives by far the most important production of their barren 
Black Guillemot. 
