258 Among the Birds in Northern Shires. 



must also bear in mind that comparatively a small 

 proportion of birds are caught at all. Darwin had 

 certainly strong grounds for asserting that the Ful- 

 mar is the most numerous bird in the world. With- 

 out being held in any way to support an assertion 

 which is so difficult of proof, we may certainly state 

 that no other sea-bird breeds in such vast numbers 

 anywhere in the British archipelago. The Fulmar 

 commences to breed in May, the eggs being laid 

 from the middle of that month onwards to early June. 

 Unlike the Shearwaters and the more typical 

 Petrels, this bird rarely makes a burrow big enough 

 to hide itself, but is content to scratch out a hollow 

 in the soil, or even to deposit its ^<g'g on ledges of 

 the cliffs. In some parts of the cliffs the nests are 

 so close to each other that from a distance the birds 

 seem crowded together into great white masses. 

 Beyond a small portion of dry grass the Fulmar 

 makes no nest, although some we found on Doon 

 were hollows lined with small bits of rock. The 

 single ^^g is white, rough in texture, and w^ith a 

 strong pungent smell. Of all the varied scenes ot 

 bird-life that it has been our good fortune to witness, 

 not one has been quite so impressive as that we wit- 

 nessed from a shoulder of Connacher, when, after a 

 stiff climb from the village, we suddenly came upon 

 the assembly of Fulmars at their nests. The first 

 thing that impressed us was the silence of it all. 



