On Crag and Sea-cliff. 259 



We had hitherto been so used to a noisy din as an 

 inseparable accompaniment to a gathering of sea- 

 fowl that the silence of these Fulmars seemed almost 

 weirdly strange. We can only compare this scene 

 to a dense snow-storm in which each Hake was a 

 separate bird. In an apparently never-ending throng 

 the big white birds drifted by, those nearest to the 

 cliffs passing in one direction, those farther out at 

 sea going directly opposite. There seemed thus to 

 be two streams of birds passing and repassing each 

 other, whilst as far as the eye could reach the air 

 was filled with orlidinof flutterinsf birds — some of them 

 so indifferent to our presence that they approached 

 almost within arm's-length. No birds were flying 

 over the land, all were above the water or floating ' 

 on its surface far down below. We stood looking at 

 the wonderful scene for quite an hour literally spell- 

 bound; and even now, after the lapse of many years, 

 we can see the whole thing again as we write these 

 lines, graven as it is indelibly upon the memory. 

 There was a strange indescribable fascination about 

 the whole scene which held us to the spot, and many 

 times during our fortnight's sojourn upon these 

 islands we wended our way alone to the summit of 

 the cliffs to sit there and watch the comincjs and the 

 ooino^s of these wonderful birds. Even more im- 

 pressive still does all again become when viewed 

 from the sea below. Then the masses of birds, as 



