» 
Mr John MacGillivray on the Istand of St Kilda. 47 
J10 feet, even when the sky is perfectly clear and calm. 
When the weather is cloudy or windy, and pretty frequently 
in winter, even when it is clear and calm, this limit appears to _ 
be less elevated. 
4th, The increase of temperature, ascending, varies both in 
regard to its intensity and its limit in elevation, according to 
the different seasons of the year. It is in winter, and parti- 
cularly when the ground is covered with snow, that this phe- 
nomenon presents the most remarkable results. 
Account of the Island of St Kilda, chiefly with reference to tts 
Natural History ; from Notes made during a Visit in July 
‘1840. By Mr Jonun Macerttivray, Member of the Cu- 
vierian Natural History Society. Communicated by the 
Author. 
Tue name of St Kilda is familiar to many, in connection 
with vague ideas of some remote and barren island, “ placed 
far amid the melancholy main,” tenanted by myriads of sea- 
fowl, and the abode of a race of men living in a state of pri- 
mitive simplicity. Believing that some account of a place so 
seldom visited, yet so interesting in every respect to the natu- 
ralist, may prove acceptable to the readers of this Journal, I 
have been induced to complete a series of hasty notes which 
were written during a few days spent in the principal island 
of the group. 
One of my chief objects in visiting the Outer Hebrides last 
summer having had reference to the numerous species of wa~ 
ter birds which resort to the St Kilda Isles, during the breed- 
ing season, after a detention of several weeks by contrary 
winds, at daybreak on Monday the 29th June, I left Borneray, 
a small island in the Sound of Harris, and crossed over to 
Pabbay, another island two miles distant. Here we procured 
a boat sufficiently large for our purpose, and, after consider- 
able delay, hoisted sail about twelve o’clock, having a strong 
easterly breeze in our favour. In due time we passed Haskir, 
a small island 20 miles distant, and famous as being the resort 
of multitudes of seals* and various species of sea-fowl, espe- 
* The Halicherus griseus, Nilsson, or Great Seal, as indicated by a skull 
