102 Proceedings of the Royal Physical Society. 



little vegetation, only two flowering plants being found — a 



saxifrage and a grass, and these very sparingly indeed. 



There is very little actual soil, and the surface is rough 



and rugged with large stones. Scattered all over it are 



numerous fresh- water ponds, the largest of them perhaps two 



hundred yards across. The first signs of the Ivory Gulls, 



nests were patches of old moss every here and there, which 



at first we could not make out. As we advanced we saw 



more of these patches, and these seemed more compact. 



On approaching closer to these, the birds made still more 



vehement demonstrations, swooping down upon us, and 



giving vent to their feelings by uttering a perfectly deafening 



shriek close to our heads. Once in the midst of their nests 



— for these patches of moss were their nests — w^e had many 



hundreds of birds around us, first one swooping down to 



within a foot of our heads, and immediately after another. 



In some cases they actually touched us, and in one instance 



knocked the hat off a man's head. Most of the nests were 



empty, owing to the late date; but here and there was a 



single egg, and in two nests I found two eggs. Going on 



through this guUery, we found that near certain nests, 



which were apparently empty, the birds made even more 



violent demonstrations than before, and in looking carefully 



about, we descried a young Ivory Gull in its greyish-white 



downy plumage, and hardly visible against the stones, which 



were of a very similar colour. Even the older ones, which 



were more whitish, were difficult to see among the stones. 



These young birds would sit crouched in between two or 



three large stones, and one might at first sight take them 



for stones also. On picking up a young bird the parents 



became quite distracted, and threatened us more vehemently 



than ever. By and by we passed out of this gullery, but 



farther along we could see others, each with many hundreds 



of these birds, and we advanced towards them. The 



guUery we left gradually became quiet; but the birds 



in the one which we were approaching were beginning to 



demonstrate in the same way as those at the last. The 



cries became louder and louder, and in a few minutes we 



were again in the midst of the deafening shrieks of a host of 



