Cliff-Birds, and their Colonies. 91 



which lie above high-water mark on 

 the pebble beach. 



The Shags, or green Cormorants, 

 make the short turf horrible by their 

 untidy domestic habits, and pile 

 their rancid fish, and heap half- 

 digested bones about their nests in 

 a way that only Cormorants could 

 put up with. 



The black Guillemots breed in 

 holes under the rocks very little 

 above the water-mark, and there their 

 little mottled-grey babies grow that 

 varied feathering which persuades 

 many quite wise humans into think- 

 ing that in the young black Guille- 

 mots they have discovered some 

 quite unknown or hitherto un- 

 described species of fowl. 



And all about above, below, 

 upon either side there is a riot of 

 cries: the wild " laugh " of the Great 

 Gulls, and the mournful, almost 

 articulate cry of the Kittiwakes 

 " Kittiway - o - oo " being heard 

 above the rest 



