MR. J. H. GUBNEY, JUX., ON THE ISLES OF SCILLY. 



451 



its note. Carew puts it between " Murres " and " Curlewes," and 

 reckons it among the "Citizens of the Ayre" which "serve for 

 food to us." In the same list he distinguishes the Puffyn, and 

 says it " hatch eth in holes of the clyffe." 



On misty nights the " Crews " get the more bewildered of the 

 two, and Mr. Vingoe says that one flew with such force against 

 St. Agnes lighthouse as to break the glass. Adjoining St. Agnes 

 is an island called Gugh, and this, if the wind be from the west, 

 is in the line of flight of the Shearwaters. Captain White 

 informed us that thirty-six had been picked up there in a day, and 

 on proceeding to the spot we found twenty, besides the remains of 

 five more. Some had broken necks, and most of them exhibited 

 the marks of a violent blow, as if they had been dashed against 

 the rocks.* No doubt this was the case, and probably the 

 previous Monday night, May 9th, had been a fatal one to some of 

 them, as it was very misty ; and a serious collision between two 

 vessels took place off the Land's End. 



Our boatmen were of opinion that at Annet the Shearwaters 

 made their own holes, and not Rabbits, t It would really require a 

 series of section diagrams to give a true idea of the twists and 

 turns which some of the holes take; but the accompanying 

 woodcut shows two of the simplest drawn from memory, and these 



Entrance to Bnrrotr. 



* Bishop Stanley mentions two Shearwaters colliding with such force as 

 to kill one another (' History of Birds,' p. 82), and one of them is in the 

 Norwich Museum, to which it was presented by the late Bishop. See also 

 Trans. Norfolk and Norwich Nat. Soc. vol. iv. p. 221. 



f Professor Newton says Shearwaters make their own holes in St. Kilda 

 (A. N. in litt.). 



GG 2 



