Holy Island and its Bird Life. 



THE naturalist and bird lover looks upon this wind- 

 swept and comparatively desolate island as the 

 true rendezvous, in winter, of the feathered tribe, 

 and he is quite correct in this respect, whilst the historian 

 from very early times associates the place with the countless 

 flocks of migrants, which visit the island in the season, 

 and he, too, is perfectly in order in so doing, for we are 

 told on excellent authority that when the Vikings swarmed 

 on the coast in the ninth century, and completely desolated 

 the island by cruel massacre, "the place was left to the 

 birds in undisturbed possession" for upwards of two 

 centuries ; and it might further be said, in perfectly good 

 faith, that the number and variety of the species have not, 

 in any sense, diminished through the ages. 



During the migration period say from early September 

 to the beginning of March many rare specimens of the 

 bird tribe are seen, and oft-times captured on these shores, 

 thus 



The Little Auk, whose breeding-place is circum-polar 

 for a celebrated Arctic traveller, Captain Fielden, found 

 it nesting in latitude 82, north was brought to the writer 

 on January 23, 1909, and on two previous occasions this 

 handsomely plumaged bird was captured here this season. 



A very rare visitant is the Rough-legged Buzzard, and 

 it is now some five years since last seen on the coast. 



The Golden Eyes (Garrot) came into view in December, 

 1908, and there are evidences of its visit, year by year, in 

 the stuffed specimens exhibited in several of the cottages 

 of the fishermen. 



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