36 NOTES ON THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE BELL ROCK. 



distinguished from a height than from near the surface, so 

 that it may be taken for granted that the higher these birds 

 are flying when in pursuit of prey the deeper the fish are 

 swimming. Again, when diving from a high altitude, the 

 wings are kept rigidly outspread, and as the tail is never seen 

 spread rudder-like, as in the case of the hawk, any deviation 

 from their line of descent is controlled by the long narrow 

 wings, and only when nearing the " plunge " are they partially 

 closed. 



For the past fortnight we have had the company of a 

 solitary seal. His fishing does not seem to be very successful, 

 either in quantity or quality, as the only catch we have seen 

 him negotiating was a saithe the length of a man's forearm. 

 Playing with it as a cat would a mouse, he would allow it to 

 swim feebly for some distance, then diving he would bring it 

 to the surface, till latterly, with a toss of his head and a 

 thrust with his fore flipper, he quite disembowelled it, an act 

 of charity which the screaming gulls were not slow to 

 appreciate. Although so long here he has not been seen to 

 rest on the rocks ; indeed, I only once saw one ashore here, 

 and as we had a somewhat amusing experience with him it 

 will perhaps bear relating. For several days it was seen, as 

 the tide fell, to rest in one particular place a few yards from the 

 base of the tower. Our outer door opens outwards, and is 

 always closed at night, not that we are afraid of burglars, but 

 merely to prevent the entrance of the seas, and for our own 

 general comfort. The opening of this door always alarmed the 

 seal, and sent him into the water instanter. Dropping a line 

 from the balcony at low water, we made the end of it fast within 

 a few feet of his accustomed resting place. Next day, as the 

 tide fell and the rocks began to appear, he was seen to take 

 up his former position, yawning lazily as he rolled from side 

 to side in the sunshine. Fixing a four ounce charge of tonite 

 to our electric cable, we quietly lowered it down the line we 

 had already made fast till within about six feet from where 

 he lay, apparently in blissful ignorance of what was happening 

 overhead. When yawning at his widest, we, by means of our 



