THE ISLE OF BIRDS in 



Like a flash the proprietor of that next burrow 

 bobbed his head forward and snatched at the 

 unexpected windfall. He caught it by the 

 tail, and turned to plunge into the burrow 

 with it. But in that same instant the long 

 beak of the skua caught it by the head. For 

 a second or so the two tugged savagely at the 

 prize, with a vast flapping and squawking. 

 Then the outraged owner, recovering himself, 

 floundered up, fixed his beak in the exposed 

 belly of the fish, and began to pull and jerk 

 like an angry terrier. 



Feathers and sand flew into the air as the 

 triangular tug-of-war went on. But frantic 

 as was the turmoil of scuffling and flapping, 

 the near-by ranks of puffins paid no attention 

 to it whatever, except to turn their great 

 beaks, all at the same angle, and stare 

 solemnly, like so many fantastic maskers. 

 The gulls overhead, however, gathered down 

 with excited cries, seeking a chance to take 

 part in the scuffle. 



But before they could get their greedy 

 beaks into it, it had come to an end. The 

 fish was torn apart. The puffin who had 

 grabbed the tail fell backwards with it, 

 ruffled but triumphant, into his burrow ; the 

 original owner was left with just so much as 

 his beak could hold fortunately no mean 



G 



