The Fame Islands. 267 



divided between numberless puffins and a few 

 rabbits. Many of the puffins, curious pompous- 

 looking little fellows, with large, brightly coloured 

 bills, may be seen sitting about on the rocks and 

 flying and swimming round the island, while their 

 partners are below the ground, sitting each on the 

 solitary egg which she has laid at the end of the 

 burrow. These birds sit most assiduously, so much 

 so, that they can be taken off their eggs a 

 dangerous experiment, we may remark, for anyone 

 who does not know how to handle them, as they 

 not only bite fiercely, but scratch terribly with 

 their sharp claws and, when put down again, 

 scramble back with ludicrous haste into their holes. 

 On this island we find more eider ducks' nests in 

 fact, eider ducks, gulls, and puffins are found on 

 nearly all the islands. 



The terns, the most interesting of all the birds, 

 have been left to the last; and at length we visit 

 their islands, which, as we before remarked, have 

 shelving beaches, and are covered over their 

 centres with the universal sea campion. Here the 

 terns are numberless, and the beach down to high- 

 water mark is literally covered with their eggs ; so 

 much so that very great care has to be used in 

 walking to avoid treading on them. They are also 

 to be found in large numbers among the sea 

 campion ; many are laid on the shingle with little, 

 if any, pretence of a nest; while others have 

 slight nests made of bents and pieces of seaweed. 

 The birds are of four species common, arctic, 



