VIGNETTES OF NATURE 43 



writhing conger-eel, which with the greatest 

 ease he bit up into little pieces. 



An old fisherman, known as The Tiger, 

 told me that the seal had been there for the 

 last twenty years, and that so far as was 

 known it had no mate. It showed no fear 

 of a boat, and often came up alongside one, 

 inspected it with filmy eyes, and quietly 

 disappeared. 



In spring the gulls throng to their colony 

 upon the headland. When disturbed, they 

 cry wildly, and circle in the air. Once as 

 I lay in the sun listening to the sea-fret 

 a sharp chattering overbore the wailing of 

 the gulls, and a pair of peregrine falcons 

 swept by. 



In but a moment, it seemed, they were 

 half a mile high, flying with incredible 

 swiftness, the male chasing the larger 

 female. From the direction of Lundy 



