ANGRY GULLS. 123 



breeding-places in the precipice ; for on the shelves 

 and projecting points many more were still sitting, 

 which, as I approached nearer and nearer the edge of 

 the cliff, spread one after another their long pinions, 

 and leaped up on the wing, to add their cries to those 

 of their fellows above. From their size and colours, 

 I suspect them to have been of the species known as 

 the kittiwake, mostly in adult plumage, though with 

 not a few yearling birds in the company. They soared 

 round and round, and in and out amongst each other, 

 calling pertinaciously their three or four sharp notes, 

 which resembled the cries of young puppies ; and now 

 and then a low, quiet ha ! ha ! ha ! startled the ear, 

 like the hollow laugh of a person in an under tone, 

 but close to you. The flight, though flagging, was 

 powerful ; sometimes one would swoop down upon 

 another, when the assaulted one would shoot away 

 from the attack with redoubled speed. One in par- 

 ticular manifested much inclination to strike me, if 

 he had dared : he made many feints of attack, and 

 evidently wished to intimate that matters should be- 

 come serious if I did not desist from peeping over the 

 cliff. I was quite sure it was one and the same bird 

 each time, for I followed him with my eye through 

 all his tortuous course, as he sailed away among his 

 fellows and returned to the assault. He would de- 

 scend to my level while yet at some distance, and 

 then would come speeding on in a straight line for 

 my face, rising just in time to go over my head. Of 

 course I knew he would not actually strike me, and 



