280 MIGRATION OF ANIMALS. 



in circumference. The surface of this island, during the 

 months of May and June, is so entirely covered with nests, 

 eggs, and young birds, that it is scarcely possible to walk 

 without treading on them. The flocks of birds on the wing 

 are so prodigious that they darken the air like clouds, and 

 their noise is so great, that a man cannot without difficulty 

 hear his neighbor's voice. If, from the top of the precipice, 

 you look down upon the sea, you will see it on every side 

 covered with infinite numbers of birds of different kinds, swim- 

 ming about and hunting for their prey. When sailing round 

 the island, if you survey the hanging cliffs, you will perceive, 

 in every crag or fissure of the rocks, innumerable birds of 

 various kinds, more than the stars of heaven in a serene night. 

 If you view the distant flocks, either flying to, or from the 

 island, you will imagine them to be a vast swarm of bees." 

 The rocks of St. Kilda seem to be" equally frequented by 

 solan geese ; for Martin, in his description of the Hebrides, 

 informs us, that the inhabitants of this small island consume 

 annually no less than 22,600 young birds, of this species, beside 

 an amazing number of their eggs. The solan geese and their 

 eggs constitute the chief food of these islanders. They pre- 

 serve both the fowls and the eggs in small pyramidal stone 

 buildings, which, to protect the food from moisture, they 

 cover with the ashes of turf. The solan geese are birds of 

 passage. Their first appearance is in March, and they con- 

 tinue till August or September. But, in general, the times of 

 their breeding and departure seem to coincide with the arrival 

 of the herring, and the migration of that fish from our coasts. 

 It is more than probable that these birds attend the herrings 

 and pilchards during their whole circuit round the British 

 islands ; for the appearance of the solan geese is always es- 

 teemed by the fishermen as a certain presage of the approach 

 of the herrings or pilchards. In quest of food, these birds 

 migrate as far south as the mouth of the Tagus ; for they are 

 frequently seen off Lisbon during the month of December. 



The various species of curlew, woodcocks, sandpipers, and 

 plovers, which pass the winter in Great Britain, retire in the 

 spring to Sweden, Poland, Prussia, Norway, and Lapland, 

 both to feed and to breed. They return as soon as the young 

 are able to fly ; because the frosts, which set in early in these 

 countries, totally deprive them of the means of subsistence. 

 For the same reason they take their departure in summer, as 

 the dryness and hardness of the ground prevent them from 

 penetrating the earth with their bills, in quest of worms, 

 which constitute their natural food. 



