

180 KINGSBRIDGE 



in search of food. A little higher up in the cliffs there 

 are rabbits in abundance, and occasionally a wily fox makes 

 his presence known in the neighbouring poultry yards. 

 That much-persecuted creature, the badger, has sometimes 

 been captured here. He is very harmless, unless when 

 attacked by men or dogs, but then he becomes formidable 

 and ferocious, The chief food of these animals consists 

 of insects and roots, though when driven by hunger, they 

 are occasionally obliged to be satisfied with a duck or a 

 chicken. What a pity it is they are so seldom allowed to 

 enjoy, in peace and quietness, the life which was given by 

 the Creator, on purpose, doubtless, for their enjoyment. 



In the clefts of the rocks may be seen an almost incredible 

 number of herring and kittiwake gulls, sitting on their eggs 

 in the bare hollows, without any materials used for making 

 a nest. In the most inaccessible part of the cliff, and 

 under some projecting rock, the peregrine falcon is snug 

 in its eyrie. On leaving the nest (which usually contains 

 two or three eggs, of a red-brown colour), it will drop 

 almost perpendicularly down to the surface of the water, 

 and then sail off in majestic style, in search of some poor 

 stray gull, which becomes an easy prey. Next you may 

 see, peering over the narrow ledges of rock, a number of 

 heads and necks of snake-like appearance; they belong to 

 the shags, or green cormorants; birds which weigh about 

 four pounds, and whose plumage is of a fine metallic green, 

 while the male has a fan-like crest. In close proximity to 

 these are the nests of birds of the same genus, but much 

 larger size — the great cormorant, which weighs about nine 

 pounds. These birds sally forth during the day, and levy 

 contributions from the ocean storehouse beneath, from which 

 they collect their whole subsistence. 



