A Seabirds Island in May 



wild hyacinths covered the hillside, so that the air was heavy 

 with their scent, and the quickly springing bracken fronds, 

 which soon would cover the hillside in a thick canopy, could 

 scarce be seen for the luxuriance of the bluebells and 

 primroses that grew between them. 



Making my way to the western end of the island I came 

 on a colony of puffins. I do not think many of the birds had 

 laid as yet, but they were working at the excavation or repair 

 of their burrows, and as I approached many of them emerged 

 in their comical manner, to fly out to sea with outstretched 

 feet, as is their custom. Thousands of herring gulls had 

 their nests amongst the grass and heather here, and wheeled 

 about me in a great cloud with many wild cries. At one 

 point at the top of the cliff a small colony of razorbills and 

 guillemots had just commenced to lay. Only a few of their 

 number had eggs, laid on the bare rock in such a position 

 that a vigorous jerk must precipitate many into the sea 

 beneath. Some of the eggs of the guillemots — freshly laid — 

 were of a wonderful sky blue ground colour, which contrasted 

 vividly with the dark rocky shelves on which they lay. The 

 razorbills were a little later in their nesting. I saw but one 

 6&&> hidden away in the dark recess of a cranny among the 

 rocks, and already soiled with the wet mud on which it lay. 

 Compared with the ^gg of the guillemot, that of the razorbill 

 is not so pointed, and so must be laid in a more secure posi- 

 tion than that chosen by the guillemot, for the ^gg of the 

 latter bird from its shape spins round on its axis in a remark- 

 able manner, and of its own accord rarelv indeed rolls off the 

 cliff. 



Near the guillemots a large colony of cormorants were 

 brooding their chalky blue-white eggs, sitting contentedly on 

 their bulky nests, from which was wafted on the breeze a 

 strong smell of mustiness arising from the remains of half- 

 digested fish. Two of the cormorants' nests already held 

 young birds, one brood fully a week old. Curiously enough, 

 I was informed that the gulls here rarely carry off the 

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