PLATE I 

 FULMAR. Fulmarus glacialis 



June 2oth, 1897. This photograph was taken from a ledge of rock near the 

 top of a cliff on the west coast of Unst in Shetland. Looking down from 

 this coign of vantage, several Fulmars may be seen sitting on their eggs, 

 while in the foreground a pair of Razorbills and some Puffins are sitting on 

 the rocks. I got down among the Fulmars after taking some photographs, 

 and found more than a dozen nests ; these were simply little hollows among 

 the chips of rock on the ledges, or in cavities where one would have expected 

 to find Razorbills breeding. The Fulmars were absolutely tame, and I caught 

 several in my hand, getting covered with oil for my pains, as the birds ejected 

 it from their mouth with great violence, making a sort of coughing noise at the 

 same time. There were many more nests below, but I had no rope with me ; 

 the cliff overhung somewhat and was very rotten, and I had no desire to fall 

 a couple of hundred feet into the sea below by a slip. Although the eggs 

 were all on the point of hatching, they were quite clean and white, no doubt 

 owing to the clean rock on which they were laid. The St. Kilda eggs, which 

 are laid on peaty soil, get almost black in some cases before they are 

 hatched. 



