' . . . The colony was on the west side of the island, on some grassy cliffs 

 about two hundred feet high. The Manx Shearwaters had excavated burrows 

 in the soft soil, for all the world like Puffins, except that the mouths of the 

 holes, instead of being bare and open like the Puffins' tunnels, were nearly 

 always concealed by the overhanging herbage. The part of the cliff where the 

 Shearwaters nested was very steep, and great care had to be exercised in moving 

 about ; besides being very slippery, the grass often came away bodily from the 

 rock and slipped over into the sea. At the mouth of the hole there was usually 

 a considerable amount of the bird's droppings. During the day-time not a 

 single bird was to be seen about the cliffs, but as we climbed about on the 

 ledges we heard the Shearwaters calling in their holes ; their note is a soft 

 " kitty-coo-roo, kitty-coo-roo" Most of the holes I examined were from one 

 foot to three feet in depth, and in every case the old bird was on its egg ; 

 they fought with their sharp turned-down bills, and inflicted several nasty 

 scratches on my hands ere I could take them out. On being released they flew 

 off in a dazed sort of way, reminding one rather of a bat turned loose in the 

 daylight. In one or two burrows I found both the birds. There was seldom 

 any nest, rarely even a nesting-chamber, the egg being laid in the end of the 

 tunnel ; but in one or two holes I found one or two dry stalks of sorrel and 

 blades of grass.' 



Both birds assist in making the burrows, which vary a good deal in length, 

 some being five or six feet deep, and others only a foot. In another locality I 

 found the Manx Shearwater nesting among huge blocks of stone, which had 

 fallen from the cliff. In this place I saw a few birds sitting about at the mouths 

 of their holes, and noticed, with the aid of my glasses, that they sat upright 

 like Guillemots, the whole length of the tarsus resting on the ground. 



The Manx Shearwater lays early in May, but fresh eggs may be obtained 

 till the middle of June. If the first egg be taken, the female will lay another 

 after a week or so, often in the same burrow, or in another made close to the 

 old one. Both birds assist in the duties of incubation, the one relieving the 

 other. When the young are hatched the old birds feed them by ejecting an 

 oily substance into their mouths, and they remain in the nesting burrow until 

 they are able to fly. 



The Manx Shearwater only lays one egg, which is much smoother in 

 texture and more glossy than that of the Fulmar, pure white in colour, and 

 has the same peculiar Petrel smell. The eggs vary in length from 2-49 to 

 2-30 inches, and in breadth from 175 to 1*54 inch. 



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