THE BASS ROCK AND ITS BIRDS. 143 



Bat the interest of the curious scene is by no 

 means confined to the cliffs. The fluttering throng 

 of birds sailing to and fro is absolutely bewildering ; 

 the difficulty of following any one of these flying 

 units in its trackless course for long together diffi- 

 cult in the extreme. Backwards and forwards, up 

 and down, along the line of the cliffs, the Gannets 

 fly, whilst numbers are constantly arriving from the 

 fishing-grounds, or starting off to them for fresh 

 supplies. The Gannets are by no means peaceable 

 neighbours, and are for ever quarrelling with each 

 other, resenting any intrusion. The effect of this 

 may easily be imagined when the birds live in such 

 very close companionship. Perhaps of still greater 

 interest to the enthusiastic ornithologist is the scene 

 some distance down the cliffs, should he possess the 

 necessary nerve to avail himself of the assistance of 

 a rope and climb down to behold it. Here he will 

 also meet with various other species of sea-birds at 

 their nests, and will find the homes of the Gannets 

 in even greater numbers. 



As he gets clown the broken cliffs and reaches 

 the more inaccessible portions, he will meet with 

 the Guillemot, although this bird is nothing near 

 so abundant here as at Flamborough, or on the 

 Pinnacles at the Fame Islands, and is scattered up 



