THE BASS ROCK AND ITS BIRDS. 147 



running some distance from the nests, in spite of 

 all my care. I think their mates gave the alarm as 

 they wheeled and poised high up in the air above 

 the breeding-place, for they could readily see my 

 approach from their lofty station. The Jackdaw 

 also frequents the cliffs of the Bass, but we are 

 inclined to pay little attention to him, surrounded 

 as he is by so many species of far more local 

 interest ; whilst here and there on the grassy slopes 

 a nest of the Rock Pipit may be discovered. 



Still confining our observations to the cliffs, we 

 may have the good fortune to meet with the Pere- 

 grine Falcon. A pair of these beautiful birds breed 

 on the Bass every season, and to my mind they are 

 the crowning charm of this wonderful rock. Often 

 have I watched them sailing in circles at a vast 

 height above the rock, or seen them toying with 

 each other opposite the cliffs where they nest. As 

 is so often the case with raptorial birds, the Pere- 

 grines have several eyries, using one or the other in 

 turn. None of these, however, are accessible with- 

 out the aid of a rope ; the man whose nerves are 

 not sufficiently strong will therefore have to content 

 himself with watching the parent Peregrines as they 

 dash rapidly from the cliffs, and commence to fly 

 to and fro, chattering their displeasure at the un- 



