72 WILD BIRDS 



the spot. The air seemed thick with black specks 

 in the gold haze of the sunset. 



Next evening I climbed on to the slope of the 

 cliff close by, and was so near that a crowd of herring 

 gulls took the air above me, mewing, laughing, 

 wailing at my intrusion, whilst amidst this uproar 

 sounded again the bark and groan of saddlebacks, 

 which were nesting here as on the stack rocks. 



The young herring gulls were beginning to hatch 

 out, the little downy chicks running about among 

 the great white and grey fowl. Two chicks had left 

 the nest, and I saw the mother hustle them off into 

 a tiny cave near the top of the rock. One chick 

 amid the puffins' burrows was just clear of the 

 eggshell. It kept perfectly still for half an hour or 

 more, and its mother, standing by, never stirred. 

 I suspect this stillness of the herring gull chicks is 

 often needful for safety. There is a " gut " or inlet 

 of the sea a little way from this rock where the 

 herring gulls' nests are set on narrow ledges and 

 terrible slants ; and on one of these slants I saw 

 a new-hatched chick which must have fallen into 

 the swirling waters beneath, had it stirred much. It 

 lay still as egg in nest. 



Till the wing is ready the secret of life for many 

 of these chicks must be stillness. And how soon 

 the wing is ready ! The last day I went to this 

 fearful looking gut, a crowd of a hundred herring 

 gulls were sitting close together on a bit of turf 

 sheltered from a tearing storm of wind and rain. 

 They rose at my approach, and I saw that amongst 



