8o WILD BIRDS 



wall the herring gulls nest almost as thick in places 

 as on Lye Rock. 



The white crests of the waves, and the foam 

 they flung on the glittering sands, became, as viewed 

 from the cliff above, a pigment, blue and thick, 

 though not so deep as the blue of the north Cornish 

 coast. Yet, at the time, there was no suggestion of 

 sky-blue above and none on the great extent of sea 

 surface itself ; much of that surface near the beach 

 and the breaking waves was a dirty, sand-coloured 

 sea ; whilst further from the shore, it seemed to be a 

 rather dull olive green. How this blue of foam and 

 lather is made I have no idea, but I notice that it 

 only appears this colour between the eye and the 

 sun that is, when one is looking west. Looking 

 at the foam and lather of the waves to the east, one 

 sees the usual white instead of blue. 



Presently the sun is clear of the cloud rack and 

 refuse on the horizon. The photosphere glows 

 clear and hard-rimmed a few minutes before it 

 touches and rests on the purple hills of the bay, and 

 then, instead of gold smoke, there is one of those 

 pale yellow skies so often seen inland and along the 

 coast. A few minutes more, and the sun touches 

 the hill line, is cut by the hill line, and is seen as a 

 moving object. It is easy, then, to understand the 

 old obstinate error that it was the sun that went 

 round the earth. 



These are the supreme moments of the day, in 

 summer and winter alike, when the hard edge of the 

 glowing sun rests on the hard edge of the swart cliff 



