FARNE ISLANDS AND THEIR BIRDS 171 



from a bow; indeed, it is difficult to follow their 

 flight, but they again drive the gull away, and then 

 return to their young, which remained in hiding 

 while their parents were chasing the enemies. This 

 performance was repeated many times, and it was 

 always interesting, chiefly because it proved what I 

 have often noticed as a feature of daily life in bird- 

 land the larger the bird the greater coward he 

 seems to be. 



I think I have no\v mentioned all of the birds 

 which were found on Fame Island during our visit. 

 There was one species which was very conspicuous 

 by their absence, these were our old friends the 

 sparrows. 



Not far from the larger island are two smaller 

 ones, connected at low tide by a fairly wide barrier 

 of shingle, and these, the Noxes and Wideopens, are, 

 perhaps, the most remarkable and interesting to the 

 ordinary visitor. Thousands of terns frequent the 

 islands ; the air seems to be alive with these graceful 

 birds the sea-swallows of the fisherfolk. With a 

 good field-glass the birds from the mainland, two and 

 a half miles away, look like flecks of silver spray as 

 they sail in thousands over the sparkling sea around 

 the islands. On our landing it is truly a wonderful 

 sight, but it is not until we really get among the 

 birds that we begin to realise what vast numbers of 

 them there are. With a deafening chorus of cries, 



