58 WITH NATURE AND A CAMERA. 



The Tree Sparrows are quite numerous for such 

 a small place. I found five or six nests, all con- 

 taining young ones, in holes in the stone walls 

 and cliffs. I noticed one day, whilst out in a 

 boat, a young Tree Sparrow taking his first lesson 

 in the art of flying. He started from the face of 

 an overhanging crag a couple of hundred feet high, 

 and so weak and ineffectual were his wing-beats 

 that he came down towards the cold blue water 

 below, with his affectionate little mother flying 

 round and round him in a series of spiral curves 

 and greatly alarmed. At last he fell flop into the 

 sea, and I thought it was all over with him. My 

 heart was full of sorrow for the poor little fellow, 

 as we could not reach the spot in time to save him. 

 Just as I was reflecting upon the dangers to which 

 young birds are subjected on leaving the nest, 1 

 was surprised to see the unfortunate fledgling rise 

 from the crest of a wave, and by a tremendous 

 effort fly to a jutting rock of safety a few inches 

 above the tide-mark, where his mother joined him 

 and showed a great deal of anxious solicitation for 

 his welfare. 



I observed that whenever the sun shone, which 

 was not often during our stay, the Tree Sparrows 

 would hop about in the grass of the field surround- 

 ing the village looking for flies and other winged 

 insects, many of which they caught by a short 

 hawking flight a couple of feet or so straight up 

 in the air. After three or four of these pretty 

 little vertical flutters they generally flew away to 

 their nests with their prey. 



Two or three great Black-backed Gulls from 

 Lavenish a bare rock upon which these birds breed 

 close to the island of St. Kilda were constantly 

 hanging round Village Bay, waiting for anything they 



