GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULLS. 59 



could pick up either on the kitchen middens of the 

 inhabitants in the very early hours of the morning 

 before anybody was astir, or on the handbreadth 

 of sandy beach later in the day. The first Sunday 

 evening we were at Hirta I watched one through 

 my binocular make his supper off a dead Gannet 

 which came floating into the bay. His mode of 

 procedure was somewhat odd. He swam round and 

 round the dead bird several times in the most cere- 

 monious fashion, and then went in to the attack 

 with great ferocity. After he had made a hole in 

 the body, and torn off several pieces of flesh and 

 swallowed them, he again swam round and con- 

 templated the richness of the treat that had fallen 

 in his way. A few days after this I saw one of 

 these birds trying to secure a sick or injured Puffin 

 for his dinner. He hovered like the shadow of 

 death over poor little " Tammy Norie " for a 

 moment or two, and then made a rapid downward 

 swoop towards it. His intended victim, however, 

 apparently understood his tactics only too well, for 

 directly he came too close the Puffin promptly dived 

 and reappeared a considerable distance off. The 

 Gull circled round and round, and after trying 

 several times in vain to secure his prey by swoop- 

 ing down upon it, alighted on the water and 

 endeavoured to swim stealthily within reach of the 

 sick bird, but the latter never allowed him to 

 approach too closely, and at last he gave up the 

 chase and flew away. The St. Kildans dislike the 

 Great Black-backs very much on account of their 

 rapacity amongst the eggs and young of useful birds. 

 One fine morning I turned out at four o'clock 

 and walked down to the beach with my field glasses. 

 The first bird I fell in with was a Dunlin in breed- 

 ing plumage. He was hard at work feeding, and 



