CHAPTER VII. 



SEA-BIRDS AND THEIR HAUNTS. 



ALTHOUGH at first sight this chapter may 

 -"- appear to overlap to some extent those on St. 

 Kilda and its feathered inhabitants, it will deal 

 largely with birds which do not breed on the 

 inaccessible home of Fulmar and Forked- tailed 

 Petrels. 



The pictures and text have been brought 

 together from such widely separated places as the 

 Fame Islands, Bass Rock, Ailsa Craig, Inner and 

 Outer Hebrides, and the Saltees off the south coast 

 of Ireland. 



During our visit to the Fames last summer we 

 were fortunate enough to be able to land upon the 

 Megstone one calm day, and study, to our hearts' 

 content, the fine colony of Cormorants breeding 

 there. The sun was hot, and the air almost still, 

 and directly we set foot on the rock our nostrils 

 were assailed by the foulest imaginable stench, 

 arising from pieces of fish in all stages of decom- 

 position, dead young birds trampled to incredible 

 flatness, and streams of liquid guano, which trickled 

 down the sides of the crag, and stood in festering 

 pools in every crevice and declivity. 



Upon our approach, most of the old birds took 

 their departure, and such of the young ones as 

 were able to leave their nests began to splash 



