252 BRITISH BIRDS' EGGS. 



these stupendous cliffs the Guillemot lays its egg, which is 

 exposed to the face of heaven, without any nest whatever 

 but the Razorbills and Puffins lay theirs in crannies, deep 

 and difficult of access." Mr. "Waterton himself visited the 

 breeding-places of these birds, and was lowered down the 

 face of the cliffs for that purpose : he graphically remarks 

 upon the scene and objects which met his view as follows : 

 " As I was lowered down, the grandeur and sublimity of 

 the scene beggared all description, and amply repaid any 

 little unpleasant sensations which arose on the score of dan- 

 ger. The sea was roaring at the base of this stupendous 

 wall of rocks ; thousands and tens of thousands of wildfowl 

 were in an instant on the wing : the Kittiwakes and .Jack- 

 daws rose in circling flight, while most of the Guillemots, 

 Eazorbills, and Puffins, left the ledges of the rocks in a 

 straight and downward line, with a peculiarly quick motion 

 of the pinions, till they plunged into the ocean. . . . On 

 the bare and level ledge of the rocks, often not more than 

 six inches wide, lay the eggs of the Guillemots ; some were 

 placed parallel with the range of the shelf, others nearly so, 

 and others with their blunt and sharp ends indiscriminately 

 pointing to the sea. By no glutinous matter, npr any 

 foreign body whatever, were they affixed to the rock ; bare 



