THE NORTH ISLES. 19 



the cliffs with sufficient force to throw all the stones back to 

 form it. Beyond this distance the Sea-pink grows more luxuriantly 

 than in any other of the islands, and it is rooted in nothing but 

 rocks and stones, which constitute the formation of the headland. 

 The rocks themselves are of a peculiarly laminated character, the 

 lamination being almost entirely parallel. The lower part in many 

 places has been washed away, leaving an overhanging cliff. In 

 other places the sea has formed natural arches, or, the whole of 

 the upper part having been washed away, a long reach of gently 

 shelving rock, perfectly bare and smooth, has been left. At the 

 Bow, we saw a pair of immature Merlins and a Curlew, and, on 

 our way back, a single Swift. The predominating species of small 

 birds were Sparrows, Larks, a few Twites, Starlings, and Wheat- 

 ears, the two first named being the commonest. Buntings, if not 

 altogether absent, are rare in the Westray group. 



There are two lochs in Westray, both of which are said to con- 

 tain trout, and are connected by a small burn. The upper one 

 Burness is overgrown with reeds, and there are a good many 

 Coots on it, and the Little Grebe is said to breed there, which is 

 likely enough, although we did not ourselves observe any. 



A little to the north-east of the Bow lies the holm of Aikerness, 

 a long, bare, stony island, with a little grass at the north end. 

 We observed no birds on it, nor seals, but a few terns were fishing 

 close by. In the winter, however, it is at times visited by large 

 flocks of both Wild Duck and Widgeon. 



PAPA WESTEAY. 



The name of this island must always be connected in an orni- 

 thologist's mind with one bird principally, and that the Great 

 Auk. The connection will be found fully discussed under that 

 bird. 



The island itself presents no points of particular interest, except 

 the rock-scenery, a description of which we quote from Harvie- 

 Brown's Journal further on. Nearly the whole area, the exception 



