4-34 BIRDS OF THE WEST OF SCOTLAND. 



found on the Flannan isles, the Haskeir Rocks, and St. Kilda, the 

 last mentioned locality being frequented by countless numbers 

 during the height of the breeding season. In the Minch, the 

 chief breeding-place is on the Shiant isles, and considerable num- 

 bers also incubate on the Ascrib islands and other rocky islets off 

 the coast of Skye. Another important station is at the Mull of 

 Oe, in Islay, but, in point of interest, it falls greatly short of Ailsa 

 Craig, which may be said to rank next to Mingalay, Berneray, 

 (Barra Head), and St. Kilda, as a crowded bird-hive. The most 

 favourable time for seeing the greatest numbers on the rock is 

 when the young have left their burrows and joined the flights of 

 old birds which then congregate on the upper slopes, about the 

 end of July. I have on various occasions seen flights of Puffins 

 that out-numbered all calculation. Some years ago, I went to the 

 cliffs alone, one evening about sunset, and saw, as I believed, the 

 entire bird population at one view. All the Puffins, young and 

 old, were fast coming in from fishing, and taking up their position 

 on the broken masses of rock and the surrounding patches of 

 grass, within a hundred feet of the summit. Waiting until the 

 last flock arrived, I had time to notice that the whole extent of 

 available perching ground within view was occupied, and that the 

 birds were so closely packed that it would have been almost im- 

 possible to insert one's hand anywhere amongst them. On rising 

 from my place of concealment, and running towards them, the 

 entire mass of birds at once got on wing and flew seawards, re- 

 turning in a few minutes and surrounding me completely, without 

 the slightest regard for the presence of an enemy. For a time 

 their numbers seemed so great as to cause a bewildering darkness, 

 and as they approached near enough to be touched by an out- 

 stretched arm, I was not sorry when they came to their senses, 

 and began to settle on the ground. I could scarcely have believed, 

 indeed, in the existence of so many Puffins in any locality so 

 near the mainland. 



In the Firth of Clyde, and indeed in many parts of the West 

 of Scotland, the Puffin arrives in February. It is sometimes 

 seen in the vicinity of Ailsa Craig as early as the last week 

 of January.* Its appearance on the rock itself is very regular, 



* On the east coast of Scotland, especially in the Firth of Forth, the Puffin 

 is never absent the place of the local birds, which go southward, being sup- 

 plied by flocks from more northern localities. 



