SOUTH CORNWALL. 29 



ten yards broad, and as no boat could be got, the idea was to try and drop one 

 on this strip, as they ran or rather flew the gauntlet between the island and the 

 mainland. We sat down half way up the cliff and watched the Shags fishing 

 or preening themselves on an adjacent rock, some of the attitudes they adopted 

 being quite unlike anything I had ever seen in a book. One came and swam 

 right under us in typical waterlogged style, and we might perhaps have shot 

 it, but refrained from doing so, as the body would have drifted out to sea. 



At length, as the evening wore on, a spirit of unrest came over the whole 

 company. They took wing, singly and in pairs, and began flying round the 

 island. Several came towards us and appeared certain to cross the fatal strip, 

 but they always swerved off before they got within shot, though they had 

 passed readily enough on the previous day when we had no guns. While 

 we wondered at their refusal to pass us, a peal of laughter from the top of 

 the cliff revealed the fact that we were not its only occupants. A picnic party 

 was just breaking up and starting off for its char-a-banc. We also bethought 

 us, that though better sheltered, we were a shade lower down than on the 

 preceding day, and, as the sun was now sinking, we hurried off to the top of 

 the cliff. Though little time remained, and the birds were beginning to settle 

 down for the night, we were destined to get a shot after all. Just as we were 

 departing, a single bird arose, whirled high once or twice round the top of the 

 island, and then made a sudden dash for the gully. It came through at a 

 terrific pace, but we both managed to fire while it was above the strip. There 

 was a wild stagger, and I thought for the moment it was down, but unfor- 

 tunately it just recovered itself and, skimming away on a rapidly declining 

 course, it succeeded in rounding the island, and fell heavily some distance 

 out at sea. 



It was too dark now to hope for any further shots, and we had to abandon 

 all hopes of getting a Shag during our visit. The Cormorant is almost equally 

 common along this coast, and at Mullion, on an outlying island, there is a 

 Puffin colony, while at the pretty little village of Cadgwith the Kittiwake is 

 numerous and absurdly tame, sitting quietly on the lowest rocks while the 

 boats pass close to it on their way into the cove. In winter Golden Plover 

 are said to be plentiful on the moors, and also Duck; but past experience of 

 the value of local statements on such subjects would make me chary in these 

 days of going bail for the appearance of any species of the Anatidae. 



