THE HOME OF THE SHEARWATER 37 



within a few yards of the house " in the doorway/' 

 our host expressed it we heard what sounded like an 

 emphatic " it-y-corka," the emphasis on the third 

 syllable, and other loud remarks " kitty-coo-roo/' 

 " kok-a-kok," sharply repeated, and " kok-a-go-go," 

 all uttered with a vehemence which was perfectly aston- 

 ishing. The birds flew swiftly, following one another; 

 at times there was a moment's silence, then a babel 

 of voices. 



Pliny talked about the birds of Diomede, with teeth 

 and fire-coloured eyes, which attacked strangers but 

 fawned upon the Greeks ; these are supposed to have been 

 shearwaters. Even now the strings which fly " as if the 

 furies were behind them " over the waters of the Levant 

 are the " ames damnees." Did not this title really 

 originate in their weird nocturnal calls, not in their easy, 

 graceful, diurnal flight ? A lighthouse keeper once told 

 us that the bird said plainly: " It is your fault"; as we 

 listened we understood. Were they blaming us for the 

 disturbance of their sleep earlier hi the day, for liberties 

 taken with their infants ? Long after midnight the din 

 continued, heard through the open window; as we passed 

 into the realms of sleep the cry: " It is yor folt," mingled 

 with our dreams. 



