ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES. 67 



the other bird quite dead as he sped along in full 

 career above me. They were both first- rate specimens, , 

 and their capture may be looked upon as a piece of 

 real good fortune, as they turned out to be the only 

 pair I saw during my sojourn in the Orkneys. I now 

 killed a pair of the common guillemot (Uria troile), 

 and we then proceeded to get the sail up for our voyage 

 home. 



The whole of this time we had been dancing about 

 on a nasty sort of heaving swell, and I began to feel 

 a very disagreeable qualmishness. This, when about 

 half-way home, reached its climax, and then, and not 

 till then, was I able to enjoy luncheon. As we got out 

 in the open water, I shot a male and female puffin 

 (Mormon fratercula). Stretching well away with the 

 tide, what little breeze there was now gradually 

 dropped, and our return voyage was therefore very 

 protracted, but not without incident. We passed 

 three bottle-nosed whales ploughing along, rising, 

 falling, and playing in their native element extruding 

 at times their black dorsal fins high into the air. 

 The afternoon, fast passing into evening serene and 

 beautiful, settled into an almost dead calm. The sail 

 flapped almost hung in lazy uncertainty, and, 

 though our tacks were long and frequent, we were 

 really but dependant upon tide. We reached Strom- 

 ness at a quarter to nine, p.m., and I was not sorry for 

 a hearty meal. 



