jllong the Rock-bound Coast 



with black blotches or streaks. They are, how- 

 ever, always to be distinguished by their peculiar 

 shape a wonderful provision on Nature's part for 

 their safety. The bird deposits it in a most hap- 

 hazard way on the bare rock, but, owing to its 

 pearl-like form, it can only roll in a circle. Many 

 of the positions in which they are placed are, how- 

 ever, so precarious as not to admit of this 

 manoeuvre, and numbers are doubtless destroyed 

 by gusts of wind each year. 



Further along the coast a steep slope, covered 

 with bracken, runs down from the top of the 

 island to within two hundred feet of the sea, 

 when it falls sheer. Here and there huge piles of 

 granite break through the surface, and, owing to the 

 number of nooks and corners they afford, are gene- 

 rally tenanted by a colony of Gulls. Some colonies 

 are of Herring Gulls, others of Lesser Black- 

 backed Gulls exclusively, but in some cases these 

 birds breed together, when the identification of 

 their eggs becomes very difficult. Those of both 

 species vary considerably, being olive green or 

 olive brown, marked with dark brown and grey ; 

 and though some profess to be able to distinguish 

 those of the Herring Gull by their larger size and 

 paler ground colour, my experience is that the 

 only way to be certain is to see the parent birds. 

 There can be no excuse for mistaking these, for 

 the adult Herring Gull is at once distinguished by 

 the pale grey colour on the back and wings, as 

 H 113 



