North- West Coasts of Biitlierland and their Bird Life. 489 



though, possibly, on a future occasion, T may arrange them 

 and read them to the Society, along with much interesting 

 matter gathered in conversation with Mr Mackay. 



My next excursion was to Whiten Head, choosing a fine 

 calm day — the 17th June. I drove over to Eispond at the 

 western side of the entrance to the long reaching Loch 

 Eriboll, and thence hired a boat to go to Whiten Head, the 

 caverns in the quartzite of which are remarkably fine. Owing 

 to the remains of a heavy surf and swell from the north after 

 the late gales, we could not take the boat far into the caves 

 and galleries, many of which are united by passages parallel 

 with the cliff face, or branch off in many directions. It 

 requires a perfectly calm day after a week's wind from the 

 south, — or off' the land, — before the exploration of these great 

 sea-caverns can be effected in safety. 



Bird life is not abundant as compared with that at our 

 famous sea-fowl nurseries, but the caves hold numerous 

 green cormorants and a few — apparently very few— rock doves. 

 One perpendicular cleavage in the cave-roofs was pointed 

 out to me by the boatmen as a favourite haunt of doves, but 

 we failed to dislodge any, and only saw two or three 

 altogether during the day. 



" The Maidens " are outstanding pinnacles of rock several 

 hundreds of feet in height, and these are densely covered 

 with cormorants {Phalacracorax carlo). This colony of 

 cormorants is also spread over the summit of the cone of 

 Whiten Head and the ledges on its sides up to some 350 

 feet above the sea. I could easily at that distance see the 

 white thigh-spots, indicating the adult birds in full breed- 

 ing plumage, with the aid of my binoculars. This is a very 

 large colony of cormorants. A man once climbed up in 

 presence of our boatmen, and brought down a "shawl 

 full of eggs." How he got up has always been a mystery 

 to our boatmen, one of whom is himself a very able rock 

 climber. 



A Peregrine Falcon was seen near the Head. White-tailed 

 eagles (Raliaettis alhicilla) have their eyrie — reported as 

 quite inaccessible — about 3 miles east of Whiten Head. 

 Black guillemots ( Uria grylle) were not abundant, but several 



