Birds. 9239 
fully mottled with cream-colour and various shades of rich reddish 
brown. They run from the nest very soon after they are hatched, and 
are always accompanied by both parents, who then show but little fear 
of danger, running round an intruder, as if for the purpose of leading 
him away, but I have not yet seen them feign lameness, as they are 
said to do. 
Puffin.—Puffins are more than usually numerous this year, and com- 
menced laying about the 4th of June. A very remarkable specimen 
of the egg was brought to me on the 16th; although the ground colour 
and the shape are as usual, itis completely covered with numerous 
long irregular streaks of light brown and purplish gray of various 
shades. Puffins breed abundantly in many of the cliffs in the north 
of this island, sometimes occupying deserted rabbit-burrows, but 
usually, I believe, digging out holes for themselves. I have seen both 
sexes employed at this work. Sometimes there are two entrances to 
one nest, but this seems only to be the case—when the face of the cliff 
being irregular—a new burrow happens to strike the course of an old 
one. The fashion seems to be to lay the egg upon the bare sand, and 
to add a few pieces of grass by way of a nest as incubation proceeds; 
occasionally, however, a little grass is found under a perfectly fresh 
egg. 
Ring Ouzel.—On the 6th of June I saw a ring ouzel upon the rough 
ground beside the Burn of Watley, but there were no signs of a nest. 
At that time the wind was blowing strongly from S.E. 
Black Guillemot. — Black guillemots began to return to their 
breeding places about the middle of June, but they are late breeders, 
and no eggs have yet appeared. 
Whimbrel.—W himbrels, which were so numerous during the latter 
part of May, have now almost entirely disappeared from the coast and 
retired inland to breed. The few which I have shot upon the shore at 
this time of year have, with one exception, been males. On arriving 
here they appear in couples, or in very small parties of about six or 
eight, at high water, haunting flat grounds inland, or the tops of low 
cliffs, but leaving these for the shore as soon as the falling tide begins 
to expose the sea-weed-covered rocks. Never having seen the eggs 
before the beginning of June, I conclude that this species may be con- 
sidered a later breeder than the curlew. 
Wren.—One of the very few wren’s nests which I have seen here 
was brought to me on the 11th of June; it contained seven eggs, and 
was found at Woodwick inside the roof of a “lodge” or hovel occu- 
pied by a number of men and boys during the fishing-season. 
