Birds. 9293 
mot and puffin tribe. The turnstone and kittiwake are very common, 
and there is a prodigious number of the common gull: the latter are 
very shy. The ducks, which breed in May in these cliffs were all 
dispersed, as were most of the cormorants, which are numerous early 
in the season. After a dozen shots near the cliffs, the birds fly out in 
great numbers,.and the cries of those poor birds which have young 
are really piteous. 
The number of these birds has greatly diminished during the last 
ten or more years, in consequence of the farmers allowing the eggs of 
the ducks and of many other birds to be taken in April and May: it 
is said men pay the farmers for the privilege, and sell the eggs to be 
eaten. They are taken generally by only two persons; when filled 
each basket is let down from the cliff into a boat by one man,—a fear- 
fully dangerous trade, to which may wel! be applied the description 
given by the immortal bard of the samphire gatherer :— 
“There is a cliff whose bigh and bending head 
Looks fearfully on the confined deep : 
* * * * 
How dizzy ’tis to cast one’s eyes so low! 
The crows and choughs, that wing the midway air, 
Show scarce so gross as beetles. Half way down 
Hangs one that gathers samphire—dreadful trade! 
Methinks he seems no bigger than his head: 
The fishermen that walk upon the beach 
Appear like mice.” is * = 
My informant says that one man only lets his mate down in a 
basket, who fills the basket, which is let down to the water’s edge, and 
is then returned to the top of the cliffs again. 
As so many guillemots and puffins have young ones at this time of 
the year (July 23rd), I have no doubt they are second broods, as 
nearly all the first-laid eggs are taken in the spring: this is a sad 
pity, and I wish the landed proprietors of these beautiful cliffs lived 
near to prevent such a cruel robbery. The birds are seen sitting in 
rows and ranks in different layers of the rocks, like soldiers: from the 
water they appear very near, but, from their apparently small size, at 
haif way up the cliffs, they resemble birds of the size of a spatrow. 
One of my sons brought down a bridled guillemot with his rifle; the 
bird was nearly half way up the cliff, and at the distance of about a 
hundred yards. 
At about a mile and a half from Filey, in the bay, a tolerable day’s 
sport may be had by a persevering sportsman, as there are many 
