436 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



until about 3 a.m., and at the first streak of dawn it died away, 

 as they then retired to their holes. 



We were out early in the morning to perambulate the island, 

 and came upon a single Shearwater at the mouth of its burrow, 

 and no rabbit could have made a more precipitate bolt than it 

 did on our approach. After peering into many rabbit-holes we 

 at last found one in which a "cockle" was to be seen, distant 

 about an arm's length, sitting either asleep or upon its egg ; and 

 not coveting its treasure, after a good look into the hole we left it 

 undisturbed. We searched in vain for the White-winged Puffin, 

 which was either out on the water, in its hole, or somewhere else 

 out of sight. On the top of the island we came upon numerous 

 Sea Pies, nesting in the stunted heather and fern. The old birds 

 wheeling above our heads and keeping up an incessant piping of 

 alarm and anger, were very handsome objects, with their vividly- 

 contrasted black and white plumage standing out well against 

 the blue sky. We could find no eggs, and all the birds seemed 

 to have young; and it was not long before some little chicks 

 were detected crouching beneath the shooting bracken. These 

 bore a great resemblance to young Peewits, but had far stouter 

 legs. We sat down for some time opposite a grand cliff at Wick 

 Haven, on the south-west side of the island, which swarmed 

 with myriads of birds. The lower ledges were occupied by 

 countless Kittiwakes seated on or beside their nests, which, like 

 the structures of the House Martin, seemed made with mud. On 

 the higher ledges sat Eazor-billed Auks and Guillemots row 

 upon row, in places five and six deep, and every coign of 

 vantage on the top of the cliflf was occupied by the inevitable 

 Pufiin. A babel of sounds came forth from these innumerable 

 birds, the hoarse cackle of the Kittiwakes, which seemed to 

 formulate the complaint, "tobacco I want, tobacco I want," 

 prevailing over all. 



Walking further on we came to a spot where a little colony 

 of Lesser Black-backed Gulls had taken up a station on the top 

 of the cliflf, and soon found several nests containing eggs. A 

 little later I nearly trod upen a Whimbrel among the fern. The 

 bird walked slowly off, trailing its wings — suspicious behaviour 

 which made me search for its nest, but none was found. It would 

 have been a grand discovery could Whimbrel's eggs have been 

 detected so far south as Skomer. Choughs and Eavens were 



