The Sea Birds' Fortress 243 



near. They were guarding the entrance to their homes — burrows in the soil 

 under the rocks or under the grassy turf. If we had dug them out we should 

 probably have found a bird in each burrow crouching over her single white 

 egg at the farthest end. She would not offer to fly away, and we could easily 

 stroke her back or pick her up, but we must look out for her sharp and 

 powerful beak, which could inflict quite a wound. 



On the upper ledges, just below the top of the cliff, the Razor-billed Auks 

 were domiciled, where they had crawled into every available crevice or under 

 •every overhanging rock to lay their single eggs on the bare ground. The eggs 

 were not quite so pointed as the Murres,' and were usually white with spots 

 and markings of dark brown and black. 



RAZOR-BILLED AUKS ON THEIR NEST-SITES 



They were very tame and unsuspicious birds; if we sat still for a few mom- 

 ents near their nests they would fly up and alight within a few feet, eying us 

 curiously and grunting their expressions of satisfaction or disapproval. I should 

 have had some fine pictures of them but for an unfortunate accident by which 

 the plates were spoiled. 



One of the features of the trip was our visit to North Bird Rock, three tall 

 pinnacles of red sandstone rock rising out of the sea, three-quarters of a mile 

 away. A dory was lowered in place of the crate and we rowed over, landing 

 with difficulty on a flat rock at the base. A cloud of Kittiwake Gulls flew from 

 their nests on the cliffs as we landed. We managed to scale the first cliff by 

 helping each other up from ledge to ledge, passing the cameras up as best we 

 could. As I raised my head over the top I found myself face to face with a Gannet, 

 in fact a whole colony of them, and a more surprised lot of Gannets I never saw. 



