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their breasts, and stops their hurry-scurry, until they settle on

the surface of the water again, looking round at us with quickly-

turning heads and paddling feet—One might believe them at

those moments to be automatic toys.


There are some more, six or seven, and more again, and

now several fly past with their small quickly-beating wings, one

overhead having three or four sand-eels in his brilliant parrot

bill; he is on his way to his fluffy soot-coloured baby which is

sitting in the burrow under the thrift tufts, squeaking with

hunger.


But enough about our dear quaint friends the “ Puffs,” as

we call them, for more about them another day. It is true we

were going on purpose to pay them a visit, but our attention has

been distracted. For to-day the Puffins are left to themselves,

and can come and go without our paying them over-much

attention.


Anchoring the launch at a trustworthy distance from a

shore which, above high water mark and below it, is all rocks and

boulders, we have jumped into the boat which we towed in our

wake, and rowing to an inlet, have landed in safety, carrying our

luncheon with us.


The atmosphere of the island is as an oven compared with

the breeze on the sea, and the odour of sea-birds is apparent.

No wonder, for they are everywhere ! In earth and on it, in air

and water. It is positively bewildering—the air is as full of

birds as it is of bees when they are swarming. Under our very

feet they have burrowed, and are sitting. On the rocks and

thrift tufts all over the island they are standing. In the bays

there are thousands floating on the water, and beneath them are

more, diving in hundreds.


The whole island is fringed with rough boulders and large

stones, lying upon the top of one another to a height of three or

four feet from the sandy foundation, just beyond the high-tide

boundary.


As we walk along, stumbling from time to time through

the soft Puffin-burrowed soil, we can hear the comical notes of

the Puffins themselves, a great many of which are on their eggs,

not only under the soil, but also under those loose stones and

rocks, beneath which they have shuffled in where passages are to

be found.


That there was anything besides Puffins and Razor-bills

had not crossed our minds.



