66



Rev. F. L. Blathwayt,



at other times they would dash down wind like a shower of

meteors. Though the rain was pouring down upon us we con¬

stantly found ourselves lying full length on the edge of the cliffs

and, with field-glasses quivering in the wind and blurred by rain¬

drops, trying to learn something of the busy life on the faces of

those walls of chalk.


And what a wonderful sight it was! The rock-birds and

the little grey Kittiwakes seemed to have taken advantage of

every available ledge and cranny on the face of the cliffs. In

spite of the fresh breeze, a fishy odour pervaded the air, and no

wonder, for as we peered over the cliffs or gazed at their faces

from some projecting promontory a wonderful sight met our

gaze. The Guillemots were clustered on some of the wider

shelves like swarms of bees ; on other cliffs they were scattered

more sparingly over the entire surface as the narrow ledges

afforded resting places for themselves and their eggs. Sometimes

on a mighty white wall sheer and smooth for several hundred

feet, a dark horizontal or diagonal bar might be seen traversing

its surface. This line on closer inspection proved to be formed

of hundreds perhaps thousands of Guillemots, sitting by their

mates or on their eggs, on the only resting place the particular

cliff could afford them. The Puffins for the most part seemed to

prefer those parts of the cliffs where they could find a little soil

in which to burrow and bring up their solitary offspring. The

Razorbills mingle with the Guillemots, but are not nearly so

numerous, and lay their eggs half hidden in crevices and sheltered

places. The Kittiwakes during our visit were not very much in

evidence on the wing, as they seemed anxious to shelter from the

force of the wind, but we saw several colonies of these birds, the

members for the most part busy incubating their two eggs or

brooding over their newly-hatched chicks in the scanty nests

stuck to tiny ledges of the cliffs. Now and again a screaming

Kittiwalce would chase away a marauding Jackdaw, and a pair or

two of Herring Gulls might constantly be seen wheeling about

the cliff face on the look out for exposed eggs. A confused babel

of chattering cries and wailing screams was constantly rising up

from below, notes of anger, jealousy, defiance, welcome and love

mingling together and harmonizing with the raging elements and

the general weirdness of the scene.



