206



The Duchess of Bedford,



two in my hand at the same time. The nostrils are dark slate and

the rest of the bill greenish yellow, getting more horn-coloured

towards the tip. If anything, the bill is less blue than that of the

local form.


Having read of St. Kilda as the resort of myriads of sea-fowl

—Kittiwakes, Razorbills, Guillemots, and Puffins—I was somewhat

surprised to find that, with the exception of the last, they were by

no means so plentiful as I had expected. I do not mean to say

that there are not thousands breeding there, but, compared with

such places as Handa and many of the other great cliff resorts, they

are distinctly scattered, and one sees no great number in the sea.


On the whole, the cliffs do not seem to have the type of ledges

they require for nesting. The greater part of them consists of small

grass slopes and short precipitous rock faces, far better adapted to

Fulmars and Puffins than to Guillemots and Razorbills. I have

seen Kittiwakes nesting on similar cliffs, but possibly the atmosphere

of Fulmar is too strong for them at St. Kilda.


There are more of the cliff-breeding birds on the south

side of Dun than any other part of the islands that I visited, but I

did not go round Soay.


The Herring Gull was the commonest of the Gulls round the

yacht in the bay. Some twenty Lesser Black-backed Gulls followed

us over from Loch Tabert—56 miles—and remained a short time,

but I saw no others during the remainder of my visit. Though

reported to have nested once (Studies in Bird Migration, ii., p. 238),

it is probable that, when seen there on other occasions, they may

have followed boats in the same way. It is astonishing the distance

that Gulls will follow a boat. I noticed a Lesser Black-back with a

broken leg, which accompanied my yacht from the Fame Islands

for a distance of 117 miles, and possibly farther, as I was unable to

watch it longer.


Two Arctic Terns were observed during my visit ; also eight

Turnstones, a Common Sandpiper, a Teal, Dunlin, Merlin, a few

Oyster-catchers, several pairs of Eider Ducks, a number of Starlings,

and a pair of Ravens.


I was fortunate enough to be able to go over to Stack Lii and

Boreray in my launch, and, though there was rather a heavy swell,



