208 Spring Notes from various Scottish Islands.


visit, though, but for this cleft, I think I might have managed it on

the south-east side.


As the estimate of the number of Gannets breeding there in

the past varies from 8,000 (Gurney) to 50,000 (Seebohm), I made

very careful observation on this point. We steamed round the

Stack on one side at a distance not exceeding 150 yards. On the

other my captain treated it with greater respect and we were

rather farther off, but I afterwards rowed round in my dinghy within

a few yards of the islands. I counted the birds before many of them

rose on a portion of the rock which was most thickly occupied, and

my opinion is that there were about 5000 at the time of my visit. If

anything, this may be a little under the mark, but I should certainly

say they were less than 6,000. I believe the over-estimation of the

numbers is due to the difficulty of separating the Gannets with the

eye from the multitude of Kittiwakes and Guillemots sitting amongst

them. I asked one of my yacht’s officers how many Gannets he

thought there were, and, even after consideration, he suggested a

million ! As none of the sitting birds rose, even when I was within

a few yards of the rock in the dinghy, it was not possible to see

whether any young were hatched. I presume that the population

would be quite one-third more if counted before the young were able

to fly.


Only the upper third of the northern part of the Skerry is

occupied by nesting birds, and a very small point of rock, which

cannot hold more than half a dozen nests, on the southern portion.

At first sight the whole Stack appears to be covered in its upper half

by nesting birds ; but a closer inspection reveals that quite one in

six—but I think possibly even a larger proportion of those on the

southern part—are immature birds, not all in the dark plumage, but

still immature.


There were no Puffins, very few Razorbills, and a few Shags

with young; also a few Greater and Lesser Black-backed Gulls.


(To be continued).



