amongst the many islands, with which this coast is everywhere 

 studded, we had no difficulty in ascertaining those on which 

 we should prove successful, and were frequently led to the 

 spot, from a considerable distance, by the extreme anxiety and 

 pugnacity evinced by this bird in its bold attacks upon the 

 larger sea fowl, especially Richardson's Skua (Lestris Richard- 

 sonii), the egg-devouring enemy of other sea birds. The 

 several nests that we examined were placed in the same situa- 

 tion as the one described, with the exception of two, one of 

 which was under a slanting stone, the other on the bare rock ; 

 they all contained four eggs ; sometimes of the very beautiful 

 variety of Fig. 1, but more frequently approaching that of 

 Fig. 2 ; I have seen specimens very nearly resembling some 

 eggs of the Common Snipe. Their time of breeding is about 

 the middle of June. 



