Bird's. 2909 



able bill, bites most severely in its defence. Most frequently, how- 

 ever, the puffin will be met with on the precipices, which are of a 

 more grassy and a softer character. Here they make their nest, 

 either beneath the stones or boulders which are lying scattered about, 

 and many of which are of large dimensions, or, with their powerful 

 bill, they dig for themselves a hole in the ground for the especial pur- 

 pose. In this case, their nest is got at with less difficulty than when 

 they breed in the fissures of a precipice. Another of the birds to 

 which we are directing our attention, is the herring gull {Larus argen- 

 tattis), or pew-il ; and it is only on the precipices which are over- 

 grown with grass, that it is to be encountered.* Of this material its 

 nest, which is more easily accessible than that of any of the others, is 

 invariably composed. Along the lofty and widely extended cliffs, 

 where the surface is bare, the house martin {Hirundo urbica) may 

 now and then be seen entering its nest, which it has attached to the 

 overhanging rock ; and several examples will also be observed of the 

 large and picturesque black swallow, or swift (Cypselus murarius). 

 The jackdaw {Corvus monedula), or kae, will, moreover, occasionally 

 make its appearance. In all probability it breeds there ; and by those 

 who have been long familiar with these rocks, and with their feathered 

 inhabitants, it is accused of devouring the eggs of the sea-fowl. 

 Whether or not this is the case, I cannot, from my own observation, 

 affirm. At various points in this bold and most striking portion of the 

 coast there are caverns, some of which extend a far way into the rock, 

 and, in one or two instances, they have even a communication with 

 the land.f These a boat may, in calm weather, readily enter for a 

 considerable way. On the flat, and sometimes rather broad ledges, 

 which are to be seen on their sides, many of the guillemots take 

 up their abode and bring forth their young ; but, so far as I have ob- 



* The herring gull and the kittiwake, with the snow-white heail and breast, and 

 the delicate mantle of pearly-blue, by which they are both of them adorned, will be 

 easily and quickly recognized at the greatest distance and by the most inattentive ob- 

 server; while the difference in their relative size, the former being nearly twice as 

 large as the latter, is sufficient effectually to prevent them from being mistaken the 

 one for the other. 



f Of these, the most remarkable is known among the people of the neighbourhood, 

 by the expressive name of Hell's lum, that is, the chimney of Hell, In a wintry tem- 

 pest, when the ocean is once thoroughly aroused, and when, in quick succession, it 

 pours its waves into this tremendous chasm, the noise which arises is like that of 

 thuuder, and the spray issues from the mouth on the land side as if it were smoke, as- 

 cending in impetuous volumes from the infernal regions. Hence the local name 

 which this cavern has obtained. 



VIII 2 N 



