2912 Birds. 



When an alarm occurs among such an immense and varied assem- 

 blage of sea-fowl, it is interesting to listen to, and to mark, the cries 

 which are given forth by the different species. The herring gull as- 

 cends high into the air, and sweeps round and round in beautiful and 

 majestic circles far above the reach of the gun, and uttering all the 

 while, as if in anger, a hoarse and inward-like cackle resembling the 

 syllahles kak-ka-kak, interrupted occasionally by the shrill and pier- 

 cing scream of pew-il, or more accurately pee-ol, from which has been 

 derived the name by which it is familiarly known in this part of the 

 country. When the intruders by whom it was disturbed have with- 

 drawn, it descends from its elevated region and returns to its nest, ut- 

 tering incessantly its indignant scream of pee-ol. So soon as the 

 report of the gun has reverberated among these precipices, the hoarse 

 and unearthly-like croak of the guillemot arises all around ; and, as it 

 is heard proceeding from those in the caverns, it might suggest to the 

 listener the idea that some demon was growling out his anger at his 

 repose having been broken in upon by the restless foot of man. It 

 resembles the word curr greatly prolonged, and is uttered in chorus. 

 The cry given out, on such an occasion, by the razor-bill is of a louder 

 and less hoarse description. It may be imitated by the words hurr- 

 ray, making the voice to dwell long upon the last syllable. In this 

 way, when it is uttered, as it generally is, by a number of the birds in 

 a body, it is not unlike the boisterous cheering of a congregated but 

 distant multitude. In the case of the kittiwake, the cry which it emits 

 has been the means of giving it a name. This cry, however, is perhaps, 

 generally speaking, more correctly represented by the word kittie- 

 weeik ; and, when the birds seem angry and alarmed, it is kiltie-week 



were of the inosi intense and brilliant orange. In a very short time, however, the ex- 

 treme beauty of the colour had perceptibly decayed. This shows the necessity, so 

 often insisted upon by ornithologists, of marking the exact tint of the bill, legs, eyes, 

 &c, at the very moment, and on the spot. The specimen thus obtained was one of 

 rather a considerable flock which were swimming about in the sea, and which all took 

 wing on being closely approached. They rose from the water without any apparent 

 difficulty, flew off with great rapidity, and none of them gave the slightest indica- 

 tion of that affection for one another, which is taken notice of by Audubon as a 

 remarkable feature in the character of this bird. His words are these, in speaking of 

 the puffin : — " Whenever one fell dead or wounded on the water, its mate or a stran- 

 ger immediately alighied by its side, swam round it, pushed it with its bill as if to 

 urge it to fly or dive, and seldom would leave it until an oar was raised to knock it on 

 the head." (Ornithological Biography, vol. iii. p. 107. 





