INTRODIJCXIOK. IX 



"Westmoreland and Cumberland, must likewise tend to increase 

 tlie number of visitants. The coast is visited every autumn by 

 great numbers of migrants, sucb as the Short-Eared Owl, the 

 "Woodcock, the Snow Bunting, the Mountain Finch, the Field- 

 fare, and the Eedwing. And the Dotterel is seen every year 

 on its way to and from its breeding places in Westmoreland and 

 Cumberland. 



Two or three localities require special mention on occount of 

 their ornithological features. The first of these is the Fame 

 Islands, a cluster of about fifteen small rocky islets and pinna- 

 cles composed chiefly of basalt, lying off the N'orthumberland 

 coast, near its northern extremity; the largest and nearest of 

 which is about two miles from the shore, the most distant about 

 five. In this limited area fifteen species of sea fowl breed, 

 namely, the Ring Dotterel, Oyster Catcher, Lesser Black-backed 

 GruU, Heriing Gull, Kittiwake Gull, Sandwich Tern, Common 

 Tern, Arctic Tern, Eoseate Tern, Cormorant, Shag, Eider Duck, 

 Guillemot, Puffin, and Eazorbill. 



This breeding station is remarkable rather for the number of 

 the species located there than for the multitude of individuals, 

 which in some other stations is prodigious, as may be witnessed 

 on the "West of Scotland, or even at Elamborough Head, where 

 the Gulls, Guillemots, and Razorbills abound to a much greater 

 extent than do any of the species at the Earnes, though the Terns 

 and Lesser Black-backed Gulls are in considerable numbers. The 

 eggs of the former are very numerous, and are so crowded toge- 

 ther that much care is required to avoid treading upon them as 

 one walks over their breeding ground, which is chiefly confined 

 to one of the low grassy islets. The Guillemots have possession 

 of the pinnacles, three basaltic columns of no great size, and 

 about forty feet high. The eggs are deposited on the tops of 

 these isolated columns, and can only be reached by climbing. 

 There used to be a rope suspended from the top of one of the 

 columns, and with the aid of this rope, and with one foot against 

 one column, and the other foot against the adjacent one, an ac- 

 tive climber might haul himself to the top. When I visited the 

 locality in June, 1831, in company with Mr. W. C. Hewitson 



