Xl LUNDY ISLAND. 



Tamiton^ shot a pair^ "which are now, with the rest of that gentle- 

 man's collection, in the Museum at Taunton Castle. Mr. S. DeB. 

 Heaven was so fortunate as to obtain in the autumn of 1858 a 

 fine example of the rare Buff-breasted Sandpiper, which is still to 

 be seen in the same collection. Should the winter be severe, great 

 flights of Woodcock and Snipe were in former days attracted to 

 the island by its numerous open springs and sheltered coombes; but 

 of recent years very few have been seen, for Lundy, like many 

 another once favourite locality, has shared in the disasters which 

 modern progress has entailed upon the homes of those members of 

 the feathered race which only resort to wild and lonely spots. The 

 island, once quiet and seldom disturbed, has of late years been con- 

 stantly trampled over by quarrymen and others; the greater part 

 of it is now under cultivation ; it has been discovered by the 

 summer tourists, who come from Bidef ord and Ilfracombe in cheap 

 excursion steamers, and harry the clifl'-birds and rob their nests. 

 There need, then, be no surprise that many birds have forsaken 

 their old home, the Chough among them ; aud that others which 

 were formerly wont to use it as a resting-place are now scared from 

 doing so. 



Both Partridges and Grouse have at various times been intro- 

 duced on Lundy, only to be destroyed by the rats which swarm all 

 over the island. The Common Sparrow is only seen as an occa- 

 sional winter visitor; and in tlie list of birds which nest upon it, 

 all the Tits are absent. The Jackdaw is only a chance visitor, and 

 does not nest. It is, of course, in the summer, when thousands of 

 birds still resort to its cliffs to breed, that Lundy possesses the 

 greatest interest for the lover of birds. The swarms of Puffins, 

 Guillemots, Razor-bill Auks, Gannets, Kittiwakes, Herring-Gulls, 

 Greater and Lesser Black-backed Gulls, together with Shags and 

 Cormorants, then to be seen at the northern end are indeed 

 astounding ; while concealed underground during the day are the 

 Manx Shearwaters and Storm-Petrels, which only issue from their 

 burrows at night. The variety of the Common Guillemot, known 

 as the Bridled Guillemot, occurs in limited numbers. 



In old times the inhabitants made a trade by netting the 

 Puffins and Guillemots, plucking them and selling their feathers ; 

 and of late years the birds have been persecuted by the Channel 



