THE BIRD-BERGS OF LAPLAND. 



61 



of marks by a playful giant child, as though the whole rock bore a 

 wondrous decoration of chains, rings, and stars. From the dark 

 depths of large and small cavities there gleamed a brilliant white; 

 the shelving ledges stood out in more conspicuous brightness. The 

 brooding gulls on their nests formed the white pattern, and we 



Fig. 4.— Razor-bills. 



realized the truth of Faber's words, "they cover the rocks when 

 they sit". 



Our boat, as it grated on the rocky shore, startled a number of 

 the gulls, and I saw a picture such as I had seen on many eider- 

 holms and gull-islands. A shot from my friend's gun thundered 

 against the precipice. As a raging winter storm rushes through 

 the air and breaks up the snow-laden clouds till they fall in 

 flakes, so now it snowed living birds. One saw neither hill nor 

 sky, nothing but an indescribable confusion. A thick cloud darkened 



