BIRD-MIGRATION AT ST KILDA 189 



strips of oats, potatoes, and meadow land, here and there 

 interspersed with patches of brackens, docks, nettles, and 

 yellow iris, afford the only cover to be found in the island. 

 There are no shrubs or trees of any kind. Thus the 

 crofts were our main observing-grounds, and proved to 

 be the resort of almost all the smaller migrants visiting 

 the island. Certain outlying enclosures, in which grass 

 was grown, the Manse garden, and the higher ground 

 also received attention. The Glen, which looked so 

 promising on Mr Heathcote's map, and is usually 

 described as being fertile, proved most disappointing. 

 There was no cover, and the ground was everywhere wet, 

 and clad only in short grass, amid which much sphagnum 

 flourished : several visits were paid to this locality, and it 

 was on each occasion found to be singularly destitute of 

 bird-life. 



No account of St Kilda can be deemed complete 

 which makes no mention of the vast number — many 

 hundreds — of small stone erections in which the inhabit- 

 ants keep their turf-fuel and hay, and formerly kept their 

 stores of dried birds. These are to be seen everywhere, 

 even on the faces of the cliffs and the highest ground. 

 Martin alludes to their numbers and calls them pyramids 

 — the modern St Kildan name is Cleits ; many of those 

 now existing were doubtless in use when Martin visited 

 the island in 1697. 



The high ground, some of which is table-land, yielded 

 only a few species, such as Snow- Bunting, Lapland 

 Bunting, Wheatears, Meadow - Pipits, Golden Plover, 

 and Snipe. 



The height of the cliffs was so stupendous, and their 

 faces so precipitous, that it was quite impossible to 

 ascertain whether they harboured migratory birds or not. 



