242 STUDIES IN BIRD-MIGRATION 



a bird of that kind, which they vaguely described. After 

 consideration of all that he could ascertain about it, his 

 conclusion was that at one time, when the island was 

 uninhabited, it did breed there in some numbers, but 

 that after the island was inhabited, it was gradually 

 exterminated by the frequent robbing of its eggs. This 

 could very easily be done, as the places where it could land 

 and breed were very few, and all on the main island * and 

 near the village." The fate of the Stack an Armin bird 

 appears to have been unknown to him, but perhaps the 

 natives responsible for doing it to death as a witch would 

 not care to tell their spiritual adviser of a deed which 

 savoured of heresy. 



Uria troile, Common Guillemot. — Under the name 

 of " Lavy," this species has a place in Martin's history of 

 1697, and, along with its variable egg, is well described 

 on pages 59 to 61 of his most interesting little book. 

 The Guillemots had quitted their nesting ledges some 

 time before my arrival at St Kilda, but they were 

 sometimes seen in the bay, and they were numerous, 

 along with their young, just off the main island and 

 Boreray on 8th October 1910. 



[Uria bruennichi, Brunnich's Guillemot. — Milner 

 (p. 2061) tells us that "Brunnich's Guillemot {Uria 

 bruennichi) and tgg" were taken on Soay on 15th June 

 1847. Milner himself was not one of the party visiting 

 Soay, and it is impossible to say how far he was 

 responsible for the identification of the bird. The 

 notorious David Graham, of York, was with Mr (after- 

 wards Sir William) Milner and his friends, and most 



1 One of the most suitable breeding haunts for this bird was, in my 

 opinion, the stretch of gradually sloping rocks which form the north-west 

 coast of the island of Dun. 



