146 BIRD LIFE THROUGHOUT THE YEAR 



rocky ledges guillemots and razorbills swarm like bees, 

 outlying hummocks capped with peat in which are 

 the burrows of shearwater and petrel and the far 

 western, sea-girt haunts of gannet and fulmar. All 

 these varied scenes of bird-life, often in wild and 

 picturesque setting, may be found around our 

 shores. 



We may take our stand upon the bold chalk cliffs 

 of Flamborough, which front the North Sea like a 

 great white wall and overlook its restless waves from 

 such a height that they are dwarfed to a tracery of 

 finest ripples. Or we may stand where the grim 

 overhanging front of Spanish Head, with its memories 

 of the ruined Armada, looks across the narrow sound 

 to the Calf of Man, Or shall we choose some remote 

 spot upon the coast of Western Wales where rent and 

 twisted strata, stacks and natural arch combine to 

 form rock scenery of wild and varied type ? As each 

 swell passes, the water gurgles and spurts from a blow- 

 hole, and its hoarse, hollow murmur is heard as it ebbs 

 and flows into dismal caverns haunted by otter and 

 seal. Not less suited to our purpose are parts of the 

 Irish coast, where the black and jagged cliffs are 

 brilliant with patches of the white campion, sulphur 

 kidney-vetch or rose sea-pink. 



To enjoy a general survey of such a sea-bird colony 

 we must take a boat and cruise along the foot of the 

 cliffs. Earth, air and water teem with birds. Heavy 



