148 BIRD LIFE THROUGHOUT THE YEAR 



of varied coloration and marking than those of the 

 guillemot. 



Further down are the Kittiwakes' nests — real nests 

 of seaweed properly rounded and hollowed — seemingly 

 glued to the face of the cliff and standing out from it 

 like brackets. It is a busy scene and a novel one j 

 the razorbills and guillemots darting down to the 

 waves in a constant stream, some tossing on the waves 

 light and buoyant as corks, others arriving at the 

 ledges and struggling for foothold, uttering mean- 

 while a hoarse guttural note, which, mingling with 

 the " kitty- wauk," " kitty-wauk " of the dove-like 

 kittiwakes on the ledges and the cackling and barking 

 of the larger gulls above, forms a strange and weird 

 chorus. A pair of Great Black-backed Gulls laughs 

 gruffly overhead. 



Every outcrop of rock and, here and there, the edge 

 of the cliff itself, is tenanted by Puffins, all standing 

 upright, all with spotlessly white breasts and gorgeous 

 bills. The eye wearies of regiments of puffins in 

 endless perspective. Some are constantly arriving 

 from the sea and alighting with a plump on the rocks, 

 giving a little flutter with their wings to steady them- 

 selves. The Razorbills, in their black dress-coats the 

 picture of prim respectability, are, if anything, more 

 ridiculously tame than the puffins. Their eggs are 

 in holes or under overhanging boulders, but never 

 far back or in regular burrows like those of the puffin- 



