Ailsa Craig and its Birds. 119 



congregate and commence their formidable attack. Select a 

 single bird, if that be possible ; lie soars but a minute, then with 

 closed wings he poises his body, and goes down like a stone, 

 making the spray break over the spot where he entered. After 

 a few moments' submersion he reappears with a cork-like 

 buoyancy, throwing back his head and gobbling down his prey 

 so hastily and with such voracity, as almost to justify a suspicion 

 that neither the bird nor the fish can benefit much by the trans- 

 action. 



Having a keen appetite, the solan goose is easily imposed 

 upon. I remember on one occasion fastening, by way of experi- 

 ment, a fish to a fir plank more than a half an inch thick, and 

 sending it adrift as a lure. It had not been long out till a wan- 

 dering gannet was seen approaching. Immediately he caught 

 sight of the. fish he halted in his flight, and in another moment 

 dashed head foremost with such force as to split the board in 

 two ; the bird, harlequin-like, disappearing in the sea as if 

 nothing had obstructed its descent. Often afterwards, on 

 looking at him in my collection, I regretted the unfairness 

 of the°poor fellow's capture, a broken neck being the result of 

 his hungry plunge. 



Last summer when pigeon shooting at the sea caves 

 south of Ballantrae, one of the boatmen informed me of 

 having assisted, many years ago, in the removal of one 

 hundred and twenty-eight dead geese from a train of 

 herring nets which had been lying at a depth of one hundred 

 and eighty feet. The accumulation of birds in the nets, though 

 sunk with heavy weights, had brought the whole train to the 

 surface, by the buoyancy of their bodies, and attracted the 

 notice of the people on shore ; and as the nets contained a 

 quantity of herrings, it was conjectured that the geese had been 

 drawn to the spot by their glittering sides, and been tempted 

 to risk their necks in pursuit. 



The guillemot (Uria troile) and razor-bill (Utamania torda) * 

 breed on the narrow ledges of rock, occupying the entire face 

 of the highest precipices, and presenting, when viewed from 

 the sea, a very remarkable and orderly appearance. They 

 make no nest, but lay their single egg upon the bare ledge, 

 which is seldom more than six inches in breadth, so that each 

 bird is compelled to sit erect when incubating. I have fre- 

 quently climbed to a height of four or five hundred feet to see 

 the most thickly-populated breeding-place ; and having hurled 

 down a few stones to frighten the birds, they all tool* wing, 



* The genus Utamania, -which was instituted by the late Prince Lucien Bona- 

 parte, when taken in connection with that of Mormon or puflin, inclines one to the 

 belief that this distinguished ornithologist had the Great Salt Lake in view when 

 re-arranging his nomenclature. 



