2060 Birds. 



in the ocean; and the gannets nestling on its sides give it quite the appearance 

 of a chalk cliff ; the sea of the brightest blue, covered with myriads of sea fowl ; turn- 

 ing your eyes towards St. Kilda you see the whole of it, with Soa tacked on as it were 

 to it on one side, and Dun on the other, apparently one island with a great loophole 

 in it, while the mighty Conaker raises himself majestically above the other numerous 

 peaks. It is impossible to describe the grandeur of a great mass of rock rising straight 

 out of the sea, far — far away from any land, except its subject rocks. LookiDg from 

 the other side you see the whole of the Long Island, from the Butt of Lewis to Barra 

 Head, 130 miles long, and everywhere else the clear blue Atlantic. Our first prize 

 was several specimens of the common stormy petrel, none of which had begun to lay, 

 though the eggs in each when opened were quite visible. We also obtained four more 

 fork-tailed petrels and their eggs, several fulmars, gannets and herring gulls, with 

 their eggs. On our way back, my brother fired and killed a pair of shags, and one of 

 the active islanders clambered up the rock and brought us down three of their eggs. 

 We arrived safely at St. Kilda, and found the party from Soa before us. They had 

 been more fortunate than us, in procuring one egg of the common stormy petrel, with 

 three pairs of old birds, one fork-tailed petrel, and two pairs of shearwaters with their 

 eggs. The shearwater's principal resort is Soa ; there are none in Borrera or St. Kil- 

 da, and but few in Dun. Like the stormy petrel, they breed in holes under rocks and 

 stones. Their breeding-places are very difficult to be discovered, for, unlike the 

 stormy petrel, they do not attract you by any sound. The sure way to procure them 

 is to watch them into their holes at night, the only time they are found stirring ; and 

 sometimes the islanders discover them by the sagacity of their dogs, who smell them 

 in their retreats : but though we tried very hard, we could only obtain two eggs, and 

 they were nearly hatched. Mr. Mackenzie informed us, that when he was on the is- 

 land, a roller was seen for two or three -days one winter, but having no powder he was 

 unable to secure it : he also mentioned the whimbrel, common and jack snipes, com- 

 mon gray linnet, wild swans and wild geese, as occasional visitors. We found a star- 

 ling breeding in a curious place, about two feet under a large stone, on the steep side 

 of Conaker. 



Having procured all that these islands possessed in the way of ornithology, we took 

 leave of our hospitable friends on the evening of the third day, who really seemed 

 sorry at our departure, and all shook hands with us most heartily. Their leave-taking 

 with their minister was very touching : they stood on the rocky shore, in a bright moon- 

 light night, grouped round him, listening with the greatest attention to his parting 

 exhortations for two hours, and when he made the signal for departure there was not 

 a dry eye in the island. So much had this good man made himself beloved, that the 

 people would have obeyed him in everything except leaving their barren rock, to which 

 they are most deeply attached. We weighed anchor at about five o'clock in the morn- 

 ing, amidst the regrets of the people ; the sea like glass, and scarce a breeze to carry 

 us to Harris ; and we did not arrive at our moorings at Ob till eleven at night. On 

 the following day we had a delightful sail through the Sound of Harris, and along the 

 east coast of that island and Lewis to Stornaway, passing the Shiant Isles, well worth 

 visiting on account of the innumerable sea-fowl resorting to them ; and after remain- 

 ing at the capital of the Hebrides long enough to land Mr. Graham and our treasures, 

 all of which he had to prepare, wc set sail to Loch Inver, there taking leave of our 

 vessel and our civil and agreeable crew, after a delightful cruise of a fortnight among 

 these wild islands. 



