2446 Letters of Rasticus. 



Along these ledges the birds were crowded so thickly, as positively to push the fore- 

 most ones off by the pressure from behind, as fresh troops issued from their holes : 

 these would fly a little way, and, returning, settle on the heads of others, and thus, 

 by slipping in, find themselves a footing, the foremost birds being obliged to tumble 

 off, as these intruders had previously done. Some ledges were occupied solely by 

 puffins, whose conspicuous bills, and squat though upright position, rendered them 

 instantly distinguishable. The little fellows turned their heads sharply on their 

 shoulders, first on one side, then on the other, like people holding an animated con- 

 versation. They have white cheeks, with a black hood, which seems fastened under 

 the chin with a band of the same colour. A few of the delicately white kittiwakes 

 were perched here and there on a projecting crag; and, scattered at regular intervals, 

 like stern, upright, solitary sentinels, stood the corvorants, spotting with black the 

 whole surface of the cliff. There seemed little disposition on the part of any one spe- 

 cies to consort with another : though crowded together on the cliff, yet each species 

 kept in degree separate : willock crowded willock ; puffin, puffin. A noise, as one 

 might suppose like that of disembodied spirits in purgatory, issued from every part of 

 the rock ; whether it proceeded from the razor-bills, willocks or gulls, we could not 

 make out ; but, of all the horrid and piteous groanings I have ever heard, these were 

 the most so. Perhaps it was only a morning hymn of thankfulness and happiness ; 

 perhaps the soft note of love ; perhaps the united cry of thousands of the young for 

 food. Being sufficiently near to see very clearly the whole mass of living creatures 

 before us, the fishermen suggested that a single barrel should be fired at random, at 

 the same time they both gave a tremendous shout. Words cannot describe the scene 

 that followed : corvorants, ravens, gulls, kittiwakes, puffins, razor-bills, guillemots, all 

 left their stations ; the very surface of the cliff came towards us. The remaining bar- 

 rels were soon emptied, and all was one wild uproar : the sky was positively darkened ; 

 the air filled with heterogeneous sounds : the screams, the calls, the groans of the 

 birds . — the continued ringing of the fishermen's shouts ; — the almost everlasting echc 

 of our guns, which every crag and cranny seemed determined to reiterate ; and, above 

 all, and harmonizing all, the tumultuous roar of the restless ocean, as its long anc 

 heavy swell dashed against the perpendicular but rugged cliff; — produced such a 

 combination of sights and sounds, as, once seen and heard, can never be forgotten. 



" But where was the produce of our united discharge ? Twenty or thirty birds, at 

 least, ought to have fallen plump into the sea ; for we fired right in their faces, and 

 some of them seemed to be within ten yards of us : however, not a bird fell, nor did 

 there appear to be a single feather touched. We stood gaping at one another in un- 

 feigned astonishment. Was the miss to be attributed to the rolling of the boat, or 

 the swell ? Certainly not ; for in such a crowd all nicety of aim would have been 

 useless. Had we forgotten to put in the shot ? Still very improbable. The fisher- 

 men explained the mystery ; and I doubt not your ornithological readers have done 

 the same : the feathers on the breasts and necks of sea-birds are so closely matted to- 

 gether, and form a covering so smooth and compact, that shots striking in front will 

 not enter, but instantly glance off, without doing the slightest injury. As soon as we 

 understood our error we were determined to rectify it, and were loading again in an 

 instant. Now, as each little covey (for they fly in coveys, like partridges) passed over 

 us, we took them in the rear, and to every barrel a bird fell thud into the water. This 

 plan answered delightfully ; and finding its efficacy, our spirits, which were somewhat 

 damped by the first disappointment, now rose with the excitement of the scene ; and 



