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THE ZOOLOGIST. 



columnar basalt with flat tops, absolutely crowded with dense 

 masses of female Guillemots, each sitting upright incubating its 

 single egg. Although so near, they absolutely ignore our presence, 

 rolling and twisting their heads and necks in the most grotesque 

 fashion, and strangely suggestive of a mob of excited negroes in 

 white aprons. On the precipitous flanks of the Pinnacles, or sides 

 of the fissures and clefts on the main island, the pretty Kittiwake 

 has occupied every coign of vantage. Their nests, which are con* 

 siderable structures, are placed everywhere on the narrow ledges 

 and irregularities of the rock, so that the sitting bird seems some- 

 times clinging to the smooth surface with little or no support. 

 The eggs are three in number, and the owners of them so fearless 

 and tame that they continue to sit quietly, although we are 

 watching at a distance of a few feet. 



The upper and highest portion of Staple Island is covered 

 with dense masses of bell-campion growing in a considerable 

 depth of black peat, riddled and honeycombed in every direction 

 with the burrows of the Puffins ; many Eiders also nest here, and 

 a vast colony of the Lesser Black-backed Gulls, and a few 

 Herring Gulls. The nests of the former are everywhere, some 

 almost hidden by the rank vegetation, many on the flat rocks 

 near the sea ; in the latter situation the nest is a considerable 

 structure, and, when new, entirely composed of the green flower- 

 stalks and leaves of the campion. The eggs — three in number — 

 vary considerably both in size and colour. The Gulls are very 

 fearless, and, with hoarse cries of " how, how" and "kec-kec-kec," 

 swoop and stoop incessantly above the head of the intruder on 

 their domain. When sitting near a nest, and taking notes of the 

 materials of its construction, we repeatedly felt the wind of their 

 pinions on the backs of our necks. Mr. Hewitson (' Eggs of 

 British Birds,' vol. ii. p. 497) narrates, on the authority of 

 Mr. Darling, of the Longstone, how an old woman, who was 

 gathering eggs, had her bonnet riddled through and through, and 

 almost torn to pieces by their bills. A few pairs of Razorbills 

 frequent the rocks on the south side of Staple, but they do not 

 appear to be a very common species here. We saw a pair or two 

 of Rock Doves dash out from the depths of the gloomy fissures, 

 at the bottom of which the green rollers are ever churning them- 

 selves into tortured sheets of milk-white foam. 



From the foot of the ancient tower, or fire-beacon, on Staple 



