l3& THE ZOOLOGIST. 



I did not identify any Herring Gulls as belonging to Lyra, 

 though several were seen in the vast cloud overhead ; but these 

 might have come either from other stacks, or from the cliffs of 

 Papa Stour. One would wonder how, amongst such a swarm of 

 confirmed egg and chick swallowers as the two species of Black- 

 backed Gull, the Eiders can manage to raise a brood at all; but 

 that they do manage it is an evident fact. They do not, how- 

 ever, escape without paying toll, as was evidenced by the number 

 of sucked egg-shells strewn about the edge of the cliff. The 

 Eider always covers her eggs when leaving, and these nests 

 being so snugly concealed in the deep hollows between the 

 tussocks, is the only explanation of the fact that many of the 

 nests of the Eider contained four eggs, apparently almost 

 hatching. The ducks were very tame ; one, indeed, permitted 

 me to lift her off her nest, which, curiously enough, contained 

 only one egg. 



If any doubt now existed as to the fact that the Eider Duck 

 often carries her young to the water, these nests would be quite 

 proof enough, as a jump of nearly 200 feet would certainly be 

 too much for the young to take alone. 



The view from the summit of the stack is grand in the 

 extreme. Facing north, on the right, we have the coast-line of 

 the finest cliffs in Papa, with the giant " Horn " projecting many 

 feet over the restless ocean, now beginning to break heavily 

 beneath the rising wind. To the left, about five miles distant, 

 lie the low wave-washed Ve Skerries, the last remnant of land in 

 this direction, and the most westerly rocks in Shetland except 

 the Island of Foula, which rises dim and vast on the south- 

 western horizon. 



But Peter was back with his jersey crammed with eggs, and 

 it was time we were off: to carry anything down the way we 

 came up would be an utter impossibility ; but here the codline 

 came into play, for Peter, walking to the extreme edge of the 

 cliff just over the archway through the island, signalled to the 

 boat to be ready, and lowered his harvest swiftly and steadily 

 straight into the boat, — doing the same with the fishing-basket 

 containing my more modest, if safer, selection. 



My enjoyment of the scene upon the summit had been 

 somewhat dashed by thoughts of the descent ; but, with the 

 aid of Peter's codline for the top piece, it was soon accora- 



