376 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



steeper than on the eastern, and consequently these are the 

 favourite haunts of the cliff-birds for which Lundy is famous. 

 When I arrived, on May 5th, I was told that all the birds had 

 not yet come in from the sea, but during my short stay they 

 arrived daily in large numbers, and by May 11th, the date on 

 which I left, most of the sea birds must, I think, have settled 

 down in their summer quarters. On May 7th particularly, which 

 was a fine warm day, I noticed the Puffins coming in from the 

 sea to the island in a continuous stream. 



I was most anxious to find out whether the Gannet (Sula 

 bassana) still nested on Lundy, and was pleased to find a few on 

 the island, though I fear they are in great danger of extermina- 

 tion. Three pairs were building near the lighthouse at the 

 northern end, and, if they are not disturbed, their numbers will 

 no doubt increase. From what I hear, however, it is very seldom 

 that they manage to take away any young, as the eggs have a 

 market value of one shilling apiece. The history of the Gannets 

 on Lundy is not pleasant reading for a lover of birds. In former 

 times they inhabited an island off the north-east end, still called 

 after them " the Gannet Rock." They were so persecuted, how- 

 ever, that they deserted this rock, and tried to establish them- 

 selves on the island itself ; while some are thought to have 

 migrated to Grassholm, an island off Pembrokeshire, where there 

 is at present a small colony. The Gannets which remained on 

 Lundy unfortunately did not escape persecution by their change 

 of quarters ; but in spite of this they persevered, and, from what 

 I can gather from the islanders, there were about thirty pairs of 

 breeding birds as lately as six or seven years ago. Unfortunately 

 for the birds, the very spot they had chosen on which to build 

 their nests was selected for the erection of the new lighthouse at the 

 northern extremiy, which, I believe, was opened towards the end 

 of 1897. The quarrying and blasting operations which attended 

 the building of this lighthouse necessarily disturbed the Gannets, 

 though some few pairs seem to have clung to their old haunts, 

 even while the work was in progress. Their numbers seem now 

 to have dwindled down to the three or four pairs which I saw this 

 year, and it is earnestly to be hoped that they will not be driven 

 from this their only known nesting-place on English ground. 

 The few remaining pairs seem to have learnt wisdom by experi- 





