320 NATURALIST'S CABINET 



Observations by Harvey. 



of the wings, are black ; as are also the legs, ex 

 cept a fine pea-green stripe in their front. The 

 tail is wedge-shaped, and consists of twelve sharp- 

 pointed leathers. 



These birds, which subsist entirely upon fish, 

 chiefly resort to those uninhabited islands where 

 their food is found in plenty, and men seldom 

 come to disturb them. The islands to the north 

 of Scotland, the Skelig Islands of the coasts of 

 Kerry, in Ireland, and those that lie in the north 

 sea off Norway, abound with them. But it is on 

 the "Bass Island, in the Firth of Edinburgh, 

 where they are seen in the greatest abundance. 

 " There is a small island," says the celebrated 

 Harvey, " called the Bass, not more than a mile 

 in circumference. The surface is almost wholly 

 covered during the months of May and June 

 with their nests, their eggs, and young. It is 

 scarcely possible to walk without treading on 

 them ; the flocks of birds upon the wing are so 

 numerous, as to darken the air like a cloud ; and 

 their noise is such, that one cannot, without dif- 

 ficulty, be heard by the person next to him. 

 When one looks down upon the sea from the 

 precipice, its whole surface seems covered with 

 infinite numbers of birds of different kinds, swim- 

 ming and pursuing their prey. If, in sailing 

 round the island, one surveys its hanging cliffs, 

 in every crag or fissure of the broken rocks, may 

 be seen innumerable birds, of various sorts and 

 sizes, more than the stars of heaven, when viewed 



