154 



THE GUILLEMOT. 



early in the month of May. About five miles from 

 Bridlington Quay is the village of Flamborough, 

 chiefly inhabited by fishermen ; and a little farther 

 on is a country inn, called the North Star, which 

 has good accommodation for man and horse ; but a 

 lady would feel herself ill at ease in it, on account 

 of the daily visits of the fishermen, those hardy sons 

 of Neptune, who stop at it on their way to the ocean, 

 and again on their return. Here they rendezvous, 

 to fortify their interior with a pint or two of comfort, 

 and to smoke a pipe, by way of compensation for 

 the many buffets which they ever and anon receive 

 in the exercise of their stormy and nocturnal calling. 



On the bare ledges of these stupendous cliffs the 

 guillemot lays its egg, which is exposed to the face 

 of heaven, without any nest whatever ; but the 

 razorbills and puffins lay theirs in crannies, deep and 

 difficult of access. Here, too, the peregrine falcon 

 breeds, and here the raven rears its young ; while 

 the rock pigeon and the starling enter the fissures 

 of the precipice, and proceed with their nidification, 

 far removed from the prying eye of man. The kit- 

 tiwake makes her nest of dried grass wherever she 

 can find a lodgement, and lays two spotted eggs^ 

 very rarely three. The cormorant and shag inhabit 

 that part of the rocks which is opposite to Buckton 

 Hall. You are told that the cormorants had their 

 nests, in former times, near to the Flamborough 

 lighthouse ; but now these birds totally abandon the 

 place during the breeding season. The jackdaw is 

 found throughout the whole of this bold and craggy 

 shore : he associates with the seafowl, as though he 

 were quite at home amongst his own inbnd con- 



