136 
ANIMAL LIFE ON THE 
Casting our eyes above to the crown of the height, 
1114 feet from sea-level, we see a motley flock of birds 
circling and wheeling in the clear afternoon air, little bigger 
than swallows, in the distance. Our time will not permit 
of a visit there, to view the far-stretching scenery from that 
vantage point, and afford us a peep at the flock of wild 
goats that browse upon the crags and occasional green 
patches of herbage that are to be met with above. For 
these, and a more detailed account of other matters that 
would be foreign to these pages, we commend our readers 
to a little work on Ailsa Craig recently published by the 
Rev. E. Lawson, Maybole. 
We must now direct our attention to the creatures of 
the shore, but where the ebb is so precipitous, few spots, 
indeed, can be found suitable for the work of our enquiries. 
With this object in view, we step upon the little landing- 
stage stretching out a few yards upon the lip of the deep, blue 
abyss of waters beyond. Scanning the bottom as far down 
as we can, we see no signs of any living thing; but here, in 
about six feet of water, we discover a fine specimen of the 
five-rayed starfish, which we can easily bring up with the 
boat-hook; and very close at hand we also notice the prickly 
urchin. These two creatures are said, by some authorities, 
to be very closely allied, on account, we suppose, of the 
sucker-arms of both being somewhat similar. But in the 
same sense so might it also be said of many widely-different 
species of the finny tribes ; besides, the one is a crustacean 
^nd the other is not. Their mode of travelling, however, 
is somewhat similar, stretching out their sucker-arms, and 
laying hold of objects and dragging themselves along. 
The starfish is one of the great scavengers of the sea, 
refusing no kind of garbage that comes his way, and a most 
voracious creature. 
