KKV. 11. A. MACrilEUSOX ON THE .MANX bllEAinVATEll. 
215 
VI ir. 
TIIK lIAIilTS AND PLUMAGE OF THE !MANX 
SHEARWATEIL 
Lv Kev. II. A. MAcriiERSON, M.A. 
• Read lyd February, 1886 . 
The Islaml of Eigg is ono of the smallest, hut inoomitavably the 
most beautiful, of the inner Hebrides, containing within its limiteil 
area an extensive Ilora, a considerable avi-fauna, and the most 
varied combination of scenery, — M’ild crags and upland lochs, long 
stretches of purple heather and deop-bedded burn.s, blending 
harmoniously with a verdant pasturage of unequalled capabilitie.'s. 
A lino strath, three miles in length, divides the southern portion of 
the island, including the famous Scuir rock (a pitchstonc porjihyry 
formation) from the northern part, Benvui or “ the Yellow 
[Mountain.” Immediately north of the Laig burn, the ground 
begins to rise, and rapidly culminates in a long stretch of hill 
ground, bounded on all sides, except the southern, by a magnificent 
rampart of precipices, which sweep majestically around the whole 
northern portion of the island, from Laig Bay to Kildonan on 
the cast. It is upon the shelves of these precipices that the 
j\tanx Shearwater burrows in large, though probably decreasing, 
numbers. 
"When recently comparing my experiences of the Manx Shear- 
Avater Avith my friend Mr. EdAvard BidAvell, he Avas good enough to 
suggest that a feAv remarks upon this colony of Pupinus anglorum 
might fitly folloAV his account of this species at Scilly ; and the 
remarks which folloAv are chiefly based on the rough jottings 
Avhich it occurred to me to make Avhen spending some delightful 
days in Eigg, at the end of Juno, 1885. 
The colony of ShcarAvaters under consideration is that alluded 
to by Hugh Aliller (‘ Cruise of the Bet.sy,’ p. 72), and has been 
