PRESIDENT S ADDRESS. 
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governed might give some useful hints to our political 
economists. The following species will be found breeding 
upon these islands, which I have had the pleasure of visiting- 
more than once :—Upon the wide opens Eider Ducks breed in 
considerable numbers ; with care you can approach within a 
few teet of the old ducks upon their nests, which they do not 
leave providing you keep still and make no sudden movements. 
In a small patch of nettles I should think there were quite 
ten or more nests. The males of this species undergo a 
considerable change of plumage before attaining the lovely 
dress of the adult. That rare bird, the King Eider, Somateria 
spcctabilis, has been obtained on these islands twice, once in 
1873, and again in this present year. This last bird is in my 
collection. I saw an example of this species two years ago, 
whether the same bird as the one I now have it is impossible 
to say. 
The Arctic and Common Terns also breed plentifully upon 
the same island, the first named choosing the bare shingle 
just above high water mark, the latter preferring the top of 
the cliff amongst the short grass and sea campion. On the 
Knoxes will be found a colony of Sandwich Terns, which lay 
their eggs upon the bare sand, and you have to walk carefully 
not to crush the eggs, so closely are they placed together. 
I thought I never had seen a more beautiful sight when I saw 
these birds sitting on their eggs early one morning, but as 
soon as they were aware of my presence they rose in a flock, 
uttering their shrill cry. 
The lovely Boseate Tern also occurs in small numbers, but 
has no separate breeding station as far as I know. 
Puffins and Lesser Black-Backed Gulls, Oyster Catchers, 
and Bing Dotterels also breed on many of the islands. The 
Pinnacles, three detached rocks which stand a little way from 
the island of that name, are a charming sight when the 
summits are covered with Guillemots, amongst which a few 
Bingeyes are occasionally discernible, whilst the jutting points 
of the rock lower down are appropriated by the Kittiwake Gulls 
for their nests. 
Perhaps the most striking spectacle is the Cormorant 
colony on the Megstone Bock, where the nests are placed on 
the summit in close proximity to each other, formed of coarse 
seaweed, some being two feet in height. I have a lively 
recollection of this breeding station ; upon my first visit, 
after climbing to the top, my foot slipped and I fell down 
into the odoriferous refuse surrounding these nests. It was 
some time before I could think of or imagine anything else 
but Cormorants. 
