356 
BIRD-LIFE. 
three hell-shaped precipitous rocks, rising sheer from the 
ocean some three or four hundred feet above its surface : 
they are distant about four or five hundred yards from 
the mainland, on which side they are encircled by a belt 
of reefs. I found the following species breeding here at 
the time of my visit:—Puffins, Guillemots, Razorbills, 
hut few Gulls, and not many Cormorants. The layer of 
turf with which these rocks were clothed, to two-thirds 
of their height, was everywhere so perforated with holes 
that a clear space the size of a table free from such 
excavations was nowhere to he found. 
It seems to me impossible to describe the scene which 
lay before us as we approached. We were not greeted 
with any piercing screams, but were gazed at by hundreds 
of thousands of eyes : the whole rock was alive; from 
every nook and crevice, above and below, in front and 
behind us, everywhere where one turned the eye birds 
were to he seen shuffling and crawling out of their 
subterranean retreats; and a moment later the island 
was not only covered by thousands of white specks, hut 
surrounded also by an immense dark cloud, which, as 
well as the white dots, consisted of birds. By this time 
the Nyken could he compared to nothing else than a giant 
bee-hive, from which a young swarm is taking its departure. 
Every rift was occupied: on the sides, close around us, 
from six to ten paces off, there they sat,—in pairs, 
by tens, by hundreds, and by thousands. The rock was 
literally covered with birds. They were to he seen on all 
sides, sitting, squatting, and running: here was a fine 
opportunity for watching, studying, and almost, as it 
were, talking with them; they departed and returned in 
thousands without intermission. One could not make out 
whence they came or whither they were going, although 
