BREEDING COLONIES, 
859 
again, sat as if" glued to the spot. A Falcon, however, 
which had its eyrie in the neighbourhood, created a 
great disturbance whenever he made his appearance, 
striking such terror amongst the company that the 
rock was denuded in an instant of its inhabitants, 
the whole taking wing in a vast cloud for the sea. The 
Razorbills and Puffins dashed down head first under the 
foaming surge, to hide themselves more effectually from 
the dreaded enemy. This bird had so scared the 
community that even Gulls would create a panic, when 
their flight happened, by accident, somewhat to resemble 
that of the predatory intruder. It was self-evident that 
the active robber could not experience the slightest 
difficulty in obtaining food for himself and his young 
from among such masses as these. 
Every year the people living on these islands take 
hundreds of thousands of eggs and young from the nests, 
without causing any apparent diminution of the feathered 
population. In such places as these Nature seems to 
have opened her inexhaustible treasures to the hand of 
man. Every year 80,000 Gull’s- and 20,000 Tern’s-eggs 
are taken from the breeding places on the island of Sylt: 
these eggs secure to the licensed gatherers a clear profit 
of about 200 thalers (M0) per annum. The harvesting 
of the eggs must, however, be carried out systematically, 
for too great greed often drives the birds away for a 
time, and sometimes, indeed, altogether. In Norway the 
breeding birds are never disturbed by shooting, as the 
inhabitants believe it to be unlucky to carry a gun while 
collecting birds and eggs. 
At the beginning of April the birds, which have 
hitherto been living out at sea, begin to approach their 
breeding places in flocks. In May the Razorbills and 
