Page:Bird Haunts and Nature Memories - Thomas Coward (Warne, 1922).pdf/29

Rh grey and snowy white, nest in the most impossible-looking spots; their weed-built nests Seem to be stuck against the rock face. And so they are; a very tiny ledge gives foundation for the structure, for clay and mud are moulded with the wet weed, padded down hard, and the gale fails to dislodge the small but solid nest. As the birds sail gracefully near the cliff, visiting their mates, the cheery "kitti-wa-a-ake, kitti-wa-a-ake," almost a question, is evidence of identity.

The larger herring-gulls nest in considerable numbers all over the upper part of the island, placing their bulky, untidy nests on the turf, amongst the thick vegetation, and on the ruined walls. The situations Selected look more secure than those of the kittiwake, but the visitors find them very much easier to rob. On the eastern slope the lesser black-backed gulls have a colony, and the fiercer, deeper call of the bird is mingled with the shrill, wild "hehoh," the laughing "ha, ha, ha," and the angry "wow-ow-ow" of the paler gulls, though the notes have a similar ring. Sheld-ducks nest in some of the rabbit-burrows; a dozen or two may be seen gathered in rather noisy conclave, but what the discussion is about in the middle of the breeding season is puzzling.

As a rule the sheld-duck likes a low sandy shore and nests freely in sand-dunes, but here the nests are fully 100 feet above water. When the eggs hatch the parents lead the young to the sea, and they must know their way well on Puffin, for there is only one portion of the island down which a downy infant could safely trot.

The peregrine has often bred on Puffin, but it does not always escape molestation; on several visits I have found the pair nesting on the Anglesey cliffs within sight, but not on the island itself. Crows occasionally nest, but are not encouraged, and one young bird. barely able to fly, was having a rather feverish time with the angry gulls,