Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 3 (1899).djvu/512

482 Guillemots had practically all left, though a few Black Guillemots were round one particular spot where they always breed.

About the 12th of the month very large flocks of Gulls were hovering over the sea, most probably after Mackerel-fry or Sand-eels. The fishermen here call these flocks "Gribbers," and are delighted to see them, as they generally denote the coming of Herrings; they know by the different way in which they fly whether they are after Herring-fry, the flock being then more scattered.

On some islands off the coast I found Stormy Petrels breeding in fair numbers; they were difficult to approach, being on a grassy slope at the top of a precipice. It is easy to find the holes they are in by the smell, which is very strong. The young were hatched about the beginning of the month, and looked like fluffy balls of down, their eyes not being open; they grow very slowly, but I cannot say the date at which they leave the nest. The old birds never attempted to fly away when taken off the nest, but uttered a little squeak, and ran straight back down the burrow. The slope I found them on faced due east. They are called "oil birds" by the natives, as most probably they are in other places. On the same island a few Great Black-backed Gulls breed, but for some reason they do not do so on the mainland.

A certain number of Choughs are always to be found; their numbers seem to vary very little year by year. In one or two places round the cliffs a pair always build, generally in a hole in an overhanging cliff at about fifty feet or so from the sea. There is one typical hole they build in, and from all accounts they have done so for years; it is almost impossible to get at, which is just as well, though the eggs are not often taken, except in one place, where the nest is occasionally robbed. As I said, they do not seem either to much increase or decrease. Why, I do not know. It cannot be because there are not enough suitable places for them to breed in, for the cliffs are at least six miles round, and vary in height up to six hundred feet. Some people seem to think it is on account of the great numbers of Jackdaws, which, they say, drive the Choughs away; but I do not think that accounts for it here. I have never seen more than four together, and when I saw those they were more inland among the