Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 5 (1901).djvu/173

Rh there was a little peaty soil, turf, and thrift. Other nests were in the turf at the edge of the rocks. The nests were made of dead grass, scurvy-grass, thrift, &c. The amount of the material depended on the situation of the nest. When in the turf or thrift only a small quantity was present, and the nest consisted merely of a depression with a slight lining; but in rocky places the cup was substantially built. When the nests were in sloping places the lower side was well banked up with material, a large clump of sea-pink being used sometimes for this purpose. One nest on the bare rock was formed entirely of dead stalks of scurvy-grass. I found no more than two eggs in any nest. One egg found in a nest on the top of the island near the edge of the flat part seemed from its size to belong to the Great Black-backed Gull (though it was somewhat small for this); but, though one of these grand birds hung in the wind with a crowd of Herring-Gulls, I could not ascertain if the egg belonged to it. There were many Oystercatchers about, and some Rock-Pipits, and one Shag left the rocks. A Cormorant came round the boat as we left the islands. The wind was so violent that it was not easy to stand upright on the top of the island, and it was impossible to examine the west side of the islands from the boat; so I could not tell exactly what birds there were, and I probably overlooked some. I picked up the bleached skull of a Weasel on this island. The top of the outer island is covered almost entirely with scurvy-grass, with a lot of sea-pink round the edges. Many Herring-Gulls were breeding on it. One pair of Great Blackbacked Gulls hung in the wind over their nest, uttering a low deep "cag-cag-cag." The nest was quite by itself, away from those of the Herring-Gulls, in the middle of the highest part of the flat top, among the scurvy-grass. It was a cup-shaped hollow, shallow, but well shaped, and had a fair amount of materials, consisting of dead herbage. Two beautifully-marked eggs had been laid. A stray Curlew went away with its rippling whistle. The weather was so bad, and the men seemed so anxious to get away, that I could not examine the island properly. As it was, we had hard work to get back to Aberdaron, and got very wet before we landed opposite the little Norman church, which has sheltered so many weatherbound pilgrims, with its sunny yard lying on a steep green slope facing the south. The old church