imagine what Kiki will do when we see the puffins," he said, "waddling about among the heather and sea-pinks. I'm afraid she will give them an awful time."
As they came nearer to the first island, more and more birds were to be seen on and above the water. They glided gracefully on the wind, they dived down for fish, they bobbed along like toy ducks. There was a chorus of different cries, some shrill, some guttural, some mournful and forlorn. They gave the children a wild, exultant kind of feeling.
As they came near to the island the children fell silent. A tall cliff towered in front of them, and it was covered from top to bottom with birds! The children stared in delight.
Birds, birds, birds! On every ledge they stood or squatted, thousands of white gannets, myriads of the browner guillemots, and a mixture of other sea-birds that the boys could hardly make out, though they glued their field-glasses to their eyes for minutes on end.
"What a coming and going!" said Bill, staring with fascinated eyes, too. And it certainly was. Besides the birds that stood on the ledges, there were always others arriving and others leaving. That way and this went the busy birds, with a chorus of excited cries.
"They're not very careful with their eggs," said Lucy-Ann, in distress, when she looked through Jack's glasses in her turn, and saw eggs falling from the ledges, as careless birds took off and knocked their precious eggs over the ledge and down the cliff, to be smashed on the rocks below.
"They can lay plenty more," said Philip. "Come on, Dinah — give me back my glasses! Golly, what a wonderful sight! I shall write this all up in my notes tonight."
The motor-boat nosed carefully round the rocky cliffs. Bill stopped looking at the birds and kept a sharp lookout instead for rocks. Once round the steep cliffs the land sloped downwards, and Bill spotted a place that seemed suitable for the boat.
It was a little sheltered sandy cove. He ran the boat in and it grounded softly. He sprang out with the boys, and made it safe, by running the anchor well up the beach and digging it in.
"Is this going to be our headquarters?" asked Dinah, looking round.
"Oh no," said Jack at once. "We want to cruise round a bit, don't we, Bill, and find a puffin island. I'd really like to be in the midst of the bird-islands, and be able to go from one to the other as we pleased. But we could stay here for tonight, couldn't we?"
That was a wonderful day for the four children, and for Bill too. With thousands of birds screaming round their heads, but apparently not in the least afraid of them, the children made their way to the steep cliffs they had seen from the other side of the island.
Birds were nesting on the ground, and it was difficult to tread sometimes, without disturbing sitting birds or squashing eggs. Some of the birds made vicious jabs at the children's legs, but nobody was touched. It was just a threatening gesture, nothing more.
Kiki was rather silent. She sat on Jack's shoulder, her head hunched into her neck. So many birds at once seemed rather to overwhelm her. But Jack knew that she would soon recover, and startle the surrounding birds by telling them to wipe their feet and shut the door.
They reached the top of the cliffs, and were almost deafened by the cries and calls around them. Birds rose and fell in the air, glided and soared, weaving endless patterns in the blue sky.
"It's funny they never bump into one another," said Lucy-Ann, astonished. "There's never a single collision. I've been watching."
"Probably got a traffic policeman," said Philip solemnly. "For all you know some of them have licences under their wings."
"Don't be silly," said Lucy-Ann. "All the same, it is clever of them not to collide, when there's so many thousands. What a row! I can hardly hear myself speak."
They came to the very edge of the cliff. Bill took Lucy-Ann's arm. "Not too
As they came nearer to the first island, more and more birds were to be seen on and above the water. They glided gracefully on the wind, they dived down for fish, they bobbed along like toy ducks. There was a chorus of different cries, some shrill, some guttural, some mournful and forlorn. They gave the children a wild, exultant kind of feeling.
As they came near to the island the children fell silent. A tall cliff towered in front of them, and it was covered from top to bottom with birds! The children stared in delight.
Birds, birds, birds! On every ledge they stood or squatted, thousands of white gannets, myriads of the browner guillemots, and a mixture of other sea-birds that the boys could hardly make out, though they glued their field-glasses to their eyes for minutes on end.
"What a coming and going!" said Bill, staring with fascinated eyes, too. And it certainly was. Besides the birds that stood on the ledges, there were always others arriving and others leaving. That way and this went the busy birds, with a chorus of excited cries.
"They're not very careful with their eggs," said Lucy-Ann, in distress, when she looked through Jack's glasses in her turn, and saw eggs falling from the ledges, as careless birds took off and knocked their precious eggs over the ledge and down the cliff, to be smashed on the rocks below.
"They can lay plenty more," said Philip. "Come on, Dinah — give me back my glasses! Golly, what a wonderful sight! I shall write this all up in my notes tonight."
The motor-boat nosed carefully round the rocky cliffs. Bill stopped looking at the birds and kept a sharp lookout instead for rocks. Once round the steep cliffs the land sloped downwards, and Bill spotted a place that seemed suitable for the boat.
It was a little sheltered sandy cove. He ran the boat in and it grounded softly. He sprang out with the boys, and made it safe, by running the anchor well up the beach and digging it in.
"Is this going to be our headquarters?" asked Dinah, looking round.
"Oh no," said Jack at once. "We want to cruise round a bit, don't we, Bill, and find a puffin island. I'd really like to be in the midst of the bird-islands, and be able to go from one to the other as we pleased. But we could stay here for tonight, couldn't we?"
That was a wonderful day for the four children, and for Bill too. With thousands of birds screaming round their heads, but apparently not in the least afraid of them, the children made their way to the steep cliffs they had seen from the other side of the island.
Birds were nesting on the ground, and it was difficult to tread sometimes, without disturbing sitting birds or squashing eggs. Some of the birds made vicious jabs at the children's legs, but nobody was touched. It was just a threatening gesture, nothing more.
Kiki was rather silent. She sat on Jack's shoulder, her head hunched into her neck. So many birds at once seemed rather to overwhelm her. But Jack knew that she would soon recover, and startle the surrounding birds by telling them to wipe their feet and shut the door.
They reached the top of the cliffs, and were almost deafened by the cries and calls around them. Birds rose and fell in the air, glided and soared, weaving endless patterns in the blue sky.
"It's funny they never bump into one another," said Lucy-Ann, astonished. "There's never a single collision. I've been watching."
"Probably got a traffic policeman," said Philip solemnly. "For all you know some of them have licences under their wings."
"Don't be silly," said Lucy-Ann. "All the same, it is clever of them not to collide, when there's so many thousands. What a row! I can hardly hear myself speak."
They came to the very edge of the cliff. Bill took Lucy-Ann's arm. "Not too
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