Fair Are the Woodlands

Of all the memories of the times in the islands, I think that the most vivid are those of the birds. There were millions of them and they were everywhere. And they had little fear of humans. In the forests by the ocean were nests of shags, terns, whalebirds, mollymauks, and burrows of petrels and penguins. On the cliffs were nests of storm petrels and other sea birds that had no name in our homeland, but only occurred in Southern latitudes. In the breeding season the storm petrels and other sea fowl descended from the sky by the millions after their foraging, an unforgettable image. All these birds were preyed upon by falcons, gulls, skuas, and the powerful adzebill, which could barely fly. Farther inland were flocks of pigeons, parrots, and song birds. Less social wood hens, geese, snipes, and other species abounded. Coots and ducks teemed in the island lakes and ponds. In the numerous island caves were colonies of swifts. I find it odd that considering the events that took place involving the men and women who colonized the islands, that the most impressive memory is still that of the birds-their aerial acrobatics, smell, singing, and cacophony.