The island of birds
Next day, after a fine breakfast of porridge and cream, and grilled1 herrings, the tents were struckand the five went aboard their boat. It was called Lucky Star, which the children thought was avery nice name.
Kiki had not been popular with the old fisherman and his wife. They had never seen a parrotbefore, and they regarded Kiki with suspicion.
‘God save the King,’ said Kiki, having learnt by experience that most people thought this was afine thing for her to say. But she spoilt it by adding. ‘Pop goes the Queen, pop, pop, pop!’
Now she was aboard with the others, and once again the boat was skimming over the bluewater. Once again the sky was blue and the sun was hot. True May weather, that made the sea aclear, translucent2 blue, and set thousands of little sparkles dancing over the water.
‘I’ve still got that lovely feeling,’ said Lucy-Ann happily, as she dangled3 her hand over the sideof the boat and felt the cool, silky water catch hold of her fingers and trail them back. ‘Now to findsome bird-islands. We really are going to find some today, aren’t we, Bill?’
‘We certainly are,’ said Bill, and gave the boat a little extra speed. Spray came up and felllightly over everyone.
‘Ooooh, lovely!’ said Dinah. ‘I was so hot. That cooled me beautifully. Let her out again, Bill! Icould do with some more of that.’
For five hours they sped over the water, and then Jack4 gave a shout. ‘The islands! Look, you cansee little blobs here and there on the horizon! They must be the islands!’
And now the children began to see a great many different birds on the water and in the air. Jackcalled out their names exitedly. ‘There’s a shearwater! Jolly good name for it. And look Philip,that’s a razor-bill! – and gosh, is that a Little Auk?’
The boys, well versed5 in the appearance of the wild sea-birds, almost fell overboard in theirexcitement. Many of the birds seemed to have no fear of the noisy boat at all, but went bobbing ontheir way, hardly bothering to swerve6 when it neared them.
‘There’s a shag diving,’ shouted Jack. ‘Look! You can see it swimming under water – it’scaught a fish. Here it comes. It’s clumsy getting out of the water to fly. Gosh, if only I’d got mycamera ready!’
Kiki watched the many birds out of baleful eyes. She did not like the interest that Jack suddenlyappeared to take in these other birds. When a great gull7 appeared, flying leisurely8 right over theboat, Kiki shot up underneath9 it, gave a fearful screech10, and turned a somersault in the air. Thegull, startled, rose vertically11 on its strong wings and let out an alarmed cry.
‘EEE-oo-ee-ooooo!’
Kiki imitated it perfectly12, and the gull, thinking that Kiki must be some strange kind of relation,circled round. Then it made a pounce13 at the parrot. But Kiki flipped14 round, and then dropped toJack’s shoulder.
‘Eee-oo!’ she called defiantly15, and the gull, after a doubtful glance, went on its way, wondering,no doubt, what kind of a gull this was that behaved in such a peculiar16 manner.
‘You’re an idiot, Kiki,’ said Jack. ‘One of these days a gull will eat you for his dinner.’
‘Poor old Kiki,’ said the parrot, and gave a realistic groan17. Bill laughed. ‘I can’t imagine whatKiki will do when we see the puffins, waddling18 about among the heather and sea-pinks,’ he said.
‘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 thewater. They glided20 gracefully21 on the wind, they dived down for fish, they bobbed along like toyducks. There was a chorus of different cries, some shrill22, some guttural, some mournful andforlorn. They gave the children a wild, exultant23 kind of feeling.
As they came near to the island the children fell silent. A tall cliff towered in front of them, andit was covered from top to bottom with birds! The children stared in delight.
Birds, birds, birds! On every ledge25 they stood or squatted26, thousands of white gannets, myriadsof 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 ledges27, 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 distress28, when she looked throughJack’s glasses in her turn. The careless birds took off and knocked their precious eggs over theledge and down the cliff, to be smashed on the rocks below.
‘They can lay plenty more,’ said Philip. ‘Come on, Lucy-Ann – 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 kepta sharp look-out instead for rocks. Once round the steep cliffs the land sloped downwards29, and Billspotted a place that seemed suitable for the boat.
It was a little sheltered sandy cove24. He ran the boat in and it grounded softly. He sprang outwith 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 puffinisland. I’d really like to be in the midst of the bird-islands, and be able to go from one to the otheras 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 birdsscreaming round their heads, but apparently30 not in the least afraid of them, the children made theirway 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 disturbingsitting birds or squashing eggs. Some of the birds made vicious jabs at the children’s legs, butnobody was touched. It was just a threatening gesture, nothing more.
Kiki was rather silent. She sat on Jack’s shoulder, her head hunched31 into her neck. So manybirds at once seemed to overwhelm her. But Jack knew that she would soon recover, and startlethe surrounding birds by telling them to wipe their feet and shut the door.
They reached the top of the cliffs, and were almost deafened32 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 asingle collison. I’ve been watching.’
‘Probably got a traffic policeman,’ said Philip solemnly. ‘For all you know some of them mayhave licences under their wings.’
‘Don’t be silly,’ said Lucy-Ann. ‘All the same, it is clever of them not to collide, when there’sso 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 near,’ he said. ‘Thecliffs are almost sheer here.’
They were. When the children lay down on their tummies and looked cautiously over, it gavethem a queer feeling to see the sea so very very far below, moving slowly in and out, with only afar-off rumble33 to mark the breaking of the waves. Lucy-Ann found herself clutching the cushionsof sea-pink beside her.
‘I somehow feel I’m not safe on the ground,’ she said with a laugh. ‘I feel as if I’ve got to holdon. I feel sort of – well, sort of upside-down!’
Bill held on to her tightly after that speech. He knew that she felt giddy, and he wasn’t going torisk anything with little Lucy-Ann! He liked all the children very much, but Lucy-Ann was hisfavourite.
The children watched the birds going and coming endlessly to and from the narrow cliff ledges.
It was a marvellous sight. Jack looked through his glasses and chuckled34 at the squabbling andpushing that was going on on some of the narrower shelves.
‘Just like naughty children,’ he said. ‘Telling each other to move up and make room, or I’ll pushyou off – and off somebody goes, sure enough. But it doesn’t matter, because out go their wingsand they have a lovely glide19 through the air. My word, I wouldn’t mind being a sea-bird – able tostride along on the sea-shore, or bob on the sea, or dive for fish, or glide for miles on the strongbreeze. I shouldn’t mind be—’
‘What’s that?’ said Philip suddenly, hearing a noise that wasn’t made by sea-birds. ‘Listen! Anaeroplane, surely!’
They all listened, straining their eyes through the sun-washed air. And, far away, they saw aspeck, steadily35 moving through the sky, and heard the r-r-r-r of an engine.
‘A plane! Right off all the routes!’ said Bill. ‘Well – that’s the last thing I expected to see here!’
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1
grilled
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| adj. 烤的, 炙过的, 有格子的 动词grill的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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translucent
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| adj.半透明的；透明的 | |
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dangled
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| 悬吊着( dangle的过去式和过去分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口 | |
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jack
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| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
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versed
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| adj. 精通，熟练 | |
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swerve
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| v.突然转向，背离；n．转向，弯曲，背离 | |
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7
gull
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| n.鸥；受骗的人；v.欺诈 | |
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leisurely
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| adj.悠闲的；从容的，慢慢的 | |
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underneath
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| adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面 | |
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screech
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| n./v.尖叫；(发出)刺耳的声音 | |
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vertically
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| adv.垂直地 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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pounce
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| n.猛扑；v.猛扑，突然袭击，欣然同意 | |
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14
flipped
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| 轻弹( flip的过去式和过去分词 )； 按（开关）； 快速翻转； 急挥 | |
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15
defiantly
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| adv.挑战地，大胆对抗地 | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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groan
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| vi./n.呻吟，抱怨；(发出)呻吟般的声音 | |
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18
waddling
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| v.（像鸭子一样）摇摇摆摆地走( waddle的现在分词 ) | |
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glide
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| n./v.溜，滑行；(时间)消逝 | |
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glided
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| v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔 | |
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gracefully
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| ad.大大方方地；优美地 | |
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shrill
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| adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫 | |
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exultant
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| adj.欢腾的，狂欢的，大喜的 | |
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cove
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| n.小海湾，小峡谷 | |
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ledge
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| n.壁架，架状突出物；岩架，岩礁 | |
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squatted
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| v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的过去式和过去分词 )；非法擅自占用（土地或房屋）；为获得其所有权；而占用某片公共用地。 | |
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27
ledges
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| n.（墙壁，悬崖等）突出的狭长部分( ledge的名词复数 )；（平窄的）壁架；横档；（尤指）窗台 | |
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28
distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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downwards
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| adj./adv.向下的（地），下行的（地） | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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hunched
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| （常指因寒冷、生病或愁苦）耸肩弓身的，伏首前倾的 | |
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32
deafened
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| 使聋( deafen的过去式和过去分词 )； 使隔音 | |
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rumble
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| n.隆隆声；吵嚷；v.隆隆响；低沉地说 | |
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34
chuckled
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| 轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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