Abstract
ISLANDS where the sea-birds come to breed have a peculiar fascination, an appeal felt early and with great force by Mr. R. M. Lockley. He was not happy until he had acquired one, and even then he was not satisfied. Skokholm, that sanctuary of Manx shearwaters, storm petrels, puffins, etc., off the Pembrokeshire coast of Wales, only whetted his appetite for islands. In his book “I Know an Island”, first published in 1938 and now reprinted, he tells of his own island of Skokholm, the neighbouring islands of Skomer, Grassholm and Ramsey and their inhabitants, both winged and furred, before going on to islands farther afield. The Blaskets off the Irish coast, Heligoland, Fair Isle, the Faeroes and the Westermann Islands are among those visited and interestingly described, with special reference to ornithological matters. For example, Mr. Lockley searched far for Leach's fork-tailed petrel, to find it at last on Sudurey in the Westmann Islands.
I Know an Island
R. M.
Lockley
By. (Harrap's Country-Lovers Library.) Pp. 243. (London: George G. Harrap and Co., Ltd., 1947.) 8s. 6d. net.
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PITT, F. I Know an Island. Nature 160, 735 (1947). https://doi.org/10.1038/160735e0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/160735e0