258 WILD NATURE'S WAYS. 



In order to secure the study of the specimen 

 reproduced on the opposite page, I had to build 

 a third house, and such was the file-hke sharpness 

 of the rocks over which I had to carry my building 

 materials that the ruin of a pair of strong boots 

 was quite completed. 



One very breezy day I made a number of 

 exposures upon her from my place of conceal- 

 ment, but the poor light and sea spray deposited 

 on the lens, in addition to wind-ruffled plumage, 

 rendered the negatives useless. This was no 

 great disappointment to me, because the un- 

 favourable weather had not allowed me to hope 

 for much that day, and the bird's encouraging 

 behaviour had led me to do so for the next. 

 She came back to her nest fairly well, and 

 ever}^ whit of my experience with other species 

 went to prove that she would grow bolder 

 as time went on. j\ly surprise was therefore 

 great when I afterwards discovered that she grew 

 shyer day by day, and was gifted with such 

 wonderfully acute hearing powers that she could 

 even detect the rustle made by a small diary leaf 

 when I turned it over during my note-taking whilst 

 hidden in the stone house. I ought, however, to 

 mention that, owing to the peculiar formation 

 of the rock bed on which she had built her nest, 

 my lens was only seven feet away from it. 



In spite of the utmost care being taken, I 



