406 



ENGLISH BIRD-LIFE 



in response to pulls on the signal line from the unseen 

 *' dimmer" below. This is a long-established profession 

 about which hang many quaint usages. 



At Bempton, the tourist, unless he be possessed of suf- 

 ficient nerve to "try the ropes," must content himself with a 

 view of the birds from above, but at the Fames, if the sea 



The Piiiiicieles iu ilie Fame Islands 



The succeeding picture shows the Murres on the summit of tlie 

 Pinnacles at tlie rigiit. 



permits, he may land on low islands poi)ulated with a myr- 

 iad of sea-fowl, among whose homes he may walk at ease, 

 while a very little caution will place him on speaking terms 

 with Murres, Puffins, Arctic and Sandwich Terns, Kitti- 

 wakes, Lesser Black-backed Gulls, Cormorants, and, best of 

 all, Eider Ducks. 



The Fames is the most southcni British bi-eoding 

 station of this widely read of but little known bird and I 

 count as perha])S the most memorable of my oniitliological 

 experiences in England the privilege of stroking a wild 

 Eider, as she sat upon her eggs within their half-seen circlet 

 of down. She turned and pecked my finger gently, almost 

 caressingly, I thought. 



