24 HULL SCIENTIFIC AND FIELD NATURALISTS' CLUB. 



has been brought into the science of climbing, and save 

 where the rock is loose and rotten, a way to any ledge can 

 be found, however difficult of access. So often have the 

 ledges been climbed that the man at the top knows almost 

 as well as the man below what is going on, and mechanically 

 holds or lowers as required. When the work is exception- 

 ally severe the climber sometimes rests on a ledge for a few 

 minutes, but, as a rule, goes straight through with his work 

 till all the ledges within reach are cleared, when the signal 

 is given and he is hauled up, stopping sometimes on the 

 way up to gather an egg which had been overlooked on the 

 way down. When he reaches the top the bags are emptied 

 into a huge market basket. Should one of the eggs be 

 broken, old Ed. Hodgson turns to the crowd of boys who are 

 generally present, and, with the ghost of a smile wrinkling 

 the corners of his mouth, says, "Can ony of you yoong 

 gentlemen sook a hegg ? " Some boy more bold than the 

 rest tries, but the contents of the Guillemot's egg are 

 generally too stiff for him, and he spits it out amidst the 

 laughter of his companions. 



Very few accidents happen to the climbers. Edward 

 Hodgson ceased climbing at 52, being then, as his son said, 

 "ower numb" to negotiate the ledges. Sometimes ladies 

 have been known to go down the cliff, and a beginner who 

 "frames well" is said to be "middling fierce at job." 1 

 can only recommend anyone in search of a new pleasurable 

 sensation to try climbing. The men will look after you and 

 see that you run into no danger, and the excitement is, 

 perhaps, greater than that gained in any other form of 

 athletics. 



At the close of the day the eggs are pooled in one large 

 heap and shared out, each man taking three eggs in turn 

 till all are appropriated. The eggs are then carried home 

 in market baskets. 



There are some interesting problems to study in connec- 

 tion with the Guillemots and their eggs. The persistence 

 of the birds in sticking to and coming back to the same 

 ledges, however much persecuted, is one of those character- 

 istic traits which has given rise to the epithet "stupid," as 

 applied to this species, as is also its refusal to leave the egg 

 sometimes until captured by hand. Of the former we can 

 say that a closer study of nature shows the same persistence 

 more or less evident in all birds, who prefer coming back to 

 the same ground year after year, unless driven away ; of the 

 latter, that the bird must be aware that leaving the egg 



