Victory ! 453 
next moment was hanging just clear of the cliff. Fifty feet or so 
more brought me opposite to the cavern at the same point as in 
1906. Checking my descent by means of the Alpine rope, | 
whistled ‘‘ Hold hard” and was thankful when I felt the rope 
tauten. I brought up with the roof of the cavern about level 
with my chin. As I lowered my head and peered into the nest, 
I saw this time that it contained a big egg, richly marked with 
shades of yellow and brown. Ad Last / 
My troubles were not yet over for it was with the greatest 
difficulty that I could induce my friends above to give me a little 
slack rope to enable me to enter the cavern. Also the roof was 
so low and the floor so shelving that it required much contortion 
to crawl in and, having crawled in, to avoid slipping out. Having 
made my position secure, I proceeded to examine the place. The 
nest was identical with those of 1906 and 1907 so far as regards 
materials, construction and size, but whereas all these had been 
scrupulously clean, not excepting the one with the young bird, 
the one I now occupied was in a horribly filthy state. In fact 
I never saw—or smelt—a nastier one and I was forcibly reminded 
of Dr. Stark’s description of this splendid bird: ‘In food, nest and 
nesting place, it is simply a big Neophron.” However, notwith- 
standing dirt and evil smells, there was the egg I had come forth 
to seek and to photograph. I now spied a second egg lying at the 
back of the nest against the wall of the cavern, broken into two 
large and several smaller portions. These | piously collected on 
the off-chance of my being able to piece them together. 
The work of photographing this nest was peculiarly trying and 
difficult, for the available space and head room were much less 
than in the nest of the previous year; 2} ft. was the greatest 
distance I could work at and then I could not use the finder of the 
camera. In order to guard, as I fondly hoped, against all possibility 
of failure, | had brought with me two cameras and with these | 
