392 THE WORLD OF THE SEA. 
is the following :—The fowlers provide themselves with a cable two 
inches thick, and 600 or 1,200 feet long, on which is fastened a 
kind of seat. A beam is placed at the edge of the rock, to prevent 
the rope being cut by the rough stone ; the bird-taker ( fugelmand) 
is let down by six other men, and holds a small cord in his 
hand, by means of which he can make certain signs agreed upon, 
and understood by his comrades. It rcquires a peculiar skill to 
prevent the cable being twisted, and turning the man round 
and round, by which he would be knocked and bruised against the 
rocks. The fugelmand, on reaching a ledge, lets go the cord, 
ties it to any convenient projection, and kills as many birds as 
possible, catching them in his net, or seizing them with his hand. 
If he should spy a hollow, or a niche, beyond his reach, where 
many water-fowl are perched, he sits down again on his little plank, 
and jerks the rope, so as to give an oscillation of sometimes as 
much as one hundred feet, and thus swings himself to the spot 
he wishes to explore. 
It is said, that in one little rocky islet of the Faroe group, as 
many as 2,400 sea-parrots are caught every year. The governors 
of the Isle of Texel have the exclusive right to all the eggs taken 
there; but they pay a considerable sum to secure this monopoly. 
It is asserted that 300 or 400 eggs, of the silver gull alone, are 
gathered every day. After St. John’s Day, no more eggs may be 
taken, the birds being allowed to hatch in peace any they may lay 
after that period. Naumann says, that 50,000 eggs of the large 
gulls are collected annually in the little island of Sylt, and quite as 
many of smaller species, and of sea-swallows. Among the larger 
eggs, there are at least 10,000 of the silver gull. 
Three men are engaged in collecting these eggs from eight in 
the morning till late at night. They receive in payment the eggs 
of all the smaller kinds of birds. 
The fulmar is to the inhabitants of St. Kilda the most precious 
production of their island. The bird-nesters risk their lives to take 
these birds. Two men generally go together; one firmly tied 
round the waist with a thick cord, is let down by the other to some 
steep rock thickly peopled with fulmars. He collects all the eggs 
and birds he can, and is then drawn up by his companion. The 
dexterity of these men is very great, and the smallest surface is 
