32 BRITISH BIRDS. 



the rock are detached, and fall about his head, which re- 

 quires to be protected by a strong thick cap, and even 

 then is not safe from the larger masses that descend. 



Remarkable indeed is the dexterity of these fowlers. 

 Placing their feet against the front of the rock, often 

 two hundred fathoms in height, they will dart them- 

 selves to a considerable distance from it, mark the place 

 where the birds nestle, and discharge their pieces into 

 their haunts. When the birds lodge in deep recesses, 

 the fowlers will alight, detach themselves from the 

 rope, collect their booty at their leisure, fasten it to 

 their girdles, and resume their seats. 



We are indebted for the following facts to a valuable 

 work on Birds, by the Rev. E. Stanley. Many bird- 

 catchers go on these expeditions without any companion 

 to hold the rope or assist them. It was on such a soli- 

 tary excursion, that a man, having fastened his rope to 

 a stake on the top, let himself down far below ; and, in 

 his ardour for collecting birds and eggs, followed the 

 course of a ledge, beneath a mass of overhanging rock ; 

 unfortunately he had omitted to take the usual precau- 

 tion of tying the rope round his body, but held it care- 

 lessly in his hand, when, in a luckless moment_, as he 

 was busily engaged in pillaging a nest, it slipped from 

 his grasp, and, after swinging backwards and forwards 



