CHAP. FIFTEEN PIGEONS &> DOVES 



ants, who were resting on some points of the cliff, and 

 basking with open wings in the morning sun. Some parts 

 of the rocks were quite white with the dung of these birds. 

 In the ivy-covered recesses, far up, were every here and 

 there a pair of small hawks, and rabbits hopping about 

 high over our heads, along narrow paths on the face of the 

 rock. I shot a rabbit at a great height with a rifle, and he 

 came tumbling over and over, till he finally fell right into 

 a hawk's nest, to the great astonishment of the young 

 birds. Innumerable jackdaws breed in every crevice. As 

 we rowed farther on, we came opposite a large cave, which 

 the boatmen told me was a great place of resort for the 

 pigeons. So, stopping our course, the men shouted, and 

 out came a large flock of these birds, flying directly over 

 our heads. I killed two or three, and the rest flew on, wind- 

 ing round the angles and headlands of the coast with in- 

 conceivable rapidity. Having picked up the birds, I landed 

 with great difficulty on the rocks, and making my way over 

 the slippery seaweed, got into the cave, which extended 

 some distance under the cliffs. There were several pigeons' 

 nests, though none that I could get at; but I shot a couple 

 of young ones that had left the nest. The reverberation 

 that succeeded the report of the gun in the arched cave 

 nearly deafened me. 



Soon afterwards we landed at another point; and here, 

 following the example of one of my crew, I crept through 

 a small aperture on my hands and knees, which led into a 

 large and nearly dark cave, said to be the abode of otters. 

 Before I couldsetfiretosomedry fir-roots, which webrought 

 with us, mydog was barking furiously, some distance with- 

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