62 WITH NATURE AND A CAMERA. 



each other with their beaks, pecked, splashed the 

 water, and flapped round and round in small circles 

 until one of them got worsted in the encounter and 

 dived to escape. Although vanquished he seemed 

 loth to give up the struggle, and returned again 

 and again to the charge. No sooner, however, had 

 he got close up to the foe than his courage failed, 

 and instead of taking his punishment he dived 

 straight under his adversary and came up a long 

 way in his rear. After a while he seemed to 

 acknowledge himself beaten, and took his departure. 



Whilst all this was going on the third bird, 

 which I judged to be a female, kept swimming 

 quietly round the contestants ; but when the struggle 

 was over she joined the conqueror, and they re- 

 mained together in tranquillity for a long while at 

 the same spot. 



During the afternoon I was joined by my 

 brother, and together we descended a cliff not far 

 away in order to examine a number of Fulmar 

 Petrels' nests, which we judged to be accessible 

 without the aid of a rope. By a very difficult 

 and dangerous scramble, we managed to get down 

 to the place where the birds were breeding. We 

 inspected three or four nests, handling the egg 

 in each and making a note of the pebbles and 

 earth upon which it was lying. The natives of 

 St. Kilda say that the sense of smell in a Fulmar 

 is so keen that the bird will desert its egg if it 

 has only been breathed upon by a human being. 

 Whether there is any truth in this assertion or not 

 I cannot tell, but curiously enough when my 

 brother descended to photograph some of these 

 nests a day or two afterwards he was dismayed 

 to find every egg gone. As Fulmars' eggs are not 

 gathered by the natives on the island of St. Kilda 



