ABUNDANCE OF BIRD LIFE. 113 



and twenty feet of thin air betwixt himself and the 

 sea below. The snare, it is pleasant to relate, 

 proved equal to the strain ; and such was the en- 

 durance of the fowler that he was recovered alive, 

 and lived for many a day to tell the tale of his 

 remarkable adventure. 



Some idea may be gathered of the plenitude of 

 Puffin life at St. Kilda when it is stated, on the 

 authority of Mr. Sands, who lived there for about nine 

 months, that in one year alone close upon ninety 

 thousand birds of this species were killed by the 

 natives. They are plucked, split open like kippers, 

 cured, and hung up to dry on strings stretched across 

 the cottages ; and whenever a native feels hungry 

 he simply pulls one down from the line, flings it 

 on the fire to grill, and forthwith has his lunch 

 without the aid of knife, fork, plate, or napkin. 



Soa excelled everything we had ever seen in 

 the whole of our wanderings in the prodigality of 

 its bird - life. Puffins simply swarmed in the air 

 above it, on the rocks and earth of which it is com- 

 posed, and dotted the sea all round as far as the 

 powers of a pair of good field-glasses could make 

 them out. Those on the wing twirled round and 

 round in a great cloud that perceptibly interfered 

 with the light of day as it passed over us. The 

 swish of their wings made a continuous buzz, and 

 a stone thrown across the path of their flight could 

 not have failed to bring down one or more victims. 

 The whole scene simply beggared description, and 

 the parasites that fell off the birds as they flew 

 over us swarmed on our caps and jackets, a few of 

 them finding more succulent quarters, much to our 

 discomfort and annoyance. 



Whilst I was watching the Puffin gin in opera- 

 tion our friend Mackenzie discovered a brood of 

 I 



