FULMAR PETREL 



him, but I was determined that where he went I should go, and 

 go I did ; but he had often to help me, and in two rather difficult 

 places a rope was fastened round my waist and I was hauled up. 

 However, after strenuous efforts on the part of both of us, we at 

 length had the camera fixed in position, and I made an exposure. 

 Then, slowly creeping up the cliff, I was able to get gradually 

 nearer to the Fulmars, until one bird became so used to my 

 presence that I was permitted to take the accompanying picture. 



The Fulmar Petrel forms the staple food supply of the natives 

 of St. Kilda, and on or about the I2th of August every man and 

 boy in the small community goes forth armed with ropes, and the 

 young birds are collected. The population of the island is about 

 seventy, and each person is supplied with some three hundred 

 birds. These are plucked, and the bodies are then cleaned and 

 salted and packed away in barrels. 



The birds are able to eject from their beaks a very pungent oil. 

 This is extracted from the birds and used by the natives for burning 

 in small lamps. It has a peculiar smell, quite unlike anything else I 

 know, and to my mind it was the most unpleasant effluvium 

 that it would be possible to find. As we climbed about the cliffs 

 the young birds repeatedly squirted at us, and one enterprising 

 youngster made a very good and successful shot at my camera, 

 just missing the lens, but simply smothering the bellows, and I 

 am told that the smell will remain there as long as the bellows 

 exist. I also received charges of this oil on my boots and 

 clothing ; and of this I am certain, that never again shall I be able 

 to wear those clothes in any civilised part, so I think I shall pack 

 them away in an air-tight compartment and keep them as a relic 

 of St. Kilda! 



In my photograph the bird is seen to be turning on its nest. It 

 was interesting to see the bird go through this little exercise. Just 

 between the legs there is a hollow patch bare of feathers, and the 



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