Till. \\1I.1.-1 nWl.r.H. 



remain then- until the ebb tide }i-.\< run out ;m<l left them upon the 

 land, when the boatmen and inluibitaiits fall upon tin-in and Lrenerallv 

 kill or capture every bird. These droves of foul arc -ometimes so 

 large, that twenty or thirty birds fall to the share of each person who 

 partakes in the scramble. 



At the entrance to the river Ochotska this practice of wild-fowling 

 is very frequent, and often abundantly successful.* 



The Kamtschadales also freely use fish-hooks for the purpose of 

 fowling : they bait them with small fish, and take many of the crane 

 and heron species in that manner. This is one of their few mode- of 

 fowling at other than the moulting* season. 



They are also particularly expert in taking rock-birds with nooses 

 attached to long poles. They climb the highest and most preci- 

 pitous rocks in search of birds; and, at the hazard of their lives, 

 sometimes crawl to the brink of fearful-looking precipices, where they 

 cautiously slip the noose over the heads of their victims, and snatch 

 them from their roost one at a time as they sit on the ledges of the 

 rock. When skilfully performed, a whole roost of fowl may some- 

 times be taken one after another, with so little noise as not to av, ake 

 or disturb their next companions on the same ledge. 



Pennant mentions that the Greenlanders, in their little canoes, 

 pursue wild-ducks, and kill them with darts. They watch the coui>e 

 taken by the bird on diving ; and, following in the track of the air- 

 bubbles, strike the moment it rises to the surface. But this pursuit 

 must, obviously, be limited to the duration of the moulting season, 

 when wild-ducks are unable to fly. It is unreasonable to suppose 

 that a bird gifted with the power of flight would fail to make use of 

 such power to save its life when closely pursued by a Greenlander, 

 any more than it would if pursued in this country under similar cir- 

 cumstances by an Englishman. 



Large numbers of wild-geese are also caught in Russia with day nets. 

 These birds are so abundant in some parts of that country that much 

 more value is put upon their down and feathers than their hYsh, 

 though numbers of them when captured and stripped of their 

 valuable coatings are smoked and hung for winter food.f 



The manner in which the Russian fowler conducts these operations 



* KraslioninicufTs History of Kamtsrlialka. 



t Vi'lc Bell's Travels in Asia. Description of a Journey from Surgute lo 

 Moscow. 



