PHOTOGRAPHING IN CLIFFS, ETC. 21 



naturalists do this by walking close to the edge 

 and blowing a whistle. We use a revolver, which, 

 though a little heavier to carry about, is much 

 more effective and reliable. In working a cliff two 

 things are requisite. The first is to get as near 

 the edge as the dictates of safety will allow, and 

 at a point commanding a good view of its face 

 to right and left ; the second is to take care not to 

 walk out on to any overhanging piece of rock that 

 might by chance give way. I once had a narrow 

 escape from a nasty accident by being a little too 

 venturesome in this respect. It is better, when 

 engaged in preliminary investigations of this kind, 

 to have one end of the thinner or guide rope 

 round the waist, a precaution which begets confi- 

 dence in the naturalist, and thereby enhances his 

 view of the yawning abyss below him, and also the 

 value of his observations. 



It is a grand sight to see a Peregrine falcon shoot 

 out of a fissure in the face of a precipice, and. 

 mounting the air, fly round and round high over- 

 head, the while uttering her loud, defiant kek-Jcek- 

 kek. Some birds, such as shags, will not budge an 

 inch for a shot, even when fired close to them. I 

 have watched members of this species sitting in 

 crevices working their heads about in anger whilst 

 I fired shot after shot into the sea at the bottom 

 of a great amphitheatre formed by the peculiar 

 conformation of the crags, which intensified the 

 din, without leaving their nests arid eggs or 



