50 Director's Annual Report. 
where footholds were wanting, pulling ourselves up by our hands 
here, slipping back there, passing the dogs over the dangerous 
places, encouraging them over the hard ones, panting, wringing 
wet, and all but exhausted, we at last reached the top where the 
crest of the ridge slopes down a few hundred feet before it pitches 
off for a perpendicular drop to the floor of the beautiful balloon- 
shaped valley two or three thousand feet below. The crest of the 
ridge, here as elsewhere, is overgrown with the usual jungle of 
vines, ferns and trees which hide the steep, broken—often danger- 
ous—irregularities of the rocks which it covers. 
For the next six hours we ranged over the mountain side, each 
of us following as best he could, some one of the dogs. Over the 
cliffs and down the valleys they ran in every dire¢tion, sniffing 
here, digging there, until finally on locating a bird they would 
bark for help. 
Digging out an Uau is not the easy and pleasant task one might 
imagine. Asa rule they make their burrows under the spreading 
surface roots of trees—sometimes going back under them several 
feet from the mouth of the burrow. Occasionally they select a 
crevice in the broken rock or underneath a boulder that is over- 
grown with roots and vines, so as to resemble, in its essential 
features, the site just described. Rarely—almost never—are they 
found nesting on the surface of the ground, even though it be 
covered with vines and undergrowth. Having located the burrow 
and opened it up for a distance, it is often then difficult to find the 
bird, for the holes are usually natural ones that follow the roots in 
various directions, and at most are only appropriated by the bird 
and modified to its use. But once the hand touches the bird there 
is no further doubt concerning its whereabouts, for on being dis- 
turbed they bite with their hooked, pincer-like bills, and kick and 
scratch with their feet most savagely. Once the bird is in hand 
it is easily despatched by the native hunter in a neat and efficient 
manner. ‘he forefinger is violently forced down the bird’s throat. 
It is then slightly bent at the first joint so as to catch the heart 
and lungs, which are given a slight twist and sharp pull, with the 
result that the bird dies instantly, with scarcely a struggle. 
One can with practice, imitate the Uau’s call very closely. 
This ruse was continually resorted to by the natives. Their efforts 
[140] 
ee, 
