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that place, and being greatly interested I gladly accepted their 

 invitation. It was a strictly business affair with them, and 

 they requested me to leave my gun behind and take along a 

 net, which, of course, I did. A half hour's row brought us 

 to the foot of a high cliff, the base of which was piled to the 

 height of about two hundred feet with boulders, detached 

 from it by the action of the elements. This mass of loose 

 and treacherous rock — entering the water at an angle of 

 about 45 degrees — was the breeding ground of the Dove- 

 kies, and here they were to be captured. 



These birds deposit their eggs well down in the crevices 

 among the smaller stones and at the time of my visit the 

 y oung birds were nearly ready to leave the nests. A curious 

 subdued murmur, made by the plaintive call of the young 

 birds, formed a kind of back-ground of sound for the louder 

 notes of the adults, whose incessant chatter gave abundant 

 proof of the countless thousands breeding at the rookery. 

 Climbing to an altitude of about one hundred and fifty feet 

 we reached the flight zone of the Dovekies, where there was 

 a continuous movement of large flocks, whose sole employ- 

 ment appeared to be flying round and round in circles which 

 extended from within a few feet of the cliff to well out over 

 the water. Consequently to come within striking distance 

 of the birds, it was only necessary to watch a flock, and while 

 they were away on their circuit, to take a position screened 

 from view behind a large rock in their line of flight. 



A curiously constructed net is used at present for capturing 

 the birds. It consists of a hoop about two feet in diameter 

 across which a net, slightly bagging, is constructed. The 

 hoop is secured at the end of a light pole about ten feet in 

 length, and when in use the nets remind one very much of 

 lawn-tennis racquets on a large scale, being swept forward 

 with similar strokes. The hunter places the net on the 

 rocks in the opposite direction from which the birds are 

 expected, and on their approach raises it to meet them with 



