ST. KILDA AND ITS BIRDS. 337 



trade lias sprung up in the eggs, which bids fair to assume 

 considerable dimensions. Eggs, of course, have always 

 been largely taken by the St. Kildans for the purpose of 

 food, and are so still, but of late years the trading collector 

 has got a foothold in the place, and the number of eggs 

 now exported annually to supply the insatiable demands 

 of the trade seems destined to do more damage to the bird 

 population of St. Kilda than the natives would ever have 

 effected if left to themselves. A fair number of eggs is 

 also sold as bric-a-brac to the tourists, who land for a few 

 hours from the Glasgow T steamers, which visit the island 

 during the summer months. Were the demands of the 

 trade confined to the eggs of such birds as the Guillemots, 

 Razor-bills and Puffins, it would not be a matter of much 

 consequence, as these birds are sufficiently numerous to 

 hold their own in spite of it ; but when it comes to dealers 

 giving unlimited orders for Fork-tailed Petrels' eggs, at 

 prices which set the whole male population of the island 

 on the alert to dig out every Petrel burrow they can 

 possibly oome across, one cannot but feel considerable 

 anxiety as to the future of this interesting species. The 

 St. Kildan Wren, too, is hunted down remorselessly for 

 the sake of its eggs, for which high prices are paid. 



The cliffs and rocks of St. Kilda proper are divided into 

 sixteen lots, one for each of the sixteen houses, and no 

 native is allowed to take birds or eggs from any " lot " 

 other than his own. When, however, expeditions are 

 undertaken to the subsidiary islands and stacks, it is the 

 custom for the produce of the day's work to be divided up 

 equally amongst the sixteen households. 



Every one who has written about St. Kilda has 

 expatiated on the wonderful skill displayed by the natives 

 in climbing the rocks, and the daring exploits performed 

 by them in following their favourite calling, though many 



