EGG-HUNTING. 
207 
upon its lofty platforms ; and the kittiwakes build tlieir rude habita- 
tions of dried grass wherever a secure place offers. 
In May and the early part of June the eggs of the guillemots and 
razorbills form a considerable article of traffic. They are captured by 
the following process : — An iron bar is driven about six inches deep 
into the ground at the top of the precipice ; a stout rope is fastened to 
it, and then thrown down the rocks. The egg-hunter next proceeds to 
thrust his legs through a pair of hempen braces, which meet round his 
middle like a waistband. At each end of this hempen belt a smaller 
rope is reeved through a loophole ; and this rope is held tight by a 
companion, who graduall}^ lowers the hunter down the cliff. While 
descending, the latter clings also to the stouter rope fastened round 
the iron bar ; and thus supported, passes from ledge to ledge, and rock 
to rock, picking up the eggs, and storing them away in a couple of 
bags slung across his shoulders. When these are filled, he jerks the 
rope as a signal to his friend or friends to draw him up. 
Mr. Waterton furnishes a graphic description of his experience of 
egg-hunting on the Yorkshire coast. As he was lowered down, all 
apprehensions of danger disappeared before the rush of emotion caused 
by the intense sublimity and grandeur of the scene. At the base of 
the huge rampart of rocks the sea- water dashed with regulated fury ; 
thousands of wild-fowl whirled around him ; in circling flight rose the 
jackdaws and the kittiwakes ; while most of the puffins, razorbills, and 
guillemots descended in a straight line, with swift movement of 
the wings, until they plunged into the ocean. The puffins were easily 
distinguishable from the razorbills in their descent, as they presented a 
uniformly dark-coloured back, while the latter are streaked with a 
faint white diagonal line across the wings. The nests of the kitti- 
wakes were close to each other, and so numerous that it was impossible 
to count them. On the bare level ledge of the rocks, often not more 
than six inches wide, lay the eggs of the guillemots ; some placed 
parallel with the margin, others nearly so, and others with their blunt 
and sharp ends pointing indiscriminately to the sea. They were 
not fastened to the rock by any viscous substance, but lay bare and 
