Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1883-05-31
Birds and Eggs in the HsbrIdss.

The distinctive feature Of st. Kilda
is its bird-life, which is SO abundant
that to a vessel approaching the isle
the cliffs seem to be white, because Of
the countless myriads of gulls, guile
mots, gaEnets and all manner of sea-
birds, whose nests are closely packed
on every ledge in the face of the crag.
All day long during the summer
months these beautiful birds Of daz-
zling whiteness float in tremulous
clouds around their ocean-girdled home,
as though the white spray of the surg
ing pillows were carried up to the
blue heaven.
The more inaccessible the cliffs the
more thickly are they crowded with
nests and with the beautiful large blue
and green eggs, some Of which are
laid on the bare rock or among large
stones, while more careful parents col
lect grass or rusheS to soften the cra-
dies of their nestlings. By some mar
velous instinct each bird knows its
own egg among all those millions, and
returns from its fishing expeditions to
rear its soft downy offspring; and all
through the long summer days busy
life reigns in that vast nursery, and
the young birds are trained to battle
with wind and wave, and to snatch
siiyery dainties from the green seas.
Then, when all have grown strong,
and are able to earn their own living,
these beautiful snowy birds, with the
wild eyes and the eerie cry. prepare to
seek their winter quarters in some
other cline. Deafening is the chorus
OF screaming and chattering as the
feathery crowds prepare for their long
flight. Then the great bird army de-
parts. and only the surging Of the wild
waves and the rushing winds disturb
the stiffness which enfolds the deserted
isles, and the people say it feels sad
and lonesome, as well it may.
For the birds represent their harvest
and their work-a work enlivened by
all the excitement Of personal peril.
The rockfowler who would lay in
good store Of eggs must be able to find
footing where no goat would venture,
creeping along scarcely perceptible
ledges, on the face of the giddy cliff,
where one false step would assuredly
prove his last, for the next moment
would see him flash through the air to
disappear in the seething ocean far
below. The richest harvest awaits him
on the ledges Of crags, wholly inaccessi
Bile save to him who dares venture to
let himself down. slnng by strong
rope held by his companions on some
upper cliffs.
Martin recorded how in one day he
saw the people bring home 1000 sea-
fowl and twenty-nile baskets full of
eggs, some containing 400 eggs, others
about 800 Of lesser sorts. And
still this great slaughter of birds
continues year by year. At the present
time it is estimated that upward of
10000 gannets are annually captured
in the Hebrides, yet year by year their
hosts return numerous as ever.
Martin was much struck by the
simple dover required for a young
woman, namely, one pound of horse
hair, wherewith to make snares for the
bridegroom's fowlingl
Very quaint, too, is DR.. John Mac
Culloch's account Of st. Kilda pub
lished sixty-four years ago. He says :
"The air is full of feathered animals,
the sea is covered with them, the
houses are ornamented ty them, and
the inhabitants look as if they had
been all tarred and feathered, for their
hair is full Of feathers and their clothes
are covered with feathers. The women
look like feathered Mercurys, for their
shoes are made Of gannet's skin.
Everything smells of feathers. All
the Year Round.