The couroucous were waiting the passage of insects which served for their nourishment.

Their feathery feet could be seen clasping the slender twigs which supported them.
The hunters then rose, and using their sticks like scythes, they mowed down whole rows of these couroucous, who never thought of flying away, and stupidly allowed themselves to be knocked off.

A hundred were already heaped on the ground, before the others made up their minds to fly.
"Well," said Pencroft, "here is game, which is quite within the reach of hunters like us.

We have only to put out our hands and take it!" The sailor having strung the couroucous like larks on flexible twigs, they then continued their exploration.

The stream here made a bend towards the south, but this detour was probably not prolonged for the river must have its source in the mountain, and be supplied by the melting of the snow which covered the sides of the central cone.
The particular object of their expedition was, as has been said, to procure the greatest possible quantity of game for the inhabitants of the Chimneys.