Forth ; and Mr. Selby, writing in 1833, says It is a numerous species in the northern parts of Scotland and
its Isle's, but becomes of rarer occurrence as we approach the English coast, where, indeed, it is but occa-
sionally met with j “ and," he adds, “ although Montagu has mentioned it ias.resorting to the Farn Islands, I
can safely assert that this has not been the case for the last twenty-fi ve or thirty years.” Sir William Jardine
gives the coasts o f the north o f Scotland as being near to its southern range; in Britain ; ' g he mentions Having
met with the species in the Isle of Man, and that it occasionally occurs oh' the southern coast of England.
“ It is interesting, therefore," says Thompson, “ to find that this bird is not imly equally common in the south
and in the north of Ireland, hut that it nidifies as frequently on the rocky coasts of the foraier' as oh those of
the latter portion of the island.” tv -. t
Macgillivray has given us such a graphic description of the situations frequented by this bird, and of its
habits, that it would he an act of injustice to this elegant writer not to transcribe i t :
“ Suppose yourself floating on the heavy swell of the Atlantic, along the base of a cliff decorated with
luxuriant tufts of Bho£ola rosea, Siiene maritime, and Statice armaria, and inhabited by Guillemots, Auks,
and Starlings. Here and there ore narrow cracks, perpendicular and inclined. In most o f them, after a
shot has been fired, you will see one, two, or more black Guillemots looking down upon you, « I f afraid
to remain, and loth to leave their eggs or young. Another shot is fired, and you see thena bounce: away on
rapidly moving wings. There, on a shelf, a dozen of them have alighted in a row; their black plumage,
enlivened by the two white wing-spots, and their singular-looking red feet, coutrast with the brown rock.
Yon may approach and .shoot half o f them if you will, for they are by no means shy. Such are their usual
breeding-places; for they never, like the other Auks and Giiillhmots,..deposit their eggs on the exposed
ledges of the cliffs. They differ froufthem also in laying two.eggs. I have .never, however, obtained them
from such places, although I know those who, clinging to the face o f the rifted crag, have done so, foolishly,
I thought, and at the peril of life ; but I have many times taken them from under the large blocks o f stone
near high-water mark. Nests they have none, unless a little ¿ravel. or some pebbles may be so called. The
eggs are about the same size and shape as those of a domestic fowl,..being regularly ovate, from two inches
and a quarter to two inches and a half in length, and from an inch and six to an inch and seven twelfths in
breadth, somejimes smooth, often rough, with little flattened prominences, and of a greyish white, yellowish
white, bluish white, or sometimes pale greenish blue, and marked with blotches, spots, and dots of
dark brown, varying in tint from brownish black to nmber, together with faint purplish-grey spots, the
markings larger and more numerous near the larger end. The eggs are deposited in the beginning o f June,
and early in August the young are abroad.
“ Their food consists o f small fishes and Crustacea, in search of which they frequent the sounds and hays
less than the open sea. On all the coasts o f Scotland, the fry o f the Coalfish is a.very common article of
food with them, as with many other sea-birds. About most o f their breeding-places I have not observed
them to proceed daily to any great distance; but, on leaving the rocks with their young, they disperse over
the ocean until the next spring. Yet they do not migrate far southward, most o f them remaining all the
winter in the north.
“ This species-sits lightly on the water, on which it paddles about in a very lively manner. It dives with
rapidity, like a shot as it were ; and, under water, it actually flies, as I have often seen. If shot at on the
water, it will often dive^but also frequently rise on wing, and in • so doing, strikes the water with its wings
and feet for some distance. Its flight is quick, direct, and performed by a perpetual rapid beating o f the
wiugs. In proceeding to a distance, they often fly in small strings, low over the;water, nowincHnmg a little
to one side, then to the other. When their nests or roosting-places are high on the rocks, they gradually
curve upward as they approach them, and alight abruptly. On the gronnd they move about but little, although,
on occasion, they walk moderately well and prettily, with short steps, and nearly erect. They repose either
standing or lying flat on the rock.
“ The eggs, when hard-boiled, are remarkably g o od; but the flesh o f thes bird, being dark-coloured and
rank, is not agreeable, though better than that o f the Auk or other Guillemots.” „
The late Mr. Salmon states that the principal breeding-place in the Orkneys is a small holm, lying to the
eastward of Papa Westra, where it is very numerous, and will scarcely move off the rocks when approached.
He invariably found two eggs together, deposited upon the bare ground, principally under the large fragments
of rocks scattered about upon the island, without any appearance o f nest.- The young are at first covered
with a greyish-black down, through which mottled feathers o f black and white soon protrude. Both
ad Alts and young exhibit a considerable amount of white during the winter, and in this state form the
“ Marbled Guillemot ” of older authors.
The Plate represents the bird in summer and in winter plumage, of the size of life. I trust my readers
will excuse the incongruity of placing birds in the dress of opposite seasons on the same plate.