B L A C K G U I L L E M O T.
URIA GRILLE.
THK traa home uf the Black Guillemot in the British Isles is evidently •long the northern and nosieri!
coasts oi the Highlands; I failed to detect any breeding-stations further towardi the south-east than
Duucaushy Head, though there are doubtless other portions of the dull red clitl's of Caitl ss, overlooking
the North Sea, to which they resort. I could gaiu no information from the two oldest fishermen at
Canty Bay, John Kelly and Andrew McLean, both acquainted with the Mass from their lmjbuod, that
this species had bred upon the rock, though the fact has been recorded by more than one writer. Unless
the interior of the caves or the ruined buildings among the fortiticalions were made use of, the formation
of this rooky island does not seem adapted to their requirement*, as I never observed their eggs on open
and exposed ledges, and no other accommodation could they i>ossibly have secured in the face of these clitl's.
At the May there is, so far as I have been able to ascertain, good evidence that some years hack a few
pair frequented certain portions of the island and regularly reared their young. While iu pursuit of
Bucks along the shores of Gulluuo Bay, in the Firth of Forth, after a strong north-cast gale and a heavy
ate, in January 1BBA, I discovered two dead birds of this species iu winter plumage lying at the highwater
mark among the weeds oast up by the tide. In 18118 and the following year I often drove iu early
spring through Sutherland and Caithness to the north, aud repeatedly remarked small parties at sea
actively ducking and diving in the waves off the cueist about Golspie, Helmsdale, and Dunlicalh. A Black
Guillemot, iu almost adult though worn aud faded plumage, was obtained just outside Ihe rock on which
the outer lighthouse stands at the Fern Islands in May 1M17; no others were seen, and I was unable
to ascertain from Barling, the egg-collector, that they were more than uncertain visitors at the prcseut
time to that part of the coast, though supposes! to have been summer residents in former days.
I |>asscd some time iu May INSS iu exploring the west coast of Ross-shire, and in the deep cracks
and BtevfasM ¡11 the face of the ml clilfs, or the dciacheil rocks near the Stack Bole, delected with the
help of the glasses numbers of eggs of this species. Concealed among the huge blocks of fantastically
shaped stone encumbering this wild and rugged shore, 1 was enabled to watch the birds lly iu from the
Miueh and make their way towards their gloomy quarters: afier alighting on the ledges they usually
paused for a few moments, gazing eagerly around, then stooping forwards, rapidly disappeared in the shade
below the overhanging rocks. My attention was particularly attracted by the rapid movements of these
birds and the speed with which they made their way among the stones or over the rocks, their actions
contrasting greatly with the shuttling gait of the Common Guillemot, which invariably drops from the
air into the ledge it frequents, in close proximity to its egg or young. This species also possesses
the power, not bestowed on its relative, of rising from a llat surface; the latter, as all are aware
who have studied their habits in a state of nature, gain no assistance frum their wings till a
considerable drop below the ledge from which they spring has been effected. Uu the island of 1'ura,