36 GUILLEMOT.
The Guillemot is u b i q u i t o u s on our coasts, being frequent in Yorkshire
from Burlington to Yarmouth Roads, and thence to Dorsetshire, and
so on all round the island.
This bird has occurred in Oxfordshire, the lion. T. L. Powys has
informed me; one was killed on the River Isis, at Sandford, below
Oxford, in October, 1840. In the adjoining county of Buckingham,
one, a male, was caught in the river at F e n n y Stratford, on the 13th.
of November. 1852, d u r i n g the heavy floods which then prevailed, and
t h e r e was another seen at Simpson the next day.
In Scotland, they breed in vast numbers on the Island of Handa,
a n d the high cliffs of the Moray F i r t h , and in Caithness; common
also in East Lothian, on t h e Bass Rock, etc., as too, in Sutherlandshire
and elsewhere; so t h e y do also on the F e r n Islands, oil* t h e Northumbrian
coast, and at Flamborough Head, in Yorkshire. A few formerly bred
on the cliffs at Hunstanton, Norfolk; some used to do so also near
T e n b y , in Wales.
T h e y are equally abundant in the Orkney and Shetland Islands, and
t h e Hebrides. So too in I r e l a n d are they plentiful on all parts of the
coast, and in Guernsey and Sark.
The Foolish Guillemot is so called because it shews but little
apprehension of danger, and allows a near approach. The observations
I made on a similar derivation of name in the case of the Dotterel,
MAY be seen in my account of that bird, and they will apply equally,
to that of the species at present under consideration.
I n the places where these birds 'most do congregate,' numbers sit
side by side in rows, ' a n d when one flies away, all successively take
wing in such regular order that, when seen at a certain distance, they
appear as if they were actually strung together; they never take wing
in a body, but always one after another. Again, when they can be seen
s i t t i ng in a long string on the edge of some cliflf, their behaviour is
most amusing, for the b i r d s keep complimenting each other right and
left where they sit, and also welcome the new comers by bowing to
them, and u t t e r i n g their call notes, which sound like the words ' c u r r'
long drawn out, ' a r r r r r r , m e r r r r r r , g i r r r r r r / etc.
These birds are of sociable habits, both as regards their own kind
a n d other species, except, as mentioned presently, in the matter of
nidification, so to call it where no artificial nest is made.
I n the eightli volume of the ' M a g a z i n e of Natural H i s t o r y , ' I wrote
some years s i n c e — ' I lately h a p p e n e d to have an o p p o r t u n i t y of observing,
a Guillemot diving in very clear water, and was much struck with the
g r e a t similarity of its wings both in their shape and in its manner of
using them under the surface, to the fins of a fish, ' r e m i g i um alarum
GUILLEMOT 3 7
a n d in the water, instead of the air, the analogy loses none of its force.'
They are excellent divers, and though bulky birds, swim in B lightsome
manner. They fly quickly, mostly at a low height, the wings being
beaten with short repeated strokes: they have some difficulty in rising
from the surface. * D u r i n g the breeding-season they are generally
compelled to make a circuitous flight before they can attain a sufficient
elevation to reach the ledge of rock selected for that purpose.'
They feed on sprats, young h e r r i n g s , anchovies, sardines, and other
fish, mollusca, testacea, and sea-insects.
Mr. Couch observes of the Guillemot, in his ' I l l u s t r a t i o n s of I n s t i n c t ,'
cl have watched with much interest the proceedings of this bird when
c a p t u r i n g the stragglers of a school of young mullets, and the admirable
skill with which their dispersion was prevented, until a full meal had
been secured. It is the nature of this bird, as well as of most of
those birds which habitually dive to take their prey, to perform all
their evolutions under water with the aid of their wings; but instead
of dashing at once into the midst of the terrified group of small fry,
by which only a few would he captured, it passes round and round
them, and so drives them into a heap, and thus has an opportunity
of snatching here one and there another, as it finds it convenient to
swallow them, and if any one pushes out to escape, it falls the first
prey of the devourcr.'
Towards the end of March or beginning of A p r i l , they assemble
in countless thousands, with a view to lay and hatch their eggs, and
at times even darken the sea with their prodigious numbers. When
t h e work of incubation is over, they repair in small parties to the sea.
The Guillemot makes no nest, but lays her single egg upon the
b a r r e n rock. Countless numbers of these birds breed together on the
rocks or cliffs that abut upon the ocean, thinking there to find that
security, which indeed they would find were it not for the superiority
of mind over instinct. They often build in the same places as the
Kittiwake, H e r r i n g Gull, Puffin, and Razor Bill, but each in distinct
ranks. Incubation continues for a mouth. The old bird is believed
t o convey her young down to the sea on her back.
The eggs are very large in proportion to the size of the bird, and
more than ordinarily narrowed at one end and widened at the other.
They vary in an extraordinary manner, and a description of the principal
varieties only would be almost endless, ' a d e o sunt multa.' Some are
e n t i r e ly white, others more or less spotted with brown, and others
again bluish green, blotted and streaked with dark reddish brown or
black. Some are entirely green. 'The shape of the egg, which is
very tapering, prevents it from rolling off into the sea; for when