pointed, compressed; upper mandible slightly curved near the point, with .a*,
small indentation or notch in the edge on each side. Nostrils basal,- lateral,
concave, pierced longitudinally, partly closed by a membrane, which is'ulso
partly Covered with feathers. - Feet short, placed behmd'thercentre of gravity
in th e body; legs sl.ender, feet with only three tqes, all in front,, entirely
webbed. \V ings short, first quill-feather the longest. Tail short.
The birds' of this genus, and of the Alcadae -in general,
bear considerable resemblance to the Divers-both in form and
habits; they are oceanic birds that can swim and dine well,
and in this way obtain small fishes of various sorts, or still
smaller Crustacea, as food.
The Common Guillemot, or Foolish Guillemot, as it-is,
frequently called, is one of the best known of the -speeifesf1-
and may be seen.:-in the tifle-Way<bfL the^open sea' all round-
our coast at any season ; butras their numbers are theresllis”'
persed oyer an "extensive surface, thesp> birds 'are best observed
during their breeding-season, when-;they.assemble by
hundreds, or thousands more frequently,--von.: many^S^fehe
most extensive and highest'rocks and cliffs that bounlijOur
sea-girt islands..
About the beginning of May . the - Common Guillemots,
with many other species of birds, frequenting^ocks at - that
season, fo- bu^hereafter described, -converge, to- particular
points, where, from the numbers that congregate, and*'the1
bustle apparent among them, confusion of interests and localities
might be expected ; but - on the contrary£it wilL be
found that the- Guillemots -occupy one "station, or line of
. ledges on the rock ; the Razorbills another; the Puffins a
third ; Kittiwake Gulls a 'fourth ; whilst the mo’s?|? inaccessible
pinnacles seem to be left for the. use of the Lesser
Black-backed and the Herring Gulls. Two distinct species
scarcely ever breed close by the side of each other.
The Common Guillemot lays only a single _egg, but this
is of large size, and very variable in colour, scarcely two
being found precisely alike, but generally of a fine bluislngreen,
more-ör Wêk blotched and streaked with dark reddish-
browfi, .or, black^ .sometimes -these markings are distributed
over a white-' gyfend colour, and I have seen the eggs of this
p ’fietei’es of a plain green- or whitecolour, without any secondary
markings'1;»! the form of the égg is that of an elongated'
handsome - pear, measuring three inches and a quarter
in length, b^to^eMnch - k&d eleven lin e sin breadth at the
largervend. 'Thei^eggs^tbL the- Guillemot; are readily distinguished
from those* %f the Razorbill,1 with which they are
•mo|jb lilflfyriö-'« bé-ihixhd)' fey the length to which the smaller
end ofcthe/föfemêr’isMrawn^óut. • Large"quairtities'of thesè and
varioq^*:0 ^ lt‘ roèkriöpdsVeggtS; arëi doll ec%èdLSt' different parts
bf the:-boast-by'-fishermep^and'their sons, who Ifefc themselves
do#h^**mr,fate,rreéd<^|p^^bthe^,|^esJth e% d ^ Jo f the difp
with cm ©'.or* two Mpes.; fixed to a strong^ iron crow-bar driven
into-the ground?!afedj^rl Thês^iffien-, fröm practicé,1 traverse
inafeow of the rock, pi'ckift’g*tip the eggs along 'a path
of-only a few? Willés in brkad-tb wilÉfsteadiness and cértainty.
^ETrc^uillemot!makes no nést, and the female sits in an up-
rightx.position napén^np^singM/egg during incubation, which
|p,te'ifor a., month.: Th^yohng birds, at first^pvered with
down, or5 bristly hair ratfef^from thé/manner in which it-
yeasts saturation with, water; areV'fed for a time- on the rocks
"¥y^-the. parent birds vmMi por^lsCbff* fish. Mr. Watertony
in his account^lAhd'Scyisi^tOr» the^roêk-bird-brëèding localities
about Flamboróhgh h e ad y sa ^ l^ thé men there assured mre
that when thé*-yioung! Guillemot-igets to a? certain size,, it
manages «to.climb upon the back óf the*bid-bird, which con-
yeys-it down to the-ocean. Having carried a good telescope
.with me, through -MM saw numbers of young Guillemots
diving and sporting*-'on the sea; quite unable to fly; and I
observed others-* on fSbe;: ledges of the rocks as I Went down
among them, in such situations that, had they attempted to
fall into the waves beneath, they would have been killed by