them to the feather-dealers, the Guillemot and Razorbill
are lumped together as " Divers."
The principal food of this species consists of small
fishes, captured under water; but I find it stated that
it also feeds upon crustaceans and marine insects. The
Guillemot lays a single egg of huge size in comparison
to the bulk of the bird ; these eggs vary in colour to an
almost unparallelled extent, but are always of an even
pear-shape. On many parts of the coast they are
regularly gathered by natives, who let themselves down
from above by ropes, and the eggs thus collected
are sold, not only for culinary purposes, but, as Mr. H.
Saunders informs us, for clarifying wine and for the preparation
of patent leather.
The Guillemot sits upright on her egg, and the
gentleman from whom I have just quoted states at p. 71
of vol. iv. of Yarrell, 4th edition, that he has often seen
the eggs fall in showers from the ledges of Lundy Island
on the disturbance of the birds by the firing of a gun
for the delectation of tourists and " trippers."
Against the organized and regulated gathering of the
eggs of sea-birds for open sale there is little to be said;
the proprietors, lessees, and egg-gatherers may, I think,
be safely trusted not to exterminate any " fowl" whose
produce may be profitable; but I cannot too strongly
condemn the practice (only too common, I fear) of
making up parties for sea-bird shooting from boats in
August when many of the victims are unable to fly, and
cannot save their lives by prolonged diving. It is
possible that some of the published accounts of the
doings of these gunners are exaggerated; I most