144 FOOLISH GUILLEMOT.
white, and almost of every colour, are lying thick over the whole rock ;
the ordure of the birds mingled with feathers, with the refuse of halfhatched
eggs partially sucked by rapacious Gulls, and with putrid or
dried carcasses of Guillemots, produces an intolerable stench; and no
sooner are all your baskets filled with eggs, than you are glad to abandon
the isle to its proper owners.
On one occasion, whilst at anchor at Great Macatina, one of our boats
was sent for eggs. The sailors had eight miles to pull before reaching
the Murre Islands, and yet ere many hours had elapsed, the boat was
again alongside, loaded to a few inches of the gunwale, with 2500 eggs!
Many of them, however, being addle, were thrown overboard. The order
given to the tars had been to bring only a few dozens; but, as they said,
they had forgotten!
The eggs are unaccountably large for the size of the bird, their average
length being three inches and three-eighths, and their greatest
breadth two inches. They are pyriform or elongated, with a slight compression
towards the smaller end, which again rather swells and is rounded
at the extremity. They afford excellent food, being highly nutritive and
palatable, whether boiled, roasted, poached, or in omelets. The shell is
rough to the touch, although not granulated. Some are of a lively verdigris
colour, others of different tints, hut all curiously splashed, as it were,
with streaks or blotches of dark umber and brown. My opinion, however,
is, that, when first dropped, they are always pure white, for on opening
a good number of these birds, I found several containing an egg ready
for being laid, and of a pure white colour. The shell is so firm that it
does not easily break, and I have seen a quantity of these eggs very carelessly
removed from a basket into a boat without being damaged. They
are collected in astonishing quantities by " the eggers,11 to whom I have
already given a character, and sent to distant markets, where they are
sold at from one to three cents each.
Although the Guillemots are continually harassed, their eggs being
carried off as soon as they are deposited, and as long as the birds can
produce them, yet they return to the same islands year after year, and,
notwithstanding all the efforts of their enemies, multiply their numbers.
The Foolish Guillemot, as I have said, lays only a single egg, which
is the case with the Thick-billed Guillemot also. The Razor-billed Auk
lays two, and the Black Guillemot usually three. I have assured myself
of these facts, not merely by observing the birds sitting on th^ir eggs,
but also by noticing the following circumstances. The Foolish Guillemot,
which lays only one, plucks the feathers from its abdomen, which
is thus left quite bare over a roundish space just large enough to cover
its single egg. The Thick-billed Guillemot does the same. The Auk,
on the contrary, forms two bare spots, separated by a ridge of feathers.
The Black Guillemot, to cover her three eggs, and to warm them all at
once, plucks a space bare quite across her belly. These observations
were made on numerous birds of all the species mentioned. In all of
them, the males incubate as well as the females, although the latter are
more assiduous. When the Guillemots are disturbed, they fly off in
silence. The Auks, on the contrary, emit a hoarse croaking note, which
they repeat several times, as they fly away from danger. The Foolish
Guillemot seldom if ever attempts to bite, whereas the Razor-billed Auk
bites most severely, and clings to a person's hand until choked. The plumage
of all the birds of this family is extremely compact, closely downed
at the root, and difficult to be plucked. The fishermen and eggers often
use their skins with the feathers on as " comforters " round their wrists.
The flesh is dark, tough, and not very palatable ; yet many of these birds
are eaten bv the fishermen and sailors.
The young, which burst the egg about the beginning of July, are
covered with down of a brownish-black colour. When eight or ten days
old they are still downy, but have acquired considerable activity. As
they grow up, they become excessively fat, and seem to be more at ease
on the water than on the land. About the middle of August they follow
their parents to the open sea, the latter being then seldom able to fly,
having dropped their quills; and by the middle of September scarcely
any of these birds are to be found on or near the islands on which they
breed, although great numbers spend the winter in those latitudes.
There is no perceptible difference between the sexes as to colour, but
the males are larger than the females. The white line that encircles the
eye and extends toward the hind head is common to both sexes, but occurs
only in old birds. Thousands of these Guillemots however breed,
without having yet acquired it, there merely being indications of it to
be seen on parting the feathers on the place, where there is a natural division.
The flight of the Foolish Guillemot is rapid and greatly protracted,
being performed by quick and unintermitted beatings. They move
through the air either singly or in bands, in the latter case seldom keep-
VOL. nr. K