150 BLACK GUILLEMOT.
They shoot past you on fluttering wings, and suddenly disappear. Go
to the place; lay yourself down on the dripping rock, and you will be
sure to see the birds preparing their stony nest, for each has brought a
smooth pebble in its bill. See how industriously they are engaged in
raising this cold fabric into the form of a true nest, before the female lays
her eggs, so that no wet may reach them, from the constant trickling of
the waters beneath. Up to the height of two or three inches the pebbles
are gradually raised, the male stands by his beloved ; and some morning
when you peep into the crevice, you observe that an egg has been deposited.
Two days after you find the number complete.
A closet-naturalist was quite surprised, I have been told, when he
read in one of my volumes that Grakles form no nests in one portion
of the United States, being there contented with merely dropping their
eggs in the bottom of a Woodpecker's hole; while in the Middle States
the same species forms a very snug nest. That his astonishment was
great I do not in the least doubt, especially as I know how surprised
I was to find the Larus argentatus breeding on fir-trees forty feet above
the ground, and to see three eggs, instead of one, placed on a bed of
small pebbles beautifully arranged, and every one belonging to a single
pair of Black Guillemots. Yet, good Reader, as I have also been told,
the same person had no doubt whatever that ermines turn from brown
to white in winter, that snakes and crabs cast off their skins and shells,
and that " fleas are not lobsters;w but then the reason of his belief was
simply that he had read of these things; and his doubts as to the Grakles
arose from the facts having been recently reported by a stranger from the
" far west" who, it seems, talked of things which he had not read of before.
Whilst in Labrador, I was delighted to see with what judgment the
Black Guillemot prepares a place for its eggs. Whenever the spot chosen
happens to be so situated as to preclude damp, not a pebble does the bird
lay there, and its eggs are placed on the bare rock. It is only in what I
call cases of urgency that this trouble is taken. About fifty or sixty
pebbles or bits of stone are then used, and the number is increased or diminished
according to circumstances.
The eggs of this species, which appear disproportionately large, measure
two inches and three eighths in length, by an inch and five-eighths
in breadth. Their form is regular ; they are rather rough to the touch,
although not granulated; their ground colour an earthy white, thickly
blotched with very dark purplish-black, the markings larger and closer
towards the great end, which, however, is generally left free of them.
The shell is much thinner than that of the egg of the Foolish Guillemot
or Razor-billed Auk. As an article of food they are excellent, being delicate
and nutritious.
The parents pluck the feathers from a space across the lower part of
their belly, as soon as incubation commences ; and this bare place, when
the bird is taken alive, it immediately conceals by drawing the feathers of
the upper part of the abdomen over it, as if it were anxious that it should
not be observed. When driven from the nest, the Black Guillemot at
once runs out of its hiding-place and flies to the water, on which it plays,
bathes as it were, dives a few times, and anxiously watches your retreat,
after which it soon returns and resumes the arduous task of incubation.
The young, which are at first quite black, are covered with soft down,
and emit, although in an under tone, the same lisping notes as their parents.
Their legs, feet, and bill are black. The red colour of the legs
of the old birds is much brighter during the breeding-season than at any
other time, and the mouth also is bright red. About the first of August
the Guillemots lead their progeny to the water, and although at this time
neither old nor young are able to fly, they dive deeply and with great
ease, which enables them to procure abundance of food, for at this season,
lints, shrimps, and marine insects are plentiful in all the waters.
While in Labrador, I made a severe experiment to ascertain how long
the Black Guillemot could live without food,—an experiment on which
I have never since been able to think, without some feeling of remorse.
I confined a pair of them in the fissure of a rock for many days in succession.
After the entrance was securely closed, I left the place, and for
eight days the wind blew so hard that no boat was safe on the waters
without the harbour. Many a time I thought of the poor captives, and
at last went to their retreat one rainy afternoon, over a great swell of the
sea. The entrance of the fissure was opened, and a stick pushed into the
hole, when I had the pleasure of seeing both birds, although apparently
in a state of distress, run out by me, and at once fly to the water.
The flight of the Black Guillemot is rapid and continued. As they
proceed in their course, they alternately shew the black of their lower
parts and the white of their wings. They walk on the rocks with considerable
ease, using short steps, and whenever they wish to remove from one