NOTES ON THE MAMMALS AND BIRDS OF ROUSAY. 73 



in a boat before leaving the Orkneys on 8th Decem- 

 ber, I sliot two. The throat was w^hite — the white 

 from tlie eye to the bill very indistinct — and they 

 wanted the white line on the bill. In Eousay the 

 Razorbill lays its eggs very frequently in cracks or 

 holes of the rocks, and much nearer the toj) of the 

 cliffs than the Guillemot. The hen sits with her 

 breast on the egg, and the cock is often to be seen 

 standing near her, or at the mouth of the hole where 

 she is. Kazorbills' eggs vary little in comparison 

 with the (luillemot, never having those startling shades 

 of green which in the other bird are so connnon. I 

 have seen the egg-shells lying near a sitting bird, 

 showing that they are not removed immediately on 

 hatching. When on the water, Razorbills show more 

 of their bodies than the Guillemot, and they erect 

 their shar])-|)ointe(l tails. 



I am sorry tliat in my notice of the rock-birds I 

 can add nothing to our knowledge of where these 

 birds pass the winter. Odd ones, of course, occur all 

 about the islands ; but no fishing boat can go far out 

 into the Atlantic in the winter, and, indeed, there 

 are ver\' few regular fishermen in Rousay from whom 

 I could mak(^ the necessary enquiries. 



GuiLLiTMOT ( Uria troile). By far the commonest of 

 the rock-birds, being twice as numerous, if not more 

 so, than the Razorbill. The Guillemots never place 

 their eggs in holes like the Razorbills, but always on 

 the open ledges of rocks. Here, I should sa}', the 

 prevailing colour of their eggs is green. When hatch- 

 ing its egg the Guillemot usvially stands over it, 

 keeping it between its legs. At other times it sits 

 forward on it ; and I have seen a bird that w as try- 

 ing to cover its egg witli its wing, but a great part 

 of the egg was visible. They seem, when sitting, to 

 keep their backs to the sea. When brooding its 

 young one, the old bird crouches forward, drooping 

 its wings and puffing itself out until the body part 

 looks quite round. They seem most careful in keep- 

 ing the yomig birds quite to the back, away from 



