BIRDS OF THE SEA 439 



the Guillemots, almost with one accord, desert the 

 nesting rocks to make for the open sea, and during 

 the whole of the winter are rarely seen about the 

 coast. When the young birds have taken to the 

 wing, great numbers may be shot from a boat 

 anchored in their line of flight. Some years ago 

 a local gunner received an order from a London 

 firm for two thousand birds, to be sold, it was 

 stated, for " potted grouse." The required number 

 were secured in about fourteen days. 



Nesting with the Guillemots and constantly 

 mingling with them in the water, are the Razor- 

 bills, at once to be distinguished by their broad 

 white-lined bills. In habits the two birds are 

 identical, but the latter are much less numerous 

 as a species. 



The egg of the Razor-bill is shorter and less 

 pointed than that of its congener, and is frequently 

 laid in crevices difficult of access even for the 

 practised cliff-climber. It shows little variation in 

 colour, being usually of a dull white, spotted and 

 streaked with reddish- and dark-brown. 



The Puflin, too, is one of the constant visitors 

 to the sea-cliffs. On every slope and grassy hollow 

 where a sufficient depth of earth may be obtained, 

 the bird digs out the narrow tunnel in which the 

 single white egg is laid. Sitting about the 

 entrances of their homes, resting with the Guille- 

 mots and Razor-bills on the ledges, sometimes 

 rising swallow-like against the blue sky, and again 

 drooping to the deeply heaving sea, they appear 

 to be ubiquitous. As they ride upon the green 



