BRIDLED GUILLEMOT. 329 



fill of its specific value, bearing as it does so close a resem- 

 blance to the common species, Uria Troile, and from which it 

 differs only in the wliite mark which encircles the eyes, and 

 passes down the sides of the head. It inhabits the same loca- 

 lities, and is often found in company with the common 

 species, and that too on various parts of our coast, particularly 

 those of AVales, where, w^e have been informed, both kinds 

 are equally numerous." Mr. Yarrell states t"hat he has 

 learned " that this Ringed Guillemot has been taken on the 

 coast, both in Yorkshire and Durham." Messrs. Baikie and 

 Heddle inform us that " several specimens of this rare species 

 have been shot in Orkney, one of which is now preserved in 

 the Museum at Kirkwall." Mr. Yarrell intimates that Mr. 

 Proctor some years ago found it abundant in the Island of 

 Grimsay, about forty miles north of Iceland, along with 

 Brunnich's and the Common Guillemots, and that the inha- 

 bitants considered them all specifically distinct. Its habits, it 

 is said, are the same with those of the Common Guillemots, 

 only that it assumes a breeding station lower on the rocks 

 than it. In short, some observers view the Hinged Guille- 

 mot as a species, others as a variety of the Common. One or 

 two of the many idle sportsmen might settle the question, 

 and probably find as much pleasure in exploring the breeding- 

 places of the Guillemot, as in merely walking day after day 

 among heather, and shooting grouse after grouse. 



Young in Winter. — A prepared specimen in my collec- 

 tion, known to be young by the small size and pale colour of 

 its bill, was shot in the Firth of Forth in winter. The bill is 

 pale umber-brown, changing to dark -brown in the terminal 

 half. The tarsi and toes also pale brown, the webs dusky, 

 the claws blackish-brown. The upper parts are dark-grey, 

 without any shade of brown. A band of the same passes 

 under the eye, enlarges behind it, and proceeds backwards 

 and downwards, for an inch and a half, along the line of 

 separation of the feathers, and margined above with a hue of 

 white feathers, continuous with a narrow ring of the same 

 colour margining the eyelids. Above this line and behind 

 the eye, is a broad band of white ; the feathers of the nape all 



