BLACK GUILLEMOT. 2/1 



the cliffs at Flamborough, but it is capricious, and has deserted 

 without apparent reason some of its old Scottish haunts. In 

 winter, though pelagic, it wanders south and is occasionally- 

 met with in bays and inlets on all parts of the coast, but is 

 never common. In early spring an odd bird will remain on a 

 rocky shore, its summer dress suggesting nuptial intentions, 

 and it is always possible that some of its old stations may at 

 times be occupied. Inland it is very rare, and its storm-beaten 

 corpse is infrequent in the tide wrack. 



Few birds are more easy to recognise than the Black 

 Guillemot in summer dress, for the glossy brownish-black 

 plumage is set off by the big white patch on the wing ; as it 

 flies, even at a distance, or when like a duck it rises in the 

 water to flap its wings, the flicker of this patch and of the white 

 under wing attracts the eye. Its legs are brilliant red, and 

 when it calls, its bill, though really black, appears red, for the 

 inside of the mouth is conspicuously orange-red. The white 

 . and black dress of winter is almost as noticeable. The plumage 

 has a soft, blended look, the black and white bars on the upper 

 parts merge without sharp dividing lines ; the white patch on 

 the dark wing remains unchanged. Age explains much of the 

 variation in winter dress, for in many birds the head is almost 

 white, merely flecked with black, but in others is well marked 

 with dark streaks. The black dress is not invariably lost in 

 winter, and Grant considered its retention a sign of old age. 

 There is something in this soft, hoary plumage which suggests 

 the doves, for one of the old names for the bird, especially 

 amongst the whalers, was *' Greenland Dove," shortened at 

 times to " Dovekie," and in the Isle of Man the bird is still the 

 " Sea-Pigeon." 



Less sociable than other auks, the Black Guillemot straggles 

 to its nesting haunts in February, but comes little to land until 

 April. It swims lightly and dives with skill, but I have never 

 been near enough to see underwater progression, when it is 



