196 



AUK GROUP 



{Alca) the various species of guillemot are collectively distinguished 

 by the more slender form of the beak, which is devoid of transverse 

 grooves or flutings ; a further characteristic of the group being the 

 absence of wattle-like structures on the sides of the face. The nostril, 

 moreover, is closely beset by dense feathering, extending about to the 

 middle of its upper border. 



The distribution of the true guillemot is very similar to that of 



the razorbill, embracing 

 both shores of the North 

 Atlantic ; but the species 

 is represented on the 

 Pacific side of America 

 by a bird which it seems 

 best to regard as a local 

 race {C troile californicd), 

 although raised by some 

 writers to the rank of a 

 distinct species. On the 

 east side of the Atlantic 

 the guillemot breeds as 

 far north as the Varanger 

 Fiord (just on the Arctic 

 Circle) and Bear Island, 

 as well as in Iceland and 

 the Faroes ; while east- 

 wards the breeding-range 

 extends into the Baltic, 

 and southwards reaches, 

 in isolated localities, along 

 the French and Portu- 

 guese coasts as far as some 

 small islands off the 

 mouth of the Tagus. The 

 winter-range extends to 

 the Straits of Gibraltar, through which a few birds pass into the Medi- 

 terranean basin. On the American side the breeding-range is more 

 limited, extending apparently only as far north as latitude 64^^^ or there- 

 abouts, and southwards to New England. In the British Islands the 

 guillemot, which is by far the more abundant bird of the two, selects 

 the same breeding-haunts as the razorbill, although frequenting the 

 ledges of some cliffs too precipitous to suit the taste of the latter. In 



THe ROWLAND WARD BTUDIO& 



GCILLKMOT (SL'MMKK). 



