12 



THE MUSEUM. 



as alon<;' the surface of the sea on eith- 

 er side of us. Their liis;ht was stron<^ 

 and \\'ell sustained, the beats of their 

 wings rapid and powerful. At times 

 they would turn from side to side quick- 

 ly, so as to show alternately their white 

 bellies and their black backs. They 

 appeared to prefer a long, straight line 

 from which, if they veered at all, it 

 was suddenly and in a right angled di- 

 rection. The nearer we approached 

 the coast the more abundant they be- 

 came. They filled the waters and the 

 air around about and above us. We 

 could have shot hundreds from the 

 deck of our schooner, as she bowled 

 along without apparently diminishing 

 the number about us or frightening off 

 those already around. They would 

 often drop suddenl}', as if shot, to the 

 water beneath them, where they would 

 remain, evidently perfectly at home, 

 keeping pace with us with their swift 

 swimming, or diving with incredible 

 alacrity and remaining beneath the 

 water for several minutes to appear in 

 some direction contrary to that looked 

 for to continue their gambols, or to 

 take wing as suddenly as the}' took to 

 the water and disappear in the dis- 

 tance. 



On the approach of stormy or foggy" 

 weather this species, or its neighbor 

 the F<j()lish Guillemot, I could not learn 

 which, though ])erhaps it is a habit of 

 t)oth species, assembled in large luuii- 

 bers near some shoal, out at sea a lit- 

 tle wa}-s, and seem to go through \\ ith 

 sort of a mock caucus or citizens' as- 

 sembl}', each bird uttering hoarse rasp- 

 ing note that t(j»gether can be heard a 

 mile away. Unnn the resemblance of 

 the sound to tlic word used, tlu' pcopK- 

 call them ;il sik li times, "gudds" :ind 



the noise reminds one more of the 

 wrangling of human voices at a "town 

 meeting" than of anything else that I 

 can imagine. Nor at these "meetings" 

 did the sound of our guns seem tO' 

 frighten them in the least; they would 

 simply move off in a body; farther to 

 sea, and then continue -their strange 

 manoeuvres even more fiercely than 

 ever. 



When in tiying the}- wish to turn in 

 some contrary direction, they open and 

 shut the feathers of their tail as if, 

 thereb}-, to more surely direct or as- 

 sist their motions. The people shout 

 and wave their hats at them and call 

 out "turn-about, turn-about" or "gudd, 

 gudd, gudd" and various other words 

 and expressions, thinking thereby, so 

 they say, that the birds will turn and 

 fly direct!}' at them and in fact it seems 

 as if they often did this very thing. 

 Many a fine hour's sport have I had 

 practicing upon these same fellows 

 when on the wing, and it recjuires a 

 good gun and a heavy charge to kill, at 

 the first shot, these tough, hardy birds, 

 ^'et we often ate the flesh of their breast, 

 when thoroughly boiled and found them 

 very good and not at all fish}'. 



I will not attempt to accurately de- 

 scribe the eggs of this bird. ^^'hen 

 once seen they can never be mistaken 

 for the eggs of any other species with 

 which I am acquinted. The ground 

 <'(jlor is white, an<l there are black 

 scrawls all o\er its surface chiefly con- 

 centrated into a blotched ring at the 

 greater end. with r;u\-]\ :\\\y markings 

 at all on tlu- sinallei- end. The}' are 

 deposited an\\\hei"e in clefts oi rocks, 

 in opcMi situations, and \\here\'er the 

 bird lia|)pt'ns to be when desirous of 

 JaNim-. The brei-ding habits ol this. 



