Ill 



among Guillemots. Without much doubt a want of food would here, 

 just as well as with other birds, be of great influence on the 

 moulting process. But periods of scarcity of food, with these sea- 

 birds, might turn up in times of stormy weather and not in weeks 

 of severe frost as with other kinds of birds; it is more likely however 

 that stormweather with high sea will cause the death of the weaker 

 birds through exhaustion than that the moulting process would be 

 stopped by want of food. That may be the reason why in older 

 birds a totally abnormal moult hardly ever occurs and why hardly 

 any of the older ones of these 300 specimens examined, ever 

 disturbs the beautiful regularity in the moulting process of the 

 species. It should however be remembered that the mere exami- 

 nation of birds which perished during storms, would give — also 

 in older birds — an insufficient idea of the course of the moulting 

 process. We only would see the weaker birds which moult a httle 

 later than the sound ones and the beautiful early moult of those 

 strong indivuals would be missing. 



For it is a fact that in few groups of birds weak behind-comers 

 are eliminated so thoroughly as is the case with these seabirds, 

 always so dependent on the wild play of the elements. During fine 

 weather, as it is often found in August and September, late hatched, 

 tender young ones easily may get their food on a calm or little 

 moving sea. Though they remain smaller than the other ones, they 

 grow and come to moulting. And while moulting or shortly after 

 it, the periods of storms are coming in October, continuing in 

 November and December, bringing the death of hundreds. 



Among the many Guillemots, received winter 21/22, were 2 specimens 

 which, because of their backwardness in growth and moult, may serve 

 as an example how small and weak some birds may remain till long 

 after their birth. 



The first one, a male, was brought on August 26th and this bird I 

 kept in confinement until September 3rd. The animal was extremely 

 tame, followed me, when hungry, like a little dog and showed the same 

 confidence as is described of Pinguins. The second one I received on 

 October 15th, this bird I killed at once. 



Both birds were not in the least fullgrown and both still showed a 

 number of feathers of the so called juvenile-plumage. The following notes 

 about them may be given here : 



cf, 3 Sept. 1921. A number of brown feathers of the juvenile-plumage, 

 especially on fore-back and shoulders, interrupt the slategray-black 

 colour of the upperside. The wings are very short, all remiges are 



