346 BLACK (GUILLEMOT. 



always prefer to place it in some niche or slight 

 hollow, where it stands less chance of being knocked 

 off by some other bird or crushed by a piece of falling 

 rock or stone. The eggs vary considerably from pure 

 white to huffish brown, spotted and blotched with dark 

 reddish brown and greyish brown. Meyer tells us that 

 when the young bird is hatched it is led to the edge 

 of the cliff by its parents, and then apparently in- 

 structed to take the eventful leap into the sea ; in this 

 leap it sometimes loses its life by striking against a 

 projecting rock or stone on the way down. Once on 

 the water, however, the young bird soon becomes at 

 home, and begins to dive and splash about, and its 

 birthplace is visited no more. 



As mentioned above, the Razorbill much resembles 

 the Guillemot in appearance, but can easily be dis- 

 tinguished by its deep bill and by a white streak 

 between the bill and the eye. In breeding plumage 

 the general colour of the upper parts is black, shading 

 into brownish black on the tail and wings ; the throat 

 is also brownish black, and the rest of the under parts 

 white. There is a narrow white band across the 

 wings. Evidence tends to show that these birds pair 

 for life, and the female returns every year to the same 

 spot to lay her solitary egg. 



BLACK GUILLEMOT. 



ALGA GRYLLE. 



Family Alcid.«. Genus Alga. 



Tyste — Scraber — Pigeon of the North — Greenland Dove — Sea 

 Turtle. 



The Black Guillemot breeds in the Hebrides, the 

 Orkneys and Shetlands. It is also said to breed on 



