ii8 Allen's naturalist's library. 



" As a rule the Guillemot is a remarkably silent bird ; and 

 no matter how large its colony may be, but little or no noise is 

 heard, save the whirr of their short wings as they leave the 

 ledges, and an occasional hoarse guttural note as they struggle 

 for a point of vantage on the rocks. When seriously alarmed, 

 they often utter this note whilst wheeling round an intruder's 

 head ; but the Guillemot rarely utters a sound, and allows its 

 eggs to be taken, or its privacy disturbed, without offering any 

 noisy resistance or remonstrance. 



"The breeding- season is the time when the Guillemot's habits 

 are most interesting and the easiest to observe. During that 

 period, which commences in May and lasts until August, the 

 birds are confined to the rocky headlands and the isolated 

 rocks. Among the breeding-places of the Guillemot the cliffs 

 at Flamborough and Bempton probably stand unrivalled, so 

 far as the British Islands are concerned ; but I know of no 

 place where sea birds can be studied to greater advantage than 

 at the Fames. I have visited these islands many times, and 

 every time I have been more charmed than before." 



Nest. — None, the Qgg being laid upon the bare rock. 



Egg. — One only, pear-shaped. The eggs of the Guillemot 

 are subject to the most extraordinary variation, exceeding, 

 perhaps, that of any other species of bird. The series in the 

 British Museum occupies 13 cabinet drawers. They principally 

 consist of the specimens presented by the late Henry Seebohm. 

 The types of coloration are so varied that a special description 

 of each becomes difficult. The following varieties are perhaps 

 the most prominent : — 



Ground-colour white, sometimes unspotted, the markings 

 few and far between, but sometimes forming confluent blotches. 



Ground-colour greenish-blue, with all kinds of irregular spots, 

 blotches, and scribblings, some of the eggs being so thickly 

 mottled as to call to mind a thickly-marked Crow's egg. 



Ground-colour greenish-blue, with brown or blackish 

 scribblings only, these being distributed all over the surface, or 

 being congregated at the larger end of the egg. 



Ground-colour creamy-buff, thickly or sparsely spotted with 

 chestnut. 



