BRITAIN'S BIRDS AND THEIR NESTS. 11 



dark -coloured down. Down-clad, but helpless, it is there- 

 fore intermediate between the young Lapwing type, down- 

 clad and active, and the young Thrush type, naked and 

 helpless. Active young birds on cliff ledges would, of 

 course, be subject to frequent accidents. As it is, they 

 leave their ledges for the sea when a few weeks old and 

 before they can fly properly. Their method of doing so 

 has been a subject of dispute. The statement that they 

 are carried down on their parents' backs may be dismissed 

 at once ; but one observer has stated that yoimg Razorbills 

 are sometimes earned down by the neck ! Most observers 

 are, however, agreed that the usual way for young Guille- 

 mots is as follows. The young bird is led to a place 

 convenient for jumping, and is then enticed by its parents 

 (which repeatedly set the example of flying down from the 

 ledge, or swim about below and call to their offspring), to 

 half-fall, half-fly into the sea, henceforth its proper element. 

 Sometimes, however, the young ones come to grief on the 

 rocks at the foot of the cliffs. 



The Guillemot is a bird of many names ; in addition to 

 ' Guillemot,' alone or with the epithets ' Common ' or 



* Foolish,' it has a number of local names. Some of these 

 belong to the young bird only, and most of them are 

 shared by the Razorbill. One authority gives the following 

 list : ' Frowl,' ' Kiddaw ' or ' Skiddaw,' ' Langy,' ' Lavy,' 



* Murrock,' ' IMurre,' ' Scout ' (cf. Coot and Scoter), ' Scuttock,' 

 'Strany,' 'Tinker' or ' Tinkershire,' and 'Willock.' 



A variety of the Guillemot known as the Ringed, 

 Bridled, or Spectacled Guillemot, differs only in having the 

 white roimd the eye very pronounced, and continued for 

 some distance backwards as a naiTow line. It is found in 

 small numbers at most haunts of the common form, with 

 which it appears to breed quite indiscriminately. It is 

 not now regarded as a separate species. 



