KANSAS ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 59 



OBSERVATIONS OF THE NESTING HABITS OF THE GUIL- 

 LEMOTS AT BIRD ROCK. 



BY COL. N. S. GOS8, TOPEKA. 



When at "Bird Rock," Gulf of St. Lawrence, July 9th, 1880, I was in- 

 formed by one of the men that had been in the employ of the "Keeper of 

 the Light" for several years, that the Guillemots, with a narrow white line 

 encircling the eyes and running back from same to ears ("White-eyed," as 

 he called them), nested around the edge, and at the top of the rock, lay- 

 ing their eggs on the earth that had fallen down, and never on the bare 

 rock, like the other Lomvia arra, nor below with them on the narrow shelf- 

 like projections on the sides of the perpendicular cliff. I at once examined 

 with glass from the different points I could reach from the base of the rock, 

 and sure enough, the " white-eyed " encircled the top, and L. Arra the sides. 

 I also shot over thirty from the sides, and in no case killed or started the 

 "white-eyed." But few of these birds were nesting at the rock as compared 

 with the thick-billed; I would think one to a hundred a fair estimate. I 

 collected from both kinds a few fresh eggs, but most of the eggs examined 

 were nearly ready to hatch, and among them young birds, some at least a 

 week old. Color of the eggs of the "white-eyed" grayish white, streaked 

 with zigzag lines of dark, reddish brown ; eggs of L. Arra, greenish blue, 

 thickly blotched around large end ; the rest rather thinly spotted and specked 

 with dark, reddish brown, some of the spots nearly or quite black — all with- 

 out streaks, or nearly so. 



In setting, the egg (one only) rests upon a bare spot in the center of the 

 abdomen, which prevents the birds from setting close — in fact, causes them 

 to assume a half-standing position ; and as they all face the water, looking like 

 sentinels guarding the gannets, and Kittiwake gulls that occupy the wider 

 shelves, and with its rock back-ground, waves wildly breaking against its 

 base, and thousands of birds circling and screaming above, forms an impres- 

 sive sight, one that will never grow dim in memory. 



I can find no mention of this difference in the nesting habits of the two 

 birds. My stay (only one day) was too short to examine the rock from the 

 base except on the sides approached, and it may be that the "white-eyed" 

 occasionally nest on the sides of the cliffs below the top ; and I write this more 

 to call the attention of those that have visited, or that may hereafter visit the 

 Bird Rock, and to ask in case they are so found that it be ascertained, if 

 possible, whether the eggs in all cases are laid upon the soil collected 

 thereon. 



Should my observations prove to be the uniform nesting habits of the birds, 

 it will^be of value to zoologists, as it will enable them to determine the kind 

 or kinds of eggs they may have ; some of the eggs will be lighter or darker 



