COMMON GUILLEMOT. 75 



sion sometimes lasting more than half a minute. Its food 

 consists of small fish and their fry, crustaceans and marine 

 insects. 



Guillemots have a partial moult in the spring, besides 

 the entire moult in autumn, and while changing the wing- 

 primaries they are said to be for a time wholly incapable 

 of flight. In summer the bill is black ; the inside of the 

 mouth orange ; the irides dark brown ; head and neck all 

 round dark brown ; upper parts dark brown with a slaty 

 tinge ; tail and wings, except the tips of the secondaries, sooty- 

 brown ; lower part of neck in front, and all the under surface 

 of the body pure white ; legs and toes dark brownish-black, 

 the membranes olive. In winter the brown of the throat 

 and sides of the head becomes white, with an irregular 

 mottled band across the lower part of the throat. The 

 whole length of a male bird about eighteen inches ; the wing, 

 from the wrist to the end of the longest quill-feather, seven 

 inches and a half. Females are rather smaller than males. 



The young Guillemot, on its first appearance, has the 

 down of the chin and the throat in front white, the neck in 

 front below slightly varied with a few black hairs, which are 

 lost on the bird's gaining its first true feathers ; upper parts 

 dusky-brown. 



The figure on the left hand in the illustration was taken 

 from a young bird of the year, killed in its first winter ; in 

 this state of plumage it resembles the adult in winter, but 

 is distinguished by its smaller beak and the yellowish webs 

 to its feet ; the throat remains white or mottled till the 

 second spring-moult produces the appearance observed in 

 our other figure, the ordinary plumage of summer. 



Pure white and piebald individuals of this species are from 

 time to time obtained. In the Proceedings of the Zoologi- 

 cal Society for 1877 (p. 2), is an account of the exhibition 

 by Prof. Newton of a bird shot near Poole by Mr. T. M. 

 Pike on the 29th of November, 1876, and similar to the 

 curious variety described by Dr. Kriiper as once taken at 

 Grimsey, off the north coast of Iceland ; the bill and feet 

 being bright yellow, and the claws white. 



