6S8 BLACK GUILLEMOT. 



some parts of the Baltic, as well as in the White Sea as far as Onega ; 

 while on the other side of the Atlantic, we find it from Massachu- 

 setts to South Greenland. The birds obtained by Col. Feilden in 

 Smith Sound, north of lat. 82°, belong to the form distinguished as 

 Uria viandti, in which the bases of the feathers forming the wing- 

 spot are pure white and the black has a green tinge : it abounds 

 in the waters of Spitsbergen, Novaya Zemlya and the high north 

 generally. This race appears to extend to Bering Sea, where it 

 meets with U. columba, another very near ally ; while somewhat 

 further south — ranging to Japan in winter — the representative is 

 U. carbo, which has no white on the wings. 



As already indicated, the Black Guillemots have been separated 

 from other Auks and have been placed in the genus Cepphus ; and 

 they undoubtedly differ from other members of the family, in that 

 they lay 2 eggs. These are deposited in crevices of cliffs or, 

 occasionally, of old ruins, as well as on the bare ground under blocks 

 of stone or among large boulders, sometimes a hundred yards inland; 

 their colour is white — slightly tinged with green or blue — spotted 

 with ash-grey and several shades of brown : average measurements 

 2 "3 by I '5 in. The yolk is of a very deep orange-red colour. The 

 birds return to their accustomed haunts year after year, and both 

 sexes undoubtedly take part in the duties of incubation. Dunn 

 and Saxby state, from observation in Shetland, that the young never 

 leave the nest until perfectly fledged and able to provide for them- 

 selves ; after which they are abandoned by their parents. The food 

 is small fish and fry, crustaceans &c. : the cry is shrill but rather 

 plaintive. 



The adult in spring has the beak black, inside of the mouth red- 

 dish-orange ; irides brown ; plumage sooty-black, except a patch on 

 the wing-coverts, which is white with a black bar — often concealed — 

 on the basal portion ; legs vermilion-red. The sexes are alike in 

 plumage; length 14, wing 6*5 in. After the autumn moult the 

 crown is white marked with black ; the back is barred with black 

 and white, while the rump and under parts are nearly white. The 

 young bird, which resembles the adult in winter-dress, has the irides 

 dark brown ; bill blackish-grey ; inside of the mouth pale orange ; 

 tarsi and feet deep brown ; but by the end of September the inside 

 of the mouth has changed to brownish-pink, and the legs and feet 

 to a deeper tint ; while in December the colour of these parts differs 

 only in degree from that of the adults. By the end of June the 

 bird has acquired its full plumage, and is undistinguishable from 

 the adult (Saxby). Varieties are occasionally met with. 



