THE COMMON GUILLEMOT 293 



distinguished among other sea-birds by their black and white 

 colours, short neck, and sharp beak. They swim low in the water ; 

 and when disturbed do not invariably dive like the Grebes and Divers, 

 but readily take wing. They are essentially marine birds, never 

 resorting to fresh water, and living exclusively on fish, which they 

 capture by diving, an art in which they are scarcely less skilful than 

 the true Divers, and which they practise in the same way — by the 

 means, namely, of both wings and feet. Occasionally, a small 

 party may be observed, flying in single file near the surface of the 

 water. On the eastern coast of England, the Guillemot is best 

 known by the name of Willock. It is also called Tinker's Hue, 

 or, as Yarrell gives it, ' Tinkershere ' ; and in the west of England 

 it is often called a Murr. The old writers describe it under the 

 name of Greenland Dove, or Sea Turtle-Dove ; and in Scotland it 

 has a variety of other names. Tinker's Hue is, I presume, the 

 sobriquet of a white bird with a smutty back ; Murr is clearly a 

 corruption of Mergus, or ' diver '. Yet more commonly it is known 

 as the ' Foolish Guillemot ', a term of reproach analogous to that 

 of ' Booby ', given to it from the indifference which it evinces, in the 

 breeding season, to one of its few, but that one the most formidable 

 of its enemies, man. Early in spring Guillemots throng together 

 from all parts of the open sea, and repair to some lofty cliff, where, 

 on a narrow ledge of rock, which in their folly they deem inaccessible, 

 they lay each a single egg. As the bird holds the egg between her 

 legs, she could not well cover more than one ; and though a con- 

 cave nest is very needful to keep eggs together when there are 

 several, no such contrivance is necessary when there is one only ; 

 so the Foolish Guillemot builds no nest, but lays a solitary egg on 

 the bare rock. The egg, which is large, is thick-shelled and rough, 

 so that it receives no detriment from the rock ; and it is not likely 

 to roll off, for at one end it is thick, and at the other tapers almost 

 to a point ; consequently, if accidentally moved by the parent 

 bird when taking flight, it turns as if on a pivot, but does not fall 

 off. At this season, the cliffs to which Guillemots resort are fre- 

 quented also by myriads of other sea-birds, such as Razor-bills, 

 Puffins, and Gulls, each congregating with its own species, but 

 never consorting with another. In Iceland, the Faroe Islands, St. 

 Kilda, the Orkneys, and many parts of the coast of Scotland, the 

 breeding season of these birds is the harvest-time of the natives. 

 Either by climbing from below, or by being let down with ropes 

 from above, the egg-collectors invade the dominions of these literally 

 feathered ' tribes '. The Foolish Guillemots, rather than leave 

 their charge, suffer themselves to be knocked on the head, to be 

 netted, or noosed. Although stationed so close to each other that 

 a Foolish Guillemot alone could know its own egg, they learn no 

 wisdom from the fate of their nearest neighbours. They are 

 captured in detail for the sake of their feathers ; and their eggs 



