368 



ALCAD.E. 



the eye very observable, but not very pure in colour, being- 

 mixed with a little black ; chin, throat, neck in front, and 

 on the side at the upper part, cheeks, and ear-coverts, white ; 

 in other respects like the old bird in summer. 



A young bird about a week old, obtained from the rocks 

 at the Isle of Wight, has the beak smooth and black, no 

 white line to the eye, but the chin and throat are white, with 

 a few greyish-black hairs about the middle of the neck in 

 front ; the head and hind neck black, with a few white hairs ; 

 body above and the wings dull sooty-black. 



The young bird of the year at Christmas only differs from 

 the adult bird in winter in the character of the beak, which 

 is smaller and has not then acquired the grooves or lines so 

 conspicuous in the old bird. The young bird retains its 

 white throat till the spring moult, when it assumes the black 

 throat peculiar to the breeding-season. 



It is matter of surprise that Colonel Montagu, who was 

 so good an observer, should have remained mistaken on the 

 subject of his Lesser Guillemot and Black-billed Auk. Had 

 he obtained a young bird of the Common Guillemot, or the 

 Razor-bill from the rocks on our coast, in June, and kept it 

 alive in his garden till Christmas, the riddle would have been 

 solved for him. 



