NESTS AND EGGS OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 179 



760. Black Guillemot — uria grylle. Varying from white to a pale 

 greenish-white, light drab yellow or buff, marked irregularly with spots and 

 blotches of different shades of brown and black, thickest at the great end 

 where they are usually almost a confluent' ring; they are oval or elliptical 

 in form; size about 2.30 by 1.55, but like nearly all eggs, in a large series, 

 theie is a great variation in the size, shape and also in the style of mark- 

 ings, etc. The usual complement of eggs is two, often three. The Black 

 Guillemot or Sea Pigeon breeds from the northeastern coast of New En- 

 gland northward. On the coasts and islands of the North Atlantic it is 

 very abundant. It makes no nest but deposits its eggs in the holes and 

 crevices among rocks, often in the most inaccessible places. The eggs are 

 laid in June and July. The Black Guillemots are gregarious, flying in dense 

 flocks, and, like the large species, sit lightly on the water and dive with 

 ease, remaining under the water a great length of time. 



Hab, Coasts of Northern Europe, south to Denmarl; and British Island. Coast of Maine, south in win- 

 ter to Philadelphia. 



761. Pigeon Guillemot — uria columba. The Pigeon Guillemot 

 breeds commonly on the islands of the coast of California, at least I am 

 informed as far south as the Santa Barbara Islands and the San Nicolas, 

 thence northward. Its nesting habits and eggs are like those of U. grylle. 

 A large series of eggs before me average 1.37 by 1.56. 



Hab. Coasts and islands of the North Pacific, southward from Behring's Strait to Northern Japan and 

 Southern California. 



763. Common Guillemot — lomvia troile. The Common Guillemot 

 or Murre breeds from Novia Scotia northward. Tens of thousands of these 

 birds congregate to breed on the rocky islands, depositing and incubating 

 their single egg close to one another on the shelves of the cliffs. The 

 birds sit side by side, and although crowded together, never make the least 

 attempt to quarrel. Clouds of birds may be seen circling in the air over 

 some huge, rugged bastion, forming a picture which would seem to belong 

 to the imagination rather than the realistic. They utter a syllable which 

 sounds exactly like Duirrc. The eggs are so numerous as to have commercial 

 value and they are noted for their great variation in ground color and mark 

 ings. They vary from white to bluish or dark emerald-green in ground 

 color; occasionally unmarked specimens are found, but they are usually 

 handsomely spotted, blotched, lined in various patterns of lilac, brown and 

 black over the surface. In some the marking are confused zigzag lines 

 that look like hieroglyphics. The eggs are large for the size of the bird, 

 measuring from 3. to 3.50 long by 1.95 to 2. 10 broad; pyriform in shape. 



Hab. Coasts and islands of the North Atlantic, southward on the coast of North America in winter to 

 Southern New England ; breeding from Novia Stotia northward 



