130 BRITISH) SEA BIRDS. 
describes their cries at the breeding-stations as 
a ‘confused noise of a thousand voices, the calls 
of the parent birds—arr-r-1-1, orr-r-1-4, err-v-1-1, 
and mingled with these the countless tiny voices 
of their young offspring on the face of the cliff— 
irv-r-v-1ad, trr-v-v-1dd—uttered in timid and anxious 
accents.” I should here remark that the Guillemot 
never flies over the land, never flies inland from the 
rocks, but always when disturbed unerringly makes 
for the sea, which is almost, if not quite, as much 
its element as the air. 
The actions of the Guillemot are interesting 
enough upon the sea, few sights being prettier 
than a number of these birds busily engaged in 
capturing their finny food; but the most attractive 
scenes in the life of this bird are to be witnessed at 
its breeding places. Formerly these were much 
more numerous than is now the case, especially in 
England, but there, on the southern coast line 
notably so, many a large colony has disappeared 
for ever, and many another has been sadly reduced 
in numbers. The distribution of the Guillemot 
becomes much more local during summer, the 
birds crowding in vast numbers to certain time- - 
honoured spots. Fortunately some of these still 
remain fairly accessible to the lover of birds. One 
of the most famous breeding stations is at the 
Farne Islands; another on the cliffs at Bempton ; 
whilst less noted places are in the Isle of Wight, 
the Scilly Islands, and the coasts of Devon and 
