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GUILLEMOTS, RAZORBILL, ETC. 133 
a beautiful green, streaked in the same manner 
with yellow, light brown, or nearly black; others 
of various ground colours are zoned with blotches, 
or marked with fantastic-shaped spots and rings. 
Some eggs of the Guillemot closely resemble those 
of the Razorbill, but may be distinguished by the 
yellowish-white interior of the shell when held 
up to the light. 
There has been much controversy as to the way 
in which the Guillemot chicks reach the water from 
their lofty birthplace. Some writers assert that the 
parent bird carries them down to the sea on its 
back ; on the other hand, Gatke maintains that the 
chicks tumble off the ledges into the water, being 
enticed to do so by the old birds swimming on the 
sea beneath the cliffs. He writes: “in its distress, 
the little chick tries to get as near as possible to the 
mother waiting for it below, and keeps tripping 
about on the outermost ledge of rock, often of no 
more than a finger’s breath, until it ends by slipping 
off, and, turning two or three somersaults, lands 
with a faint splash on the surface of the water ; 
both parents at once take charge of it between 
them, and swim off with it towards the open sea. 
This is the only way in which I have seen this 
change of habitat of the young birds accomplished, 
during some fifty summers.” As soon as the 
young are sufficiently matured, the sea in the 
vicinity of the breeding-stations is deserted, and 
the colonies disperse far and wide. From this 
