THE BLACK GUILLEMOT 301 



chase continues, until at length her swain's repeated 

 gallantries win the day. 



Although the Black Guillemot is socially 

 inclined, it is never met with in anything at all 

 approaching the vast crowds so prevalent in a 

 colony of Razorbills or Common Guillemots. Even 

 if the gathering is largish it is scattered, while odd 

 pairs here and there are of quite common occur- 

 rence. A normal colony consists of from ten to five 

 and twenty pairs, and even then the breeding-sites 

 are often some distance apart. The breeding-site 

 is invariably a covered one a hole, a slit, or a small 

 cavern in or under rocks. Now it is in a cliff 

 of almost any height, though generally in the 

 bottom half or third of it, and usually, too, in one 

 which is broken up and studded with big boulders ; 

 again may it be sought beneath semi-detached slabs 

 on more or less level ground as, for instance, on 

 the grassy top or gentle gradients of an islet. The 

 broken-up, bouldery type of cliff is certainly chosen 

 because the bird, when coming in from sea and 

 gradually rising towards its haven, likes a broad 

 shelf on which to settle before waddling into its 

 home ; and, sometimes, if the ledge adjoining it 

 is of the sloping order, the bird has to make out 

 to sea once again, perhaps indeed to the extent of 

 several times, before it can acquire sufficient way 

 and balance to effect a secure landing. The chosen 

 cavity, which is of annual tenancy, is never altered 

 in any way ; occasionally is one selected a hole in 



