222 BLACK GUILLEMOT. 



coast, we have shot specimens on the Isle of May, 

 where one or two pairs breed annually. Its breed- 

 ing places are unlike those of its congeners; one 

 which we discovered was in a cave, and the young 

 were found at the extremity, among some loose 

 rocks, on which we could land and scramble up. 

 The retreat was betrayed by the old birds fishing 

 near its entrance, and passing and repassing out 

 with a supply of food. Northward still, we saw 

 it in Ju.ie, among the precipitous shores of Suther- 

 landshire, and it Is known to be common on the 

 Orkney and Shetland islands. During winter, it is 

 seldom killed; indeed, the only recent example 

 which has come under our notice was that described 

 afterwards, shot by ourselves on the lee side of 

 Inchkeith. The Black Guillemot is also a summer 

 resident in the seas of northern Europe, as well as 

 near and within the arctic circle ; it is in these regions 

 that the great stronghold of the species is found, 

 decreasing gradually to the Shetland and Orkneys, 

 and disappearing on the shores of Middle Britain. 

 Audubon writes, that, in severe winters they reach 

 as far south as the shores of Maryland ; and he 

 found them breeding abundantly on the coast of 

 Labrador, in fissures of the rocks, or among great 

 piles of blocks with holes in their intestices. 



The specimens alluded to as shot on the Isle of 

 May, while breeding, were entirely of a dull but 

 deep brownish black, relieved by the vermilion-red 

 of the legs and feet, and by an oval patch of pure 

 white on the wings, the greater and middle wing- 



