BLACK GUILLEMOT 157 



straight away to one side, as other birds do. It is a handsome bird 

 when held in the hand; its compact form, its velvet black plumage, 

 glistening with a greenish luster, and its brilliant red feet and mouth 

 make a rich and pleasing combination. 



Spring. As the black guillemot does not wander far from its 

 breeding range in winter, it has not far to go in the spring, but it 

 usually withdraws from the Massachusetts coast during the first two 

 weeks in April. Probably the birds which winter here breed on the 

 coast of Maine, and a general northward movement occurs all 

 through its range. On May 22 and 23, 1909, while cruising along 

 the north shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, we saw a number of 

 these birds, which were evidently migrating, for fewer birds were 

 seen here on our return in June. 



Courtship. Mr. John Walpole-Bond (1914) describes the court- 

 ship of the black guillemot as follows: 



A pair engaged in amorous antics is a pleasing sight. The male, recognizable 

 by reason of his brighter plumage there being no difference in the color of the 

 two sexes swims furiously after his ladylove, at times even literally running 

 along the water in his ardor. He fails to catch her. Presently he tries fresh 

 tactics. Waiting till she is up and floating, he hovers momentarily in the air 

 above her, intending to drop suddenly on her back. Clumsy fellow that he is, 

 he misses his mark, and once again she eludes his advances. So the chase con- 

 tinues until at length her swain's repeated gallantries win the day. 



Nesting. Its nest building consists in finding a suitable crevice, 

 the more remote the better, under loose rocks or bowlders on a beach 

 above high-water mark or in some rocky cliff, where it is reasonably 

 safe from the attacks of all its enemies except man, and where even 

 he finds the labor of procuring the eggs rather more than they are 

 worth, though they are excellent eating. Often the eggs are laid on 

 the bare ground or rock, but more often on rough beds of pebbles, 

 broken stones, or shells, which must be cold and uncomfortable nests 

 for the downy young. 



The largest and most interesting colony that I have ever seen was 

 on Seal Island, 25 miles off the southern coast of Nova Scotia. Here, 

 on the ocean side of the sea-girt isle, where great masses of water- 

 worn bowlders are piled along the shore, the accumulated results of 

 the many furious winter storms which sweep across the Atlantic, 

 where the ocean swell rises and falls on the outer rocks and the flying 

 spray of drifting fogs keeps the beaches moist and cool, the black 

 guillemots find a congenial summer home. During my pleasant visit 

 with Mr. John Crowell, the lighthouse keeper and owner of this at- 

 tractive island, I spent portions of two days, July 3 and 4, 1904, 

 studying these birds. Mr. Crowell and his family are appreciative 

 bird lovers and they guard with jealous care the "sea widgeons," 

 as they call them, whose breeding grounds are but a short distance 



