l.^l FAMILIAR WILD BIRDS. 



same spot as a breecling"-plaee at one and the same time, 

 yet no confusion or misunderstandings arise between the 

 oc'eu])ants. The Guillemots keep a ledg'e of the rock 

 entirely to themselves; the Razorbills and Gulls do like- 

 wise; and we have it on vmdoubted authority that the 

 various families keep strictly to their own precincts, and do 

 not attempt any intrusion on the domains of their neig'h- 

 bours. This is the more remarkabh', as u|ion some of the 

 larger breeding stations the various birds may be reckoned 

 by many thousands. 



The Guillemot lays <mly one eijg ; it is large considering 

 the size of the bird, and shaped somewhat like a pear ; the 

 colour is a fine bluish-green, more or less blotched and 

 streaked with dark reddish-brown or black ; the length is 

 about three inches and a quarter, and nearly two inches 

 in width. The eggs of this bird differ very considerably 

 in colour, some being almost of a white ground, and others 

 with scarcely any secondary markings on them. The 

 Guillemot deposits her Q^<g upon the bare rock, making no 

 attempt to form a nest ; incubation lasts nearly a month, 

 during which time the parent bird sits perfectly upright, 

 and certainly presents a very comical ai)pearance. The 

 eggs are considerably i)rized as articles of food, and the 

 dangerous process of collecting them is on many j)arts 

 of the coast a regular occuj)ation. 



The young Guillemots are at first covered with a sort 

 of bristly hair which ai)])ears to be quite impervious to the 

 water. Unlil the young birds are taken to the water they 

 are fed with ]iortions of fish. It has often puzzled natur- 

 alists to account for the modus operandi adopted by the 

 old l)irds in transporting their progeny to the sea. Mr. 

 Waterton, in his account of a visit to the rock-bird breed- 



