A GUILLEMOT'S FISHING. 43 



leaden shower overtook her. On opening the mouth 

 I perceived the tongue large and muscular, and its 

 edges cut near the base into sharp teeth, pointing 

 backward. I have no doubt that each fish, as taken, 

 is placed between the tongue and the upper mandible, 

 and firmly held by these serratures, while the lower 

 mandible is allowed to open freely for the seizure of 

 another, which, in turn, is secured in the same man- 

 ner, until a sufficient booty is collected to fly home 

 with. 



The young of the sandlaunce, and a small fish 

 called "brit," which Mr Heaven believes to be the 

 fry of some species of the herring family, form the 

 favourite prey of all these birds ; and the rough water 

 off this north-west point is the favourite fishing-ground 

 for them. A very strong tide runs round this end of 

 the island, the strongest in the whole channel ; hence 

 a " race " is almost always running ; that is, a violent 

 agitation of the water, a strong ripple in calm and 

 smooth weather, and what seamen call a " bobbery," 

 a tossing, breaking sea, when there is anything of a 

 swell on. The fish-fry delight in such a race, and 

 are pretty sure to be found there in shoals. 



The egg of the guillemot is large for the size of the 

 bird, and of so unusual a form, that when once seen it 

 is never likely to be mistaken for any other. It is a long 

 cone, with both ends rounded. Its appearance is strik- 

 ing and bizarre; the ordinary ground colour being a 

 fine green, variously splashed and spotted with darker 

 green or black. There is, however, much diversity in 



