274 OUR RARER BIRDS 



as you peer cautiously over the depths and look down, 

 clown, down, until the brain reels and the eye becomes dim 

 at the strange and wonderful sight. In constant streams 

 the busy Guillemots are passing to and from the sea ; all is 

 animation and excitement ; and where the birds are pouring 

 off the narrow shelves you may see their beautiful eggs lying 

 so provokingly out of reach. The restless sea below is full 

 of Guillemots all swimming and diving about in quest of 

 food, looking like bubbles or foam flecks tossing on the dark 

 blue waves. Were you to follow them there, you would 

 find their actions very similar to those of the Eazorbill. The 

 Guillemot resembles that bird in the colour of its plumage, 

 but may be readily distinguished by its long pointed beak. 

 It sits high and lightly in the water, swimming with head 

 erect like a duck, and dives with the rapidity of thought. I 

 have known it remain under the surface for more than a 

 minute, and the great depth to which it descends may be 

 thus readily noted. Many Guillemots are often taken in the 

 herring -nets as the birds dive after the small fish. The 

 Guillemot flies quickly if somewhat heavily, and its narrow 

 wings are beaten with great rapidity as it rises from the water. 

 It always prefers, however, to dive out of danger, and only 

 uses its wings when compelled. Notwithstanding its some- 

 what laboured flight, this bird often visits very distant feed- 

 ing grounds, flying home to its rocky haunts at eventide in 

 little bunches or compact flocks, silently and rapidly, just 

 above the surface of the sea. It is by no means a shy bird, 

 and will allow your boat to approach within a few yards ere it 

 dives or flies away. Wherever the shoals of fry are swimming 

 near the surface, there the Guillemots unerringly congregate ; 

 and few sights are more novel or interesting than the sea 

 thickly studded with these feeding birds. The Guillemot is 

 an expert fisher, chasing its finny prey through the water 

 with marvellous speed. Its food is principally composed of 



