COMMON GUILLEMOT. 721 



Some remarkably fine series of Guillemots' eggs are in the 

 collections of Yorkshire naturalists. The average weight of 

 a Guillemot is 2 Ib.; of an egg 4oz.; monstrosities and double- 

 yolked examples are met with from time to time, as also ab- 

 normally small specimens ; a very long example measures 

 4J inches by i^J inches ; the largest I have note of measures 

 4 inches by 2f^ inches, and weighed 5| oz. ; the heaviest 

 egg noted scaled 6oz., and the smallest measures 1.5 inches 

 by i inch. The preponderance of ground colour is in favour 

 of the green and blue types ; for several days in different years 

 I have endeavoured to count the numbers showing these colours 

 and have compared them with all others, with the result 

 that rather more than two-thirds shewed a decided blue or 

 green ground colouration, and the remaining one-third white, 

 brown, and other varieties. 



The position assumed by the sitting Guillemot is either 

 a recumbent or an upright one, with the egg or young across 

 the webs of the feet : I have several times observed the 

 parent pulling the egg on to her feet and tucking it into place 

 with her bill, and on one occasion, when a bird was disturbed 

 by the climber, and her egg had commenced to roll towards 

 the edge of the cliff where it had been laid, I distinctly saw the 

 owner run to it, take it up in her bill, and deposit it in a safe 

 position before she flew off. 



Incubation lasts from twenty-eight to thirty days, and the 

 young have been noticed as early as the 22nd of June, though 

 it is usually mid- July before many are seen, and by the end 

 of that month they take to the water. While feeding their 

 young the Guillemots journey long distances in search of food ; 

 some go as far as the Lincolnshire coast ; some northward 

 to Scarborough, while others may be observed, in small 

 parties, or in long lines, passing to and from the herring 

 grounds far out at sea. The water in the vicinity of the cliffs 

 is also thickly dotted over with the black and white forms 

 of the busy fishers, whose arrivals are welcomed by their 

 mates on the cliffs with much bowing and chattering, the 

 whole combining to make a wonderful scene of animation, 

 which Mr. W. Woodhouse has depicted in two oil paintings. 



