THE RAZORBILL AND GUILLEMOT 21 



given one of its names to the species. The description is very in- 

 adequate, and overlooks both the fact that the bird utters more than 

 one distinct sound and has a wide range of intonation. 1 Its most im- 

 portant note bears for me a strong resemblance to the long-drawn 

 meditative croon of the common barn-fowl. To Mr. E. Selous, on the 

 other hand, " it resolves itself into a sort of jodel, long continued, and 

 having a vibratory roll in it. It begins usually with one or two 

 shorter notes, which have much the syllabic value of ' harah, hSrah ' 

 first a as in ' hat,' with the accent on the last syllable, as in ' hurrah.' 

 Very commonly the outcry ends here, but otherwise the final 'rah' 

 is prolonged into the sound I speak of, which continues rising and 

 falling which is why I call it a jodel for a longer or shorter time, 

 the volume of sound being increased, sometimes, to a wonderful 

 extent. It ends usually as it began, with a few short rough notes. . . . " 2 

 The note not only strikes different ears in a different way, but varies 

 very considerably for the same ear. I find in my note-books three 

 attempts to syllable it, as follows : 



" Querrr, quow, quow, hr hr hr hr." 

 " Krrowww, how, how how, how, how." 

 " Koo-werrrr-koo, koo, koo, koo." 



A note that sometimes enters into it is a duck-like sound, syllabled by 

 Mr. Selous as " ik, ik, ik," and in my note-books by repetitions of either 

 " hec " or " uk " or " wik." This note may be used by itself. The species 

 probably utters other distinct sounds. To tabulate its language 

 adequately requires a phonetically trained ear and a phonetic 

 notation. The present attempts to represent, in the traditional or 

 nomic spelling, the sounds uttered either by this or any other species 

 are practically useless for purposes of exact comparison. 



Both guillemots and razorbills lay one egg only, unless robbed, 

 when they will lay a second, and, if this is taken, even a third. No 

 nest is built, the egg being deposited on the bare rock ; but guillemots 



1 By which is here meant the rising and falling of the voice in pitch. 



2 Bird Watcher in the Shetlands, pp. 113, 172, 187, etc. 



