CATALOGUE OF BIRDS. 91 



A few breed, or rather did, some years ago, at 

 Flamborough Head, and it is stated to have been 

 common at one time at the " Ferns." I obtained a 

 single specimen off those islands in May, 1867, but 

 none had then been known to nest there for many years. 



This bird differs in several respects from the rest of 

 its family. The Common, or Foolish, Guillemot is 

 a remarkably poor walker, the backward position of its 

 legs only enabling it to progress with a kind of shuffle. 

 Its limited powers of locomotion are, however, sufficient 

 for its requirements on land, as the situation in which 

 it rears its young, viz. an open ledge above the sea, 

 allows it to drop from the air close to its egg. The 

 Black Guillemot, on the other hand, nesting, as it does, 

 either under large stones, or at some distance in the 

 cracks and crevices of the rocks, has need to make 

 use of its legs with greater freedom. I was much 

 surprised the first time I met with this species to 

 discover that it could walk and even run with the 

 greatest ease. It is also capable of rising from level 

 ground (as I observed on seeing a pair disturbed from 

 under some large detached rocks on the Island of 

 Fura) with almost the rapidity of a Grouse or 

 Partridge, while the unfortunate Willock* is forced to 

 drop a considerable distance from the cliffs every time 

 it gets on wing, before it can gain sufficient impetus to 

 take a straight course. This species usually lays two, 

 the other Guillemots a single egg. 



The specimens, together with their eggs, were ob- 

 tained on the Island of Fura, off the west coast of 

 Ross-shire, in May, 1868. 



* Sussex name for the Common Guillemot. 



