Bird Fishers of the Sea 



few chicks of a tender age were crouching about the ledge 

 or shrieking shrilly for their parents. My appearance, clad 

 in scanty garb, caused a commotion amongst the colony, and 

 the startled birds grunted and groaned horribly, ultimately 

 taking wing, with the exception of a few brave individuals 

 who remained on till I was only a few feet from them, lunging 

 towards me with their bills and saying extremely rude and 

 forcible things in guillemot language. 



On a larger and adjoining island there was only one small 

 ledge on which guillemots nested that was easily accessible 

 for photography. On this ledge a shag also had made her 

 nest, apparently before the arrival of the smaller birds, and 

 the almost full-grown young shags were a source of great 

 annoyance to the brooding guillemots. Three of the latter 

 birds tenanted this ledge, and one of them — a ringed guille- 

 mot — was the most fearless of the lot. Two small chicks were 

 on the ledge, and when the other parent had been scared 

 away the brave ringed guillemot used to "mother " both the 

 chicks. On such occasions her life was rendered miserable 

 to her by the two young shags which constantly got in her 

 way. She pecked them so hard that they used to shriek with 

 pain, and her bill was covered with their down. What in- 

 creased her annoyance was the fact that one of the guillemot 

 chicks seemed actually to prefer being brooded by the young 

 shags, and was in the habit of leaving her and, unmindful 

 of her entreaties to return, keeping warm beside one of these 

 very unwelcome intruders. 



A comparison in the method of walking of the puffin, 

 guillemot, and razorbill is interesting. The guillemot occa- 

 sionally walks balanced on its feet, but normally on the whole 

 length of the leg up to the feathered thigh. As far as I 

 have been able to see, the latter is the sole method used by 

 the razorbill, but the puffin invariably walks in the usual 

 upright manner. 



Razorbills are usually a day or two earlier than the guille- 

 mots in hatching off their young. One July 5 I remained for 



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