ALONG ROCK-BOUND COASTS. 213 



the Guillemot. Between the months of May 

 and August the rocks where these birds most 

 do congregate present a busy scene, and the 

 sea below swarms with birds, which are con- 

 stantly going to and returning from the ledges 

 of the cliffs. Both birds are past masters of 

 the art of diving, and both chase the small fish 

 and crustaceans on which they chiefly feed with 

 deadly skill. They sit high and lightly on the 

 water just like Ducks, and dive with the rapidity 

 of thought. Very often towards the close of 

 the summer days, strings of Razorbills and 

 Guillemots may be seen flying swiftly along 

 just above the waves to their distant colony. 

 They have been miles away to the spot where 

 the shoals of fry have congregated near the 

 surface, and now they are going home. Neither 

 of these birds is shy, and both will allow your 

 boat to pass within a few yards ; but very often 

 their timidity gets the better of them, and they 

 plunge beneath the green waves to appear again 

 at a safer distance. Singularly enough these 

 two birds, whose other habits are so much alike, 

 differ considerably in the matter of their do- 

 mestic arrangements, although neither of them 

 makes any nest. The Guillemot frequents the 

 ledges of the cliffs, the little prominences, and 

 the flat tops of the pinnacle-shaped rocks. Here 

 it lays its single, big, pear-shaped egg, exposed 

 to the gaze of every one who climbs along or 

 is lowered down the face of the cliffs. In spite 

 of what we read to the contrary, the Guillemot 

 generally manages to select some little inequality 

 on the shelf, some little hollow where her egg 

 is not easily toppled over. It would be vain 



