ALONG ROCK-BOUND COASTS. 215 



and the feelings of no prying tourist are ever 

 shocked at such primitive simplicity. 



Our two other species of Auk are the BLACK North and 

 GUILLEMOT (A. grylle), distinguished in summer sSknd, 



U '<- U1 1 U J 1 1 J 'I. north of 



by its black body plumage, glossed with green, Ireland. 

 and its white wing coverts ; and the PUFFIN Most 

 (Fratercula arctica). The first of these birds 

 is the most local of the group ; and the most im- 

 portant particular in which its habits differ from 

 the Common Guillemot is the fact of its breeding 

 in holes and crannies of the cliffs, sometimes even 

 at a distance from the sea, and laying two eggs. 

 These are white or pale green in ground colour, 

 blotched and spotted with various shades of brown 

 and gray. The Black Guillemot is nothing near 

 so gregarious as its allies, and it is generally dis- 

 persed sparingly along the coast a lew pairs here 

 and there in suitable spots. The fry of fish, 

 crustaceans, and small shell-fish are the food of the 

 Black Guillemot. This bird may often be seen 

 fishing close inshore, even in sea-lochs, and braves 

 even the roughest waves in quest of its finny prey. 

 It dives and swims with equal grace, and rarely 

 uses its wings, except to visit its rocky home. 

 One never sees the water thickly studded with 

 these birds. 



Very different, however, in this respect is the 

 Puffin. There is no more gregarious bird along 

 the rocky coast than he, and a visit to his colony 

 is a treat indeed to the lover of animated nature. 

 He cannot be mistaken for any other species, his 

 big brightly coloured beak and comical facial ex- 

 pression making him the most peculiar bird along 

 the rock-bound coasts. In the colour of his 

 plumage he is something like the Razorbill, only 



