550 BIRDS OF SOMERSETSHIRE. 



the top of the head, back of the neck, and all the 

 rest of the upper parts, very dark lead- grey, almost 

 black, the tips of the secondaries white ; the front of 

 the neck is dark sooty brown, almost black in sum- 

 mer ; the breast and all the under parts white ; the 

 legs, toes and webs very dark brownish black. In 

 winter the chin, the lower part of the face under the 

 eye, an irregular patch at the back of the eye, and 

 the throat, are white : in this plumage it is the 

 "Lesser Guillemot" of Bewick. 



The eggs, which are very large for the size of 

 the bird, are pear-shaped, and differ immensely in 

 colour; some in my collection have th eground 

 white, but one is scrawled all over with pale orange - 

 brown lines ; others are spotted with black or dark 

 brown ; others again have a green ground and are 

 spotted with black or dark brown : in fact, the 

 variety seems almost endless. 



BLACK GUILLEMOT, Uria grylle. One specimen of 

 this bird, which is rare in all our southern counties, 

 has been taken off St. Audries, near Quantoch's Head, 

 and is now in Mr. Sauford's collection at Ninehead 

 Court : it is a mature bird in winter plumage, but 

 Mr. Sanford could not give me the exact date of its 

 capture, though, from the plumage of the bird, 

 white, with only a few black feathers on the back, 

 it must have been taken during the winter months. 

 Montagu says a few Black Guillemots breed on the 

 south coast of Wales near Tenby, and this may have 



