COMMON GUILLEMOT 485 



As already mentioned, it is on the exposed ledges of great 

 perpendicular cliffs, also on the summits of huge rock- 

 stacks, that multitudes mass together. Here these beauti- 

 ful creatures present an imposing and picturesque spectacle. 

 Their numbers, almost countless, are arranged, some as 

 closely as a regiment at drill, others clustered into an 

 irregular crowd at the summit of the stack, while low 

 down, the face of the great headland appears more thinly 

 populated. Many of the birds stand boldly upright, peer- 

 ing round at the approach of an intruder. The hatching 

 females face the cliffs, giving one the impression that they 

 are crouching to elude observation. Yet this attitude is far 

 from expressing fear ; indeed, no bird is calmer, sits more 

 closely, or displays greater affection for its young, than the 

 Guillemot. The parent-bird will suffer one almost to handle 

 her rather than relinquish her dearly-loved offspring. It is 

 to prevent the great solitary egg from falling off the plat- 

 form, that the mother-bird assumes this peculiar pose : the 

 pointed end of each egg is clasped between her legs and 

 feet, and the larger end pressed firmly against her lower 

 breast-feathers, too short almost to cover it. 



Some of the ledges incline obliquely downwards, and on 

 these especially the birds face the cliff. On less sloping 

 platforms I have seen them sit sideways, and when the eggs 

 are deposited on large, roomy, flat surfaces, many Guillemots 

 may be seen hatching with their breasts facing the sea. The 

 eggs often get smashed, especially in densely-packed colonies. 

 Birds huddled closely together on adjacent ledges at times 

 enter into conflict, and as they wax hot in the struggle for 

 supremacy, an egg or two is sent tumbling down the cliff. 

 A sudden alarm, such as the report of a gun, will so terrify 

 the birds that they may quit the cliffs before stepping free 

 of their eggs, which are sometimes carried a yard or so 

 from the ledge before being dropped from under the feet 

 of the owners. 



I have seen some magnificent colonies of Guillemots 

 around the Irish coast, but one of the finest is thus 

 described by Mr. Ussher : " The largest assemblage of 

 Guillemots in Ireland is on the majestic limestone cliffs of 

 Moher in Clare. These rise to 600 feet and their coast- 

 line is indented, huge bastions affording points from which 

 the next cliffs can be viewed. Their faces are stratified in 

 bands of unequal durability, and have thus been worn into 

 deep seams, leaving covered shelves and ledges, of which the 



