GUILLEMOTS, RAZORBILL, ETC. 129 



upon the land after the young have quitted their 

 birthplaces ; they spend their entire time upon the 

 sea, seeking shelter during rough weather in bays 

 or under the lee of headlands, but not unfrequently 

 great numbers perish in a gale, their dead bodies 

 strewing the coast where the tide has cast them 

 ashore. Except during the breeding season the 

 Guillemot flies very little, but during that period it 

 often feeds far from its rocky haunts, and may then 

 be seen, especially at eventide, flying in little 

 bunches, or in compact flocks, swiftly and silently 

 just above the waves, returning to them. The 

 food of this bird is almost exclusively composed of 

 fish, especially such small species as pilchards and 

 sprats ; it is also extremely partial to the fry of 

 the herring and the pollack. Few birds are more 

 expert at catching fish than the Guillemot ; it dives 

 after them, and chases them beneath the surface 

 with marvellous speed and unerring certainty. In 

 this chase of fish it sometimes comes to grief by 

 getting entangled in the drift-nets. The Guillemot 

 is a remarkably silent bird. I have repeatedly 

 been amongst thousands of these birds, both at sea 

 and on the rock stacks where they breed, and the 

 only sound I have ever heard them utter is a low, 

 grunting noise. My experience has been chiefly 

 confined to the earlier part of the breeding season, 

 and the autumn and winter months. It would 

 appear, though, that when the young are partly 

 grown the birds become more noisy, for Gatke 



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