THE COMMON GUILLEMOT FULMAR PETREL. 389 



THE COMMON GUILLEMOT. 



The Common Guillemot makes its appearance on our coasts in the 

 l>eginning of spring, and inhabits the cliffs overhanging the sea. Each 

 female deposits one egg on a naked ledge of rock, and sits upon it with 

 great perseverance, even suffering itself to be taken by hand. The egg 

 is usually a pale green, streaked and blotched with brown, but is very 

 variable both in color and markings. The length of the bird is fifteen 

 inches. 



THE FULMAR PETREL. 



The Fulmar Petrel is an inhabitant of the Arctic circle, but breeds 

 abundantly in St. Kilda and the Orkneys. The inhabitants of those 

 islands consider the Fulmar as one of their principal means of subsist- 

 ence, and to obtain the birds they expose themselves to the greatest 

 dangers. The feathers of the Fulmar Petrel are used for their beds, its 

 flesh they eat, its oil is delicate and gives an excellent light when 

 used in a lamp, besides which it is considered a good remedy for 

 wounds. To obtain the birds, the inhabitants wait until they are 

 nearly fledged, when they lower themselves down the face of the 

 most fearful precipices, saved from destruction merely by a rope. 

 This rope is one of the principal items of the property of the people 

 .who live in the Orkneys. It is sometimes made of hide, but the 

 be?t ropes are woven of hair, and are found to be less liable to fray 

 against the rocks than if they were made of any other material. 

 There are many stories of the dangers encountered by the daring 

 era-rsman. but there is no space lor their insertion. 



The Fulmar Petrel lays one white egg, large and brittle, which is 

 imbued with the peculiar oily odor that characterises the bird. 

 The food of the Fulmar consists of the flesh and blubber of dead 

 whales and other cetacea, and also of molluscs and Crustacea. The 

 length of the bird is sixteen inches. 



OF THE ALBATROSS TRIBE. 



THERE are but four species of Albatross ; of which three are found 

 principally in the seas of hot climates, and the fourth is confined to 

 those within the Antarctic Circle. Their bill is straight : the upper 

 mandible hooked at the point ; and the lower truncated, or appearing 

 as if cut off. The nostrils are oval, wide, prominent, and lateral ; the 

 tongue is very small ; and the feet have each three toes, all placed 



ward. 



THE WANDERING ALBATROSS, OR MAN-OF-WAR BIRD. 



In size these birds are sometimes as large as a Swan. Their genera, 

 color is white, the upper parts are marked with, black lines. The quill 



