ALCID.E — THE AUKS — CKPPIIUS. 



493 



number breed and pass the year. In the winter tliey are joined by a ninch hirgcr 

 number driven out by the ice from more northern ])hiees, wliere this barricade 

 compels tliem to move to more open water. Among tliese, Mr. Boardman informs 

 me, it is no uncommon thing to find individuals of this species in their full black 

 plumage in midwinter. 



OIT the coast of Norway the Jlessrs. Godman found tliis bird wintering in tlu! 

 latitude of Bodci. During the summer it was everywhere common along the entire 

 coast of Norway, where its eggs are much sought for, and esteemed as a great 

 delicacy by the natives. 



In the British Islands it is more ab\mdant in the more northern portions. It is a 

 resident species in the north of Ireland, and among the Hebrides and other Scottisii 

 islands it breeds more or less commonly ; Mr. ^Macgillivray met with it among the 

 Hebrides. Mr. Salmon found it among the Orkneys in 1S31, where it is called the 

 " Tyste." He found it breeding on a small holm eastward of I'apa-Westra, where 

 it was very numerous, and would scarcely move off the roclis wlien approached. 

 In every instance two eggs were found together, deiwsited on the bare ground. He 

 describes the egg as white, .slightly tinged with green, blotched, spotted, and speckled 

 with ash-gray, reddish brown, and very dark brown. The length is 2.25 inches ; the 

 breadtli 1.50. The first covering of the young birds is a grayish-black down ; and 

 the feathers, which soon appear, are mottled witli black and white. The young 

 of this species do not leave the nest until jjcrfectly fledged, and able to provide 

 for themselves. Then the care of the parents ceases, and they do not even keep 

 company with their young. Their food is chiefly crustaceans and small fishes. 



In the summers of 1850 and 1851 I found the Black Guillemot breeding in the 

 Duck Islands, Grand Menan. Their eggs were never more than two in number, and 

 appeared to be placed on the bare rock, without any preparation, even of pebbles, to 

 keep them dry. They Avere placed under loose overlying rocks, the broken surfaces 

 of which left room for the ingress and egress of tlie bird. They were usually where 

 they could not be reached by the arm, and could only be secured with tlie aid of a 

 short pole with a forked end. The birds were shy, and not infrequently betrayed 

 the localitj' of their nests by flying from under the rocks at our approach ; which, 

 had they not done, they might liave escaped observation. The eggs were all fresh ; 

 and it is possible that a little later more than two miglit have been found in a nest. 



In the spring of 183(3, in the montlis of April and May, this bird was still present 

 off Nahant, and specimens were procured, one of wliidi is referred to by Audubon. 

 They were obtained without ditficulty from an open boat ; for, though the birds are 

 expert divers, they would always rise within a short distance of tlie place where they 

 disappeared, and could be sliot before they had time to dive a second time. 



Giraud does not include this species among the birds of Long Island ; but Mr. 

 Lawrence gives it as found in the neighborhood of New York. It is quite common 

 in the outer waters of Massachusetts Bay as far as Provincetown. South of the Cai)c 

 it is said to be much less common. 



Audubon states that this species always lays three eggs ; but I think that he must 

 l)e mistaken — at least I never met with more than two eggs under one bird; and 

 l.'is I was universally assured was the prevailing number. Dr. Bryant, in his 

 l)aper on the Birds that breed in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, where he found it breed- 

 ing everywhere in abundance, also states that he never found more than two eggs 

 laid by the same bird. Tliis was noticed on a small island where there was nothing 

 indicating that the bird had been disturbed, where the greater number had but just 

 begun to incubate, and none of the eggs had been hatched. 



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