400 BIRDS OP MASSACHUSETTS. 



The folly of the guillemot seems to consist in its returning to 

 the breeding places where it is annually disturbed ; but this 

 appears to be done in despair of going beyond human reach ; 

 for it once bred in our bay. But it has for many years aban- 

 doned it, and proceeds to the north in company with the eiders, 

 early in the spring. Their eggs afford luxurious food, and are 

 collected in great numbers by those who make it their employ- 

 ment, to be sent to distant markets. They are so numerous, 

 that the sailors, who were sent by Audubon to bring him two 

 or three dozen, returned with twenty-five hundred, which in- 

 dicates an immense abundance of the birds, since the eggs in 

 each nest do not exceed three. The white line that encircles 

 the eye and extends back upon the head, is found only in the 

 old birds. Like the preceding species, they swim under water 

 almost as rapidly as they can fly above. 



The Large-billed Guillemot, Uria Brunnichii, is said, by 

 Nuttall, to be occasionally found, in winter, on the coast of the 

 northern states, but I cannot ascertain that any one has been 

 taken in Massachusetts, except in a single instance ; Dr. Brewer 

 found one washed up on the beach, in April, 1836. This, how- 

 ever, is sufficient to give it a place among our birds. The spe- 

 cimen from which Audubon's illustration was taken, was sent 

 him from Eastport in Maine. He found none on the coast of 

 Labrador, though the preceding species, with which this asso- 

 ciates, so greatly abounded. They had probably gone farther 

 into their arctic home. 



The Little Guillemot, Uria alle, sometimes called the 

 Little Auk or Pigeon Diver, dwells far within the arctic circle, 

 and was found by Dr. Richardson at Melville Island. In hardi- 

 ness and power of enduring cold, no bird exceeds them ; in the 

 depth of winter, when the ice of the ocean is lifted and broken 

 by storms, they are seen crowding to the fissures, to find a sup- 

 ply of food. They seem to delight in tempests, which, by 

 agitating the waters, throw up in greater quantities the marine 

 productions on which they depend for subsistence. In New- 



