152 BLACK GUILLEMOT. 



crag or block to another, make use of their wings. When their nests are very 

 high above the water, they fly directly into them ; and from such heights, 

 if necessity demands it, they at once dive towards the water. 



I kept many alive on board the Ripley. They ran on the floor in an 

 erect position for a few yards, fell down on their breasts, rose again, and 

 continued their exertions to escape, until they got fairly concealed behind 

 a chest or barrel. 



The winter plumage of this species differs so greatly from that of sum- 

 mer, that I have been induced to present you with a figure of the bird in 

 both states. It is difficult to perceive any external difl^erence between the 

 sexes, only the males are rather larger than the females. Their flesh, al- 

 though black and tough, is not very unpalatable. 



The trachea is flattened, with numerous close, transparent rings. The 

 gullet, as in all the other species of this genus, is very dilatable. The 

 gizzard, which is small, has its inner membrane thin and of a yellow co- 

 lour. The intestines are about the thickness of a goose quill, and mea- 

 sure two feet eight inches in length. 



Uria Grylle, Lath. Ind. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 797 Ch. Bonaparte, Synops. of Birds 



of the United States, p. 423. — Swains, and Richards. Fauna Boreali-Americana, 

 part ii. p. 478. 



Black Guillemot, Nuttall, Manual, vol. ii. p. 523. 



Adult in Summer. Plate CCXIX. Fig. 1. 



Bill shorter than the head, straight, rather stout, tapering, compress- 

 ed, acute. Upper mandible with the dorsal line nearly straight and slop- 

 ing, towards the tip slightly arched, the sides sloping and towards the end 

 a little convex, the edges sharp and slightly inflected. Nostrils basal, la- 

 teral, linear, partially concealed by the feathers. Lower mandible with the 

 angle long and very narrow, the dorsal line ascending, straight, the sides 

 sloping upwards, slightly convex, flat at the base, the edges sharp and in- 

 flected, the tip acute. 



Head of moderate size, oblong ; neck short ; body full, depressed ; 

 wings rather small. Feet placed far behind, short, of moderate size; 

 tarsus short, compressed, anteriorly scutellate, laterally covered with re- 

 ticulated angular scales ; toes rather slender, scutellate above, connected 

 by entire reticulated webs, the outer and inner with a small marginal 



