CHAPTER IV 
AUKS, GULLS, AND PLOVERS 
THE AUK TRIBE 
HE GUILLEMOT is found all around Britain, and breeds wherever the sea is fringed by 
cliffs affording ledges for the reception of the eggs. It breeds in colonies often num- 
bering many thousands, and lays but one egg, which is large and pear-shaped. Since 
the guillemot builds no nest, but lays its egg on the bare rock, this peculiar shape is advanta- 
geous, since it revolves on itself, when disturbed, instead of rolling off the ledge into the sea. At 
the same time thousands of eggs fall into the sea every year owing to the bird’s leaving the egg, 
whilst incubating, in too great a hurry. At Lundy 
Island one of the sources of amusement for the gap- 
ing tourist was that of firing a shot to frighten the 
birds, with the result that, at each shot, showers of 
eggs were knocked off the ledges on to the rocks 
below. The colour of the egg varies infinitely, no two 
being quite alike. This, it has been suggested, is 
useful, as the mother is thereby enabled to identify 
her own egg, even when surrounded by hundreds of 
others. The young are covered with long down, 
and when big enough, but still unable to fly, are 
taken down by the mother to the sea, being carried, 
some say, on her back: others say the chick is 
seized by the wing and carried down. 
The RAZOR-BILL is nearly, if not quite, as com- 
mon on the coasts of Britain as the guillemot, from 
which it may be readily distinguished by its beak, 
which is much compressed from side to side — hence ; 
its name of Razor-bill—and deeply grooved. In wari ee 
habits it very closely resembles the guillemot, but in 
one respect at least it is a more interesting bird, 
inasmuch as it is related to and closely resembles the now extinct GREAT AUK, the giant 
of the tribe. The smallest British representative, it should be mentioned, is the LITTLE 
AUK, a species more nearly allied to the guillemot. It is only a winter visitant to Britain, 
breeding in huge colonies on the inhospitable shores of Greenland and Iceland. 
So quaint a bird as the PUFFIN most certainly finds a place here. One of its most 
characteristic features is its enormous bill, which is rendered more conspicuous on account of 
its bright colour. It is bluish at the base, yellow at the tip, and striped with orange. A very 
remarkable feature of this bill is the fact that it is larger in summer than winter, portions 
of the sheath being shed in autumn. 
Enormous numbers of puffins breed in Ireland; myriads breed on Lundy Island. The 
Farne Islands, the cliffs of Flamborough, and Scotland are also tenanted by thousands. Puffins 
breed in holes, which they dig for themselves when occasion requires, but when rabbit-burrows 
are to be had they prefer these, dispossessing the owners without the slightest compunction. 
Might, with the puffin, is right, as well as with many other animals. 
31 
There are two species of white tern, almost restricted to the 
Southern Hemisphere 
