ALCIDAE 3 I 9 



spotted with bviff above ; B. hypoleucus and B. craveri of Lower 

 California are plain slate-coloured with white lower surface, the 

 former having white and the latter grey wing-lining. The first 

 two species have a white nuchal collar and irregular white 

 markings above in winter, with nearly white lower parts. 



Cepjphus grylle, the Black Guillemot of the Atlantic north- 

 wards from Britain and Maine, and of the Arctic coasts of 

 Europe, is black with a white wing-patch, the feathers of which 

 are black at the base ; in winter the plumage is white, relieved above 

 and sometimes below by black, and the red feet become pinkish. 

 The compressed pointed bill is always black. C. mundti, occupy- 

 ing, as it seems, the North Polar seas generally, and breeding as 

 far south as Labrador, has a more slender bill, and no black wing- 

 patch. C columba, ranging from Bering Strait and Japan to 

 California, has a large wedge-shaped black mark on the white 

 wing-patch ; C. carlo, of North-East Asia, Japan, the Kuril and 

 Bering Islands, shews no white except round the eye. All these 

 forms wander southwards in winter. The Black G-uillemot or 

 Tystie still breeds in the Isle of ^lan, and sparsely on the East of 

 Scotland and Ireland, in the north and west of which countries 

 it is not uncommon. It is remarkably tame when it breeds 

 in the wilder districts, uttering a plaintive cry, and making its 

 way to land in the face of an intruder. The two whitish or 

 greenish eggs, beautifully spotted with black, brown, and grey, 

 are deposited among large boulders, or in holes at the bases of 

 cliffs, without any nest. 



Of the last group of Ai;ks, with feathered nostrils, Uria troile, 

 the well-known Common G-uillemot, Willock, or llurre, breeds 

 numerously in Britain, where the cliffs are suitable ; it extends 

 from Bear Island near Spitsbergen to the Magdalen Islands in 

 America and the Tagus in Europe, occurring on migration south- 

 wards to the New England States and the Canaries. The plumage 

 is dusky above and white below, with a brownish head and white 

 alar bar. The throat, cheeks, and a few feathers on the head 

 are white in winter ; the long pointed bill and feet are blackish. 

 The Einged Guillemot is a mere variety with a white ring 

 round the eye and a streak behind it ; but U. calif or nica, with 

 stouter bill, from the Pacific coast of North America, may be 

 considered a sub-species. U. Irilnnichi, distinguishable by its 

 blacker crown, and deeper beak with a white edge to the maxilla, 



