BLACK GUILLEMOT. 37 



"Patie" disposed of No. 1 while he was killing No. 2, and so on, we 

 could never understand. Guillemots and auks were also common on 

 the Craig, and cormorants were often there as visitors fishing. At 

 night they roosted on the shelves of the rocks along the shore at 

 Mochrum, where their gaunt, grim figures were seen in rows in the 

 evening, giving a chance to some local Scotch " wut " to christen 

 them the " Mochrum Elders," a name which, in that district, has 

 clung to them ever since. 



Subfamily PHALERIN^. 



Genus CEPPHUS Pallas. 



CEPPHUS GRYLLE (Linn.). 



9. . Black Guillemot. (27) 



Adidt male : — In full plumage, black, shaded with dull green ; a white patch 

 on the wings. In all other stages, a marbled mixture of black and white. 

 Length, 13 inches. 



Hab. — Coasts of northern Europe, south to Denmark and British Islands. 

 Coast of Maine, south in winter to Philadelphia ; Newfoundland (?) 



Eggs laid on the rocks near the sea, two in number, sea-green blotched with 

 brown. 



There is an old record of an individual of this and one of the 

 succeeding species being found in Hamilton Bay in a state of extreme 

 exhaustion about twenty-five years ago. I did not see the birds, but 

 inquired into the circumstances at the time and considered the report 

 correct. As none of this family has been observed since that time, 

 these two can only be regarded as waifs carried away against their 

 wishes by the force of the wind. 



This species is very common along the west coast of Scotland, 

 where I have seen the females with the bare spot on the under parts, 

 the feathers having, according to custom, been plucked off to allow 

 the heat of the body to be conveyed more directly to the eggs. 



