The Pigeon Guillemot 



gregarious to such an extent that one can rarely distinguish paired birds. 

 On the whole, however, I am inclined to consider them strictly monog- 

 amous — at least in the avian sense, which takes account of only one 

 season. Sportive pursuit often takes place in the water, and the rapidity 

 with which these birds can appear and disappear at the surface would be 

 instructive to the aspirants of the old swimming hole. 



A cock-fight between rival suitors is apt to be quite a spirited affair. 

 As they face each other upon the surface of the water, the combatants hold 

 their tails, inconspicuous at other times, bolt upright; and this, with their 

 open mandibles disclosing a bright red mouth and throat, gives the birds 

 a somewhat formidable appearance. The actual scrimmage, however, 

 is likely to take place beneath the water rather than upon it; and the 

 onlooker has no means of guessing the battle's progress till the weaker 

 bird bursts from the water like a flying fish, and so by change of scene 

 gains a momentary advantage of his pursuer, or owns defeat outright. 



In only one instance in California have I seen a breeding area which 

 might be dignified by the name of colony. On the Southeast Farallon 

 there are, or were in 191 1, some two hundred birds. They nested sparingly 

 all over the island and at any height, from 20 to 200 feet above tide. 

 But there was one station, a great rock-slide just east of the lighthouse, 

 which was entirely given over to them. Here they found shelter under 

 boulders or in shaded crevices; and it was noticeable that they were almost 

 always at pains to line the "nest" carefully with pebbles, granite frag- 

 ments and bones or else with iron-flakes rusted out of the five-gallon 

 kerosene cans flung from the lighthouse above. On the 3rd of June 191 1 , 

 I found eight nests with two eggs each, the full complement, within an 

 area of sixty feet square. Hard by were six more nests in which only one 

 egg had yet been deposited, besides a dozen "empties." 



The bold spotting and blotching of the Guillemot's egg, dark brown 

 and lilac gray, on a lightly tinted or clear white ground, would argue 

 an earlier or else an incipient habit of nesting in the open. And in the 

 North I have found eggs which enjoyed no better protection than shadow- 

 ing grass or weeds. The deposition of two eggs also indicates a possible 

 affinity with the Murrelets, and a departure from the normal monotokous 

 type of the AIcce. I have taken one set (possibly a composite, however) 

 of three eggs, and the M. C. O. has a set of three taken by Mr. John J. 

 Boyce near Wrangell, Alaska, which is almost certainly the product of 

 one bird. 



Baby Guillemots are covered from the hour of hatching with a thick 

 black down. Their feet are pale reddish black, and their bills black with a 

 tiny white tip. This plumage, one may readily see, is protective only in 

 so far as it comports with shadow; the young birds, therefore, have an 



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