THE BLACK GUILLEMOT. 075 



reported by a stranger from the "far west," who, it seems, talked of things 

 which he had not read of before. 



Whilst in Labrador, I was delighted to see with what judgment the Black 

 Guillemot prepares a place for its eggs. Whenever the spot chosen happens 

 to be so situated as to preclude damp, not a pebble does the bird lay there, 

 and its eggs are placed on the bare rock. It is only in what I call cases of 

 urgency that this trouble is taken. About fifty or sixty pebbles or bits of 

 stone are then used, and the number is increased or diminished according to 

 circumstances. 



The eggs of this species, which appear disproportionately large, measure 

 two inches and three-eighths in length, by an inch and five-eighths in 

 breadth. Their form is regular; they are rather rough to the touch, although 

 not granulated; their ground colour an earthy white, thickly blotched with 

 very dark purplish-black, the markings larger and closer towards the great 

 end, which, however, is generally left free of them. The shell is much 

 thinner than that of the egg of the Foolish Guillemot or Razor-billed Auk. 

 As an article of food they are excellent, being delicate and nutritious. 



The parents pluck the feathers from a space across the lower part of their 

 belly, as soon as incubation commences; and this bare place, when the bird 

 is taken alive, it immediately conceals by drawing the feathers of the upper 

 part of the abdomen over it, as if it were anxious that it should not be 

 observed. When driven from the nest, the Black Guillemot at once runs 

 out of its hiding-place and flies to the water, on which it plays, bathes as it 

 were, dives a few times, and anxiously watches your retreat, after which it 

 soon returns and resumes the arduous task of incubation. 



The young, which are at first quite black, are covered with soft down, 

 and emit, although in an under tone, the same lisping notes as their parents. 

 Their legs, feet, and bill are black. The red colour of the legs of the old 

 birds is much brighter during the breeding-season than at any other time, 

 and the mouth also is bright red. About the first of August the Guillemots 

 lead their progeny to the water, and although at this time neither old nor 

 young are able to fly, they dive deeply and with great ease, which enables 

 them to procure abundance of food, for at this season, lints, shrimps, and 

 marine insects are plentiful in all the waters. 



While in Labrador, I made a severe experiment to ascertain how long the 

 Black Guillemot could live without food, — an experiment on which I have 

 never since been able to think, without some feeling of remorse. I confined 

 a pair of them in the fissure of a rock for many days in succession. After 

 the entrance was securely closed, I left the place, and for eight days the 

 wind blew so hard that no boat was safe on the waters without the harbour. 

 Many a time I thought of the poor captives, and at last went to their retreat 



