802 A PRACTICAL HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS. 



Breeding-habits.- — Breeds in vast colonies on ledges of precipitous 

 cliffs and on flat tops of stacks, often crowded together as closely as 

 possible owing to insufficiency of suitable sites. No nest, egg being 

 laid on bare rock. Egg. — One only, pyriform, ranging in colour 

 from blue-green to creamy or white, and blotched, spotted and 

 streaked with blackish, yellowish or reddish-brown and lilac shell- 

 marks. Type with red-brown markings undoubtedly occurs but is 

 apparently rarer than in Common Guillemot. Average of 104 eggs 

 80.15x50.04. Max.: 89.5x49.4 and 80x55. Min. : 71.6x49.6 

 and 77x46.1 mm. Breeding -season. — From early June onward; 

 laying general by mid- June. Incubation. — By both sexes. Period 

 estimated at 30-35 days. Single brooded. 



Food. — Smaller Crustacea, such as Amphipoda (Gammaridce) 

 Copepoda, etc., mollusca, small fish and Annelida (Hippolyte) also, 

 recorded. 



Distribution. — Great Britain. — Rare vagrant. Male Scarborough, 

 Dec. 7, 1894, male and female Filey (and others reported), Jan.,. 

 1895, one near Flamborough Hd., Nov., 1899, one off Scarborough, 

 Oct. 28, 1902, and probably one or two others previous to 1894 

 {Birds Yorks., pp. 724-5). One reported seen Bempton Cliffs 

 (Yorks.), June 27, 1909 {Brit, B., m, p. 91). One Cambs., Jan. 12,. 

 1895 (Saunders, p. 701). One near Fame Isles winter 1883-4 (G. 

 Bolam, Birds of Norihumb., p. 664). One reported seen Fame Isles 

 (Northumberland), June 14, 1908 (Brit B., n, p. 331). Female, 

 CraigielawPt, (Haddington), Dec. 11, 1908 (Ann. Scot. Nat. Hist:, 

 1909, p. 75). Others possible Caithness and Suffolk. 



Distribution. — Abroad. — Coasts and islands of western Siberia to 

 (at least) Taimyr Peninsula, Novaya Zemlia, Franz-Josef Land. 

 Spitsbergen, Bear I., Iceland, Jan Mayen, northern Greenland, 

 west to Hudson Bay and Gulf of St. Lawrence, coast of Labrador. 

 Only partial migrant, south to English Channel, casual to coast of 

 Sweden and west Prussia and exceptionally inland (Russia, north 

 France) ; in America to Maine, casual south Carolina, Ohio, Indiana 

 and Iowa. Replaced by U. I. arra in N. Pacific and on eastern coast 

 of Siberia. 



URIA GRYLLE 



470. Uria grylle grylle (L.)— THE BLACK GUILLEMOT. 



Alca Grylle Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., ed. xj i, p. 130 (1758 — European^ 

 Arctic Ocean. Restr. typ. loc. Sweden, from first quotation). 

 Uria grylle (Linnaeus), Yarrell, iv, p. 81 ; Saunders, p. 703. 



Description. — Adult male and female. Winter. — Fore-head, lores 

 and crown black, feathers with long white fringes mostly obscuring 

 black especially on sides ; back and sides of neck same, but basal 

 part 01 feathers brown ; in front of and under eye and sometimes 

 behind eye patch of uniform black ; mantle, scapulars, back and 

 upper tail-coverts black, feathers narrowly margined white ; rump. 



