﻿BIRDS. 
  

  

  193 
  

  

  mot, 
  etc., 
  he 
  says 
  : 
  " 
  All 
  these 
  species 
  breed 
  with 
  us, 
  but 
  the 
  

   Black 
  Guillemot 
  only 
  rarely." 
  

  

  In 
  'vol. 
  i. 
  of 
  the 
  Naturalist, 
  p. 
  147 
  (1851), 
  Edward 
  records 
  

   having 
  received 
  at 
  Banff 
  a 
  specimen 
  of 
  this 
  bird 
  " 
  in 
  complete 
  

   winter 
  dress," 
  and, 
  about 
  the 
  same 
  time, 
  one 
  from 
  Fraser- 
  

   burgh 
  " 
  in 
  summer 
  or 
  nuptial 
  dress." 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  N. 
  S. 
  A. 
  for 
  Aberdeenshire 
  this 
  species 
  is 
  included 
  in 
  

   the 
  list 
  given 
  for 
  Ythan 
  and 
  district. 
  

  

  Colonel 
  H. 
  M. 
  Drummond 
  Hay, 
  in 
  his 
  " 
  Report 
  on 
  the 
  

   Ornithology 
  of 
  the 
  East 
  of 
  Scotland, 
  from 
  Fife 
  to 
  Aberdeen- 
  

   shire 
  inclusive," 
  as 
  it 
  appears 
  in 
  the 
  Scottish 
  Naturalist, 
  vol. 
  

   viii., 
  p. 
  378 
  (1886), 
  says: 
  "Black 
  Guillemots 
  used 
  to 
  be 
  common 
  

   outside 
  Aberdeen 
  Harbour 
  ; 
  but 
  I 
  do 
  not 
  know 
  of 
  its 
  breeding 
  

   in 
  Aberdeenshire. 
  When 
  stationed 
  in 
  Aberdeen, 
  many 
  years 
  

   ago, 
  I 
  had 
  frequent 
  opportunities 
  of 
  observing 
  these 
  birds 
  

   during 
  the 
  breeding 
  season 
  on 
  the 
  Kincardine 
  coast, 
  along 
  by 
  

   Cove 
  and 
  Muchalls, 
  and 
  though 
  I 
  never 
  looked 
  for 
  their 
  nests, 
  

   I 
  always 
  supposed 
  them 
  to 
  breed 
  among 
  the 
  rocks 
  at 
  the 
  foot 
  

   of 
  the 
  cliffs, 
  as 
  they 
  were 
  there 
  the 
  whole 
  of 
  the 
  season, 
  and 
  I 
  

   obtained 
  them 
  in 
  all 
  stages 
  of 
  plumage." 
  

  

  In 
  a 
  letter 
  to 
  Mr. 
  Harvie-Brown, 
  the 
  Colonel 
  states 
  that 
  

   the 
  above 
  observation 
  refers 
  to 
  1834, 
  and 
  that 
  the 
  birds 
  were 
  

   " 
  abundant 
  during 
  the 
  whole 
  summer." 
  It 
  will 
  be 
  seen 
  that 
  

   the 
  Colonel 
  does 
  not 
  positively 
  say 
  that 
  the 
  birds 
  bred, 
  but 
  

   merely 
  supposed 
  they 
  did 
  ; 
  and 
  if 
  they 
  were 
  abundant, 
  they 
  

   must 
  have 
  bred 
  in 
  considerable 
  numbers. 
  If 
  that 
  were 
  so, 
  

   matters 
  have 
  been 
  sadly 
  changed, 
  for 
  I 
  can 
  say 
  most 
  assuredly 
  

   that 
  this 
  species 
  has 
  not 
  bred 
  in 
  the 
  above-mentioned 
  localities 
  

   these 
  forty 
  years 
  past. 
  

  

  On 
  the 
  14th 
  of 
  June, 
  1890, 
  I 
  found 
  the 
  wing 
  of 
  a 
  Black 
  

   Guillemot, 
  in 
  a 
  fresh 
  condition, 
  by 
  the 
  sea-side, 
  a 
  little 
  to 
  the 
  

   north 
  of 
  Peterhead. 
  On 
  August 
  23rd, 
  1895, 
  an 
  English 
  

   gentleman 
  shot 
  a 
  young 
  Black 
  Guillemot 
  beside 
  Dunnottar 
  

   Castle, 
  and 
  two 
  days 
  later 
  he 
  brought 
  it 
  to 
  me 
  for 
  confirma- 
  

   tion 
  of 
  the 
  opinion 
  he 
  had 
  formed 
  regarding 
  its 
  identity. 
  

  

  Genus 
  MERGULUS, 
  Vieillot. 
  

  

  Mergulus 
  alle, 
  Linn. 
  Little 
  Auk. 
  " 
  Rotchie." 
  

  

  A 
  common 
  winter 
  visitant 
  ; 
  in 
  some 
  seasons 
  in 
  great 
  

   numbers, 
  especially 
  in 
  1895, 
  in 
  which 
  year 
  many 
  thousands 
  

  

  