(fngtnal Articles. 



THE SEA BIRDS AT FLAMBOROUGH. 



By John Cordeaux, M..B.O.U., 

 Pkesident of the Vetebrate Section Y.N.U., 1883. 



By far the most plentiful of the various tenants on the cliffs we have 

 visited to-day is the common guillemot ; the allied variety known as 

 the ringed guillemot, Uria lacri/iuans, is not common. Out of eight 

 guillemots clustered together on a ledge near the upper part of the 

 cliff at Speeton, six were the common species, and two were ringed 

 guillemots — but this was quite an exceptional circumstance. Guille- 

 mots return with remarkable regularity to their nesting quarters, 

 visiting the neighbourhood soon after Christmas, and may be seen off 

 Flamborough in large numbers in the early spring, They congregate 

 at this cliff in April, and commence laying in May ; only one egg is 

 laid on the bare cliff, and the cliff-climbers allege that if this is taken, 

 and repeated, the same bird will go on till she has laid nine or ten 

 eggs. This, however, is directly contrary to the observations of Mr. 

 George MacLachlan, formerly the lighthouse keeper at Barra Head, 

 and one of our most careful observers on the West Coast of Scotland. 

 He states that if the first egg is taken, a second is laid, and then a 

 third; if this is taken the bird lays no more that season. If left 

 undisturbed the guillemot will return year by year exactly to the same 

 spot. If the eggs are taken, the guillemots shift their ground, it may 

 be only to the next ledge, and become much shyer. Mr. MacLachlan 

 sprinkled the birds on a certain ledge with red paint, and the birds on 

 a continuation of the same ledge with blue paint. He then went 

 down and took the eggs, and found that the blue and red spotted 

 birds had changed places with each other. Normally only one egg is 

 laid in the season. The guillemots know their own eggs, and if one is 

 interchanged during the absence of the female, she will shift it back 

 with her feet. Incubation is performed in an upright position ; the 

 young is hatched in 21 to 24 days, and after remaining for about 

 three weeks on the cliff, where it is fed both by the male and female, 

 it is carried down to the sea on the back of the parent The Flam- 

 borough boatman states that this is done at high water, when there is 

 a considerable depth at the base of the cliff, and more frequently in 

 the quiet of the evening. Usually the youDg bird falls off before 

 reaching the sea, or is thrown off by the parent bird. At Barra Head 

 Mr. MacLachlan states, the young bird is grasped by the wing, near 

 the shoulder, and not carried, as a rule, on the back of the parent. 

 N.S., Vol. ix. Jan., 1884. 



