10 



GUILLEMOT. 



many of our coasts, and may be seen^ in the 

 breeding season, sitting with extraordinary gravity 

 and importance over a solitary egg. The egg 

 is often laid, and the young hatched, on such a 

 narrow ledge of rock, that it is quite a wonder 



how the egg can escape a fall, or how the young 

 bird can even open its big beak without toppling 

 over the precipice. 



The guillemot has earned the epithet of 

 " foolish," because, when sitting on this solitary 

 egg, it will suffer itself to be taken by hand, 



