9 
CO:\IMON GUILLEMOT. 
along the surface for some distance l)efore it is enabled to make a fair start. When approaching* their 
breeding-quarters at any elevation on the cliffs, they are forced to make several extended circles on wino* 
gradually mounting each time till a sufficient elevation is attained to allow them to drop on their respective 
ledges. The circuit of the Bass is generally made a few times before they are enabled to reaeh their quarters, 
generally situated near the summit of the northern and western faces of the cliffs. The Pinnacles at the Pern 
Islands are a group of small square crags of rock, of no great elevation, to which hundreds of pairs of Guillemots 
resort for breeding-purposes during summer ; the flat tops of each are almost entirely covered with eggs, and the 
birds usually succeed in reaching the highest points by flying straight to the spot. Mlien leaving their ledges 
at the Bass, I remarked that these birds dropped a considerable height before appearing to gain any assistance 
from their wings and launching out towards the open sea. When the dense ranks assembled on the Pinnacles 
aie alaimed by the apjiroach of a boat or a shot, a scene of indescribable confusion ensues : a general and 
hurried start is made, some take wing at once, while others either dash down or fall helplessly into the water, 
their flight being impeded by the swarms pressing on and endeavouring to follow in the same direction; eggs 
and young are occasionally sacrificed, and being rolled from the rock, drop down to the water, suffering not 
uufrcquently from contact with the projecting ledges in their descent. 
■While inspecting the various species of sea-fowl breeding in countless thousands along the face of the 
cliffs between Dunnet Head and Duncansby, in June 1869, 1 noticed that the lowest nests (those at an elevation 
of only thirty or forty feet above the waves) belonged to the Kittiwakes, their cradles being clustered thickly 
together, ten or a dozen up to even a score forming a single mass of seaweed, in most cases well suffused with 
guano. Bazorbills occupied the highest stations immediately below the summit, and Guillemots were scattered 
here and there over the central portion of the rocky face. The three larger Gulls, the two Blackbacks and 
the Ilerring-Gull, were also present, attending to their broods or eggs on the grassy ledges at a moderate 
elevation, and Black Guillemots were observed entering the dark cracks and crevices, as well as makin" their 
way beneath the large slabs of rock lying on the sloping patches of rank vegetation, scattered here and there 
along the whole range of cliffs. The positions on the rocks in which the Guillemots, Razorbills, and 
Kittiwakes had taken up their breeding-quarters were the same as those observed by Mr. MacGillivray during 
his wanderings in the Northern Highlands. In vol. ii. of his ‘ British 'Water Birds ’ (p. 321) he states “ When 
the cliffs are higli, and other birds breed upon them, the Guillemot occupies a zone above the Kittiwakes and 
below the Razorbills ; but when the latter are not present they disperse over the face of the rocks.” 
The accuracy displayed by this excellent observer in all his descriptions contrasts strongly with the errors 
often so obvious in some of the best-known and most expensive works on British Birds. In Gould’s ‘ Birds 
of Great Britain ’ this species is depicted at its breeding-quarters, and although the plate is beautifully executed 
and the birds correctly drawn and coloured, the site for the reception of their eggs, a bright green grassy ledge, 
is one on which I never observed them making an attempt to rear their young. The rocks in every instance 
where I have examined their haunts were white with the droppings of the birds, and entirely free from any 
but the most scanty vegetation. The six eggs represented in the plate all exhibit a pale blue ground- colon ring, 
and correspond almost precisely in the black markings : judging from personal observation, I am of opinion that 
the same tint is seldom, if ever, seen on all eggs in vicAV ; indeed I doubt if a couple could be found exactly 
alike on any range of cliffs. No one can deny that Gould’s magnificent work gives far the best repre- 
sentation of the plumage of the feathered tribe ; the plants and general surroundings also arc wonderfully true 
to nature ; still all who have studied the birds while in life and at their native haunts must regret that several 
such inaccuracies as those referred to are to be found in its pages. 
No eggs vary to such an extent as those of the Common Guillemot ; the ground-tint is occasionally dark 
or light blue or green of several different shades, speckled and streaked with black. At times, the whole shell 
is almost a pure white or pale yellow with a few clouded grey markings ; the majority, however, are suffused 
