The Guillemots. 
2 1 1 
able to fly. I'c used to nest on St. Kilda, and 
some of the last examples recorded were found 
near the Orkneys, but in former times it must 
have extended further to the south, and also to 
Ireland, as is proved by the discovery of fossil 
remains. About seventy specimens of its eggs 
are preserved in different Museums of the world, 
and they go through the same extent of variation 
as those of the Razor-Bill, which they resemble 
in colour and markings, though they are, of 
course, much larger. The range of the Great 
Auk was never very extensive, as it seems to 
nave occurred only from the north of Scotland 
to Iceland and the latitude of Newfoundland on 
the Atlantic coast of North America. 
Guillemots are distin- 
guished from the Razor-bills 
by their long pointed bill, 
THE COMMON 
GUILLEMOT. 
(Uria troile.) 
See p. 212. 
which has also no grooves. 
The Great Auk. 
The colour is not so black 
as in the latter birds and is more of a smoky 
brown, but otherwise the species are very 
similar. It inhabits the seas of Northern and 
Western Europe and the Atlantic coast of 
America. In Great Britain it inhabits the same 
rocky districts as the Razor-Bill, but breeds in greater numbers than the latter bird, 
which it resembles in its habits. It is to a certain degree migratory, and disappears 
from its breeding-places as soon as the young are able to look after themselves. 
One pear-shaped egg only is laid on the bare rock, and the variation in colour is so 
great that there is no possibility of giving an exact description of the egg, as it may 
be white, green, buff, or bluish, with scanty markings or dense scribblings and 
blotches of black or rufous, The length is from three inches to three inches- 
and-a-half. 
This bird only differs from the Common Guillemot in 
having a white eye-ring and a white line along the crease 
which skirts the upper edge of the ear-coverts. By many 
naturalists it is considered to be only a variety of the Com- 
mon Guillemot, as both forms occur together. Its occurrence 
is too frequent, however, to make me think that this can be the case, though 
there is no difference in habits or nidification between the two forms, as far 
as is known. 
THE BRIDLED 
GUILLEMOT. 
( Uria ringvia.) 
See p. 212. 
