BLACK GUILLEMOT. 
125 
Eange in Groat Britain. — The Black Guillemot breeds on the 
west coast of Scotland, as well as on the Hebrides and the 
Orkneys and Shetland Islands. A few pairs also nest on the 
Isle of Man. In Ireland, according to Mr. Ussher, it also 
breeds, “ usually in small numbers in crevices of the cliffs of 
Donegal, Antrim, Dublin, Wicklow, Waterford, Cork, Kerry, 
Clare, Galway, and Mayo. A great many seem to breed on 
the outer side of Owey Island and Arranmore, Co. Donegal.” 
Range Outside the British Islands. — The present species is found 
breeding in the Northern Atlantic, in the Baltic and White 
Seas, on the coasts of Denmark and Scandinavia, as well as in 
the Faeroes, and in Southern Greenland. In winter it has been 
found as far south as Massachusetts, and it also visits the 
shores of the German Ocean and Northern France at that 
season of the year. 
Further to the north, the place of the Black Guillemot is 
taken by an allied species, C. mandti, which is distinguished 
by the complete, or almost complete, absence of the black base 
to the greater wing-coverts, and in winter the latter bird is 
easily recognisable by its white rump and by the greater 
amount of white on the scapulars. 
HaijitB. — These are well described by Seebohm : — 
“ In its habits the Black Guillemot very closely resembles 
the Common Guillemot and the Razor-bill. It is a bird of the 
sea, and only visits the rocks to rear its young. At all times of 
the year it is sociable, though perhaps never seen in such vast 
assemblies as the Common Guillemot. It is more usual to see 
half-a-dozen birds swimming and feeding together, sometimes 
close in shore, in the sheltered sea-lochs, paddling amongst the 
floating seaweeds, and ever and anon diving to catch a tiny fish 
or search for crustaceans. The Black Guillemot loves a rock- 
bound coast ; the surf is never too rough or the sea too stormy 
for this bird. It is by no means shy, unless repeatedly fired 
at, and allows a boat to approach quite close ere it dives, with 
the rapidity of thought, and again appears far out of danger. 
It sivims most buoyantly, sitting high and lightly on the water, 
with head and neck extended. No bird rivals it in diving, and 
its progress under water, aided by its wings as well as its feet, 
is quite as rapid as its passage through the air. It dives with 
