396 
DIVERS. 
on the still more dreary coasts of Spitzbergen In the hyper- 
boreal seas and straits of America it also abounds, from the 
inclement shores of Melville Island down to Hudson Bay 
and Labrador. According to Mr. Audubon it also breeds on 
the isle of Grand Menan, in the Bay of Fundy. Like the 
other Guillemots, these birds are entirely marine, never going 
inland, and rarely seek the coast but for the indispensable pur- 
pose of reproduction. In the cold and desolate regions of 
the North, abandoned by nearly every other animal, the Guille- 
mots, though in diminished numbers, find means to pass the 
winter; frequenting at such times the pools of open water, 
which occur even in these high latitudes amongst the floes of 
ice. Others, but in small numbers, and those probably bred 
in lower latitudes, venture in the winter along the coasts of 
the United States. In Europe they are also seen at this sea- 
son along the borders of the Atlantic. They are alike indig- 
enous to the western side of the American continent, and 
occur in Kamtschatka. At St. Kilda, on the Bass Isle, in the 
Firth of Forth, in the Fame Islands, off the coast of Northum- 
berland, and on some parts of the coast of Wales, particularly 
near Tenby, they are known to breed. 
I'hey fly commonly in pairs with considerable rapidity, al- 
most grazing the surface of the sea, but at other times they 
proceed in a more elevated course. Their note, according to 
Audubon, is a contracted whistle. They nestle sometimes 
under ground, but more commonly in the deep and rocky 
fissures of inaccessible cliffs and bold headlands projecting into 
the sea. To avoid the access of water to the eggs, they com- 
monly pile together a nest of pebbles, beneath which the 
rain-water or melting snow passes off without any injury or 
inconvenience. To escape becoming the prey of the foxes 
which incessantly watch for them, the young, w'hen pushed to 
the necessity, throw themselves without difficulty from their 
impending eyries into the sea. These birds dive with great 
facility, and feed upon small fish, but particularly on shrimps, 
small crabs, and other crastacea, and marine insects. They 
show considerable vigilance on being approached, and are 
