THE BLACK GUILLEMOT. 
159 
one rainy afternoon, over a great swell of the sea. The entrance of the 
fissure was opened, and a stick pushed into the hole, when I had the pleasure 
of seeing both birds, although apparently in a state of distress, run out by 
me, and at once fly to the water. 
The flight of the Black Guillemot is rapid and continued. As they 
proceed in their course, they alternately shew the black of their lower parts 
and the white of their wings. They walk on the rocks with considerable 
ease, using short steps, and whenever they wish to remove from one crag 
or block to another, make use of their wings. When their nests are very 
high^above the water, they fly directly into them ; and from such heights, 
if necessity demands it, they at once dive towards the water. 
I kept many alive on board the Ripley. They ran on the floor in an erect 
position for a few yards, fell down on their breasts, rose again, and con- 
tinued their exertions to escape until they got fairly concealed behind a 
chest or barrel. 
The winter plumage of this species differs so greatly from that of summer, 
that I have been induced to present you with a figure of the bird in both 
states. It is difficult to perceive any external difference between the sexes, 
only the males are rather larger than the females. Their flesh, although 
black and tough, is not very unpalatable. 
The trachea is flattened, with numerous close, transparent rings. The 
gullet, as in all the other species of this genus, is very dilatable. The 
gizzard, which is small, has its inner membrane thin and of a yellow colour. 
The intestines are about the thickness of a goose quill, and measure two feet 
eight inches in length. 
Uria Grylle, Bonap. Syn., p. 423. 
Uria Grylle, Black Guillemot , Nutt. Man., vol. ii. p. 523. 
Black Guillemot, Uria Grylle , And. Orn. Biog., vol. iii. p. 148; vol. v. p. 627. 
Adult, 131, 21*. 
Accidental as far south, on the eastern coast, as New York ; not rare from 
thence eastward, during winter. Breeds from the Bay of Fundy along all 
the rocky shores, to Labrador, and the highest latitudes, where considerable 
numbers even spend the winter. 
Adult in summer. 
Bill shorter than the head, straight, rather stout, tapering, compressed, 
acute. Upper mandible with the dorsal line nearly straight and sloping, 
towards the tip slightly arched, the sides sloping and towards the end a 
little convex, the edges sharp and slightly inflected. Nostrils basal, lateral, 
linear, partially concealed by the feathers. Lower mandible with the angle 
