360 
BIRD-LIFE. 
Guillemots occupy the ledges and crevices of the rocks, 
pair by pair, until there is no more room left. Yet, in 
spite of the immense numbers of which the flocks are 
composed, and their crowded position, there is never any 
quarrelling for places; on the contrary, each bird seeks 
to make as much room as he can for his next-door 
neighbour. “ The sociable virtues of the Guillemots,” 
says Naumann, “ at their breeding places, are unbounded, 
and are not limited solely to patience towards their 
neighbours, or the mutual assistance which male and 
female readily afford one another while breeding, but also 
consist in the fact that one parent will continue to sit on 
the egg or feed the young when the other has been 
killed; and, what is more, in the event of both birds 
coming to grief there are always some pairs which, 
happening not to be breeding themselves, immediately 
take upon themselves the care and rearing of the orphan 
egg or bird, with just as much eagerness as if it was 
their own.” Thus, here we find the whole society 
collectively engaged in promoting the welfare of the 
community at large, showing a humanity in their line of 
action, superior unfortunately, to that adopted by the 
human race. In spite, however, of the loving care shown 
by the old birds, many eggs and young are unavoidably 
destroyed, owing to the crowding and continuous move¬ 
ment among the colonists, which often leads to both eggs 
and young being pushed off the slippery ledge of rock 
which forms their cradle, and engulfed in the sea below. 
The rocks at the foot of these breeding places are covered 
with the contents of broken eggs, and besmeared with 
the blood of those half-fledged young which have fallen 
from above, and whose carcases, piled up in thousands, 
cause an insupportable stench. 
