viewed sitting on a rock, its body inclined a little forward, may give
us some idea of the great auk’s appearance. It is less than half the
size of the vanished bird, but is its nearest living representative.
Throughout the year the razorbill is not an uncommon species in the
seas that surround the British Islands, but is very much less abundant
than the common guillemot, which it most nearly resembles in its
habits. That it will become still less common than it is at present
is greatly to be feared. For some time past it has been decreasing in
numbers on all our coasts, from what cause is not accurately known.
On this subject Howard Saunders writes: ‘This may partly be owing to
severe visitations of mortality which have from time to time affected
many sea-birds, but especially the present species.’ Whether killed
by an epidemic to which they are liable, or starved to death, as some
naturalists think, it is certain that they perish in large numbers. On
the south coast I have seen their dead bodies, washed up by the waves
during a severe gale, lying in hundreds on the beach; and the same
distressing spectacle has been witnessed by others at various points on
the coast.
[Illustration: FIG. 118.--RAZORBILL (winter plumage). ¹⁄₁₁
natural size.]
The razorbill is a handsome species, with shiny white under-plumage,
the black upper parts relieved by a stripe of pure white on the head
and a narrow white bar across the wing. The black, axe-like beak is
also crossed in its deepest part with a white mark in the form of a
crescent. Its life is mostly passed in the water, where it sits high
and floats buoyantly like a duck. It feeds chiefly on small fishes, for
which it dives, and when pursuing them uses the wings as well as feet
in propulsion. On the sea the razorbills are usually seen in small
flocks; they fly like diving ducks, with rapidly-beating wings, in a
line, one bird behind the other, and so close as to be almost touching.
In March they resort to the bold headlands and precipitous rocky
cliffs which are their breeding-places. They are then seen associating
with guillemots and puffins; for, albeit these three auks differ
in appearance and breeding-habits, they seem to be aware of their
relationship, and mix together in a friendly way. It may, however, be
noticed that on a ledge where many guillemots and a few razorbills are
assembled, as a rule the latter form a little group by themselves.
This species is somewhat silent, although they occasionally utter long
cries, somewhat gull-like in character, but lower and more guttural.
When disturbed they emit a different sound, peculiar and human-like in
tone, resembling the low moans of a person in pain.
A single egg is laid by the razorbill, and is placed in a cranny,
sometimes in a hole several feet deep; occasionally the egg is
deposited in a hollow on a rocky ledge, and in such situations
razorbills and guillemots are found breeding side by side. The egg is
large and handsome, the ground-colour white, spotted and blotched with
different shades of blackish and deep reddish brown, and sometimes
chocolate-colour. Both birds take part in incubating. An observer who
has studied the habits of this bird says that in most cases the young
fly down to the sea, usually early in the morning, and being once
there, do not return to the rocks, as their wings are not then strong
enough to enable them to mount upwards. ‘Sometimes,’ he writes, ‘when
the young one is obstinate, the mother will take it by the back of the
neck, and fly down to the sea.’ (_Zoologist_, 1871, p. 2427.) He
adds that the parent teaches the young bird to dive by taking it by the
neck and diving with it.
The breeding season over, the birds do not return to the rocks until
the next spring.
Common Guillemot.
Lomvia troile.
Head, neck, and upper parts blackish brown; under parts white. Length,
eighteen inches.
* * * * *
The common guillemot is the most abundant of the four species of auks
which inhabit the British Islands. Less handsome and striking in
appearance than the razorbill, in its habits it is just as interesting.
It is found in the breeding season on all parts of our coasts where
extensive rocky cliffs and headlands exist, and it has not been driven
away by persecution. At some points on the coast, as at Bempton Cliffs
and Flamborough Head, and at the Farne Islands, and other localities
farther north, the guillemots are still exceedingly numerous; south of
Yorkshire they have greatly diminished in numbers, and several of the
old breeding-stations have been abandoned.
On the sea their habits are similar to those of the razorbill: they
swim, dive, and fly in strings in the same manner. In appearance the
two species differ considerably. The guillemot has a dusky brown
or mouse-coloured upper plumage, and a straight, sharp beak, very
different to the massive weapon of the razorbill.
Early in spring the guillemots begin to gather from the neighbouring
seas at their old breeding-stations on the summits and sides of cliffs
that face the ocean. Of all birds that breed in communities, they are
the most social, or, at all events, crowd closest together. Where
they breed on the side of the cliff, as at Flamborough, they may be
seen standing in close rows and groups on every ledge or jutting rock
large enough to afford them a footing. A strange and fascinating
spectacle is presented when the cliff is looked at from below, and the
guillemots are seen in thousands, row above row, lessening in size by
distance until, near the summit of the vast precipice, they appear no
bigger than dippers; all standing erect, their backs to the dark stone
wall, and their shiny, white breasts to the sea. It is also strange
to see them gathered on the flat, table-like tops of the ‘Pinnacles,’
a group of isolated, precipitous rocks at the Farnes; for here the
space they have is not sufficient to properly accommodate the vast
number of birds that resort to it. Their appearance forcibly reminds
the spectator of a human crowd on some fête day in a populous city;
but the bird-crowd does not move or sway: each guillemot keeps its
place, for it is standing over its own egg, which must be kept warm at
any cost. In spite of this fixity they are all very alert and lively,
turning their beaks about this way and that, and, when alarmed, all
bobbing and bowing their heads as if to salute the intruder. Although
silent birds when on the sea, the guillemots become loquacious at
their breeding-grounds. They are very excitable, and when two or three
neighbours quarrel, as they frequently do, or a bird returned from the
sea drops on to a ledge where others are standing, or when male and
female meet again after a separation of a few hours, there is a great
deal of noise. They utter a hoarse, long-drawn cry, like the beginning
of a dog’s howl before he has cleared his voice; also a succession of
laughter-like notes, and other sounds resembling the cries, guttural
and clear, of the black-headed gull; and, sometimes, short, barking
notes like those of geese and sheldrakes.
Like most short-winged, heavy-bodied birds, they fly straight to their
point, rushing violently through the air with rapidly-beating wings. It
is amusing to watch a bird flying in from the sea, and attempting to
alight on a ledge of rock already crowded; one or two birds at the spot
the new-comer attempts to drop on threaten to strike with their beaks.
This demonstration prevents him from coming down among them; and, being
incapable of gliding off to one side to drop on to some other spot, or
of suspending himself in the air for a few moments, he is compelled
to drop down without touching the ledge, sweep round, and go straight
out to sea again, and after flying a distance of three or four hundred
yards, or farther, to circle round and come back to the ledge a second
time. The frustrated bird is often seen to fly right away out of sight.
The single egg of the guillemot is deposited on the naked rock, without
any nest, often dangerously near the edge. The sitting-birds are very
careful when leaving the rock to push the eggs from under them; but
when suddenly startled, as by the report of a gun fired from a ship
or boat for the amusement of cockney excursionists, the eggs may be
thrown off the ledge, and in some instances have been seen to fall in a
shower down the cliff-side. The guillemot lays a handsome pear-shaped
egg, very large for the bird. No other bird lays eggs so various in
colour; so greatly do they vary that two eggs cannot be found quite
alike, even among hundreds. The ground-colour in different specimens
is white, cream, stone-colour, pale blue, reddish, and many shades of
green, from a strong, bright green to olive-green. The egg is spotted
and blotched with brown, black, and deep red, and grey. The guillemot
when incubating does not lie on its egg like most birds, but stands
with the egg between its legs, which are placed very far back, as in
all auks, divers, and grebes. It is a pretty and amusing sight to watch
the guillemot, when returning to her egg after a short absence, walk on
to it, and adjust and readjust it a score of times, using her beak and
chin for the purpose, before she is satisfied that it is effectually
covered. Incubation lasts a month, and only one young bird is reared
in the season; if the first egg is taken she will lay a second, and
sometimes a third.
In strange contrast to the guttural croaking and barking cries of
the adults is the language of the young bird. Its hunger-note is a
far-reaching, sandpiper-like cry, clear, tremulous, and musical. In
imitation of this sound the young bird is called a _willock_; and
it is supposed that the name of guillemot, which is of French origin,
is also derived from the young bird’s cry.
Black Guillemot.
Uria grylle.
Plumage sooty black, except a patch on the wing-coverts, which is white
with a black bar; bill black; legs vermilion-red. Length, fourteen
inches.
* * * * *
The black guillemot is much less abundant than the last species.
On the south and east coasts it is extremely rare; its principal
breeding-stations are on the west coast of Scotland; and it also
breeds on the north and west coasts of Ireland. It differs greatly
from the common guillemot in size, being scarcely more than half as
large as that species; also in colouring, the whole plumage, except a
broad white patch on the wing, being glossy black, the legs and feet
bright red. It breeds in the same situations as the common guillemot,
but is not so gregarious; and in its nesting-habits it resembles the
razorbill, laying its eggs in a hole or cranny in the rocks, or beneath
a rock on the soil. Two eggs are laid, in ground-colour white, or pale
stone, or pale green, spotted and blotched with brown and grey. The
young are covered with a greyish black down, and their first plumage is
mottled black and white.
[Illustration: FIG. 119.--LITTLE AUK. ⅛ natural size.]
The black guillemot frequents the seas in the vicinity of its
breeding-station throughout the year.
Brünnich’s guillemot (_Lomvia bruennichi_) is a very rare straggler
from the arctic regions to the northern islands and coasts of Scotland.
The little auk (_Margulus alle_) is an irregular visitor, sometimes in
considerable numbers, to the British coasts, especially in the north.
It is a circumpolar species, and straggles southwards in winter, but
seldom approaches the British Islands, except in very severe weather.
Puffin.
Fratercula arctica.
[Illustration: FIG. 120.--PUFFIN. ⅑ natural size.]
Crown, collar, and upper parts black, all the rest white; bill, bluish
at the base, yellow in the middle, bright red at the tip; legs and feet
orange-red. Length, twelve inches.
* * * * *
Among British birds, whether sea or land, the puffin is the most
singular in appearance--a small auk, compact in build, conspicuous
in black and white plumage, broad collar, white, owlish face, and
great beak, short and adze-shaped, but massive as a toucan’s. The
brilliant colours of this beak, too--red with orange bars--give it a
curious resemblance to the enormous organ of the tropical bird. One
may look at the puffin almost daily, as he stands on the rocks, always
with something of surprise at his strikingly handsome yet grotesque
appearance. The fanciful idea suggests itself that the bird is a
masquerader; that the visible, brilliantly coloured beak has been
artificially made, and put on over the natural beak, just as in the
case of a human masquerader a large, gaily coloured, artificial nose
is sometimes placed over the natural organ. And the puffin’s beak is,
in fact, something of a mask, or superimposed ornament; and after the
breeding season its surface peels off in horny plates, and is shed
like the deciduous bark of certain trees. The bird’s beak in winter is
moderate in size and dull-coloured.
The puffin is a spring visitor to our coasts, and after rearing their
young the birds scatter over the sea and journey southwards. The
puffins found on the east coasts of England and Scotland during the
winter months are probably migrants from more northern latitudes.
Puffins are found in summer in most localities on our coasts where
razorbills and guillemots collect; on the south coast they are rare,
but increase as we go north, until at St. Kilda they are found gathered
in incalculable numbers. As a cliff-breeder the puffin deposits its egg
in a hole or cranny in the rocks like the razorbill, but never on an
exposed ledge, as the guillemot always, and the razorbill sometimes,
does. Sometimes they take forcible possession of rabbit-burrows among
sandhills, driving the owners out; but they prefer making their own
burrows in a soft peaty soil, such as they find at St. Kilda and
in many other localities. In March or April they return from their
wanderings on the sea and begin the great business of the year. Where
they are in large numbers and make their burrows near each other
the soft soil is so undermined by them that it is difficult to walk
over the ground without breaking through the turf and sinking almost
knee-deep in their holes at every few steps. When engaged in digging
the birds are so intent on their work that they may be approached
very closely, and sometimes even taken with the hand. The burrow is
three or four feet in length, sometimes more, and at the extremity a
single egg is laid, oval in form, large for the bird’s size, and white,
faintly spotted and streaked with grey. The young bird is covered with
black down, and has a comparatively small beak, of a dark colour. He
is a squat, lumpish creature, owlish in appearance. When fishing to
supply its young the parent puffin has the curious habit and faculty of
keeping the small fishes it catches in its beak, where they may be seen
as the bird swims on the sea, their tails and a portion of their bodies
protruding at the sides of the beak and mouth. How it manages to hold
several little fishes in this way and go on diving and catching others
is a puzzle. On arriving at the burrow the fishes are placed on the
floor inside, or at the entrance, where the young bird sits waiting for
its parent, and are then picked up one by one and put into the open,
hungry mouth.
INDEX.
Aberdevine, 127
_Acanthyllis caudacuta_, 179
_Accentor collaris_, 86
---- _modularis_, 84
_Accipiter nisus_, 206
_Acredula caudata_, 92
---- _rosea_, 90
_Acrocephalus aquaticus_, 82
---- _palustris_, 82
---- _phragmitis_, 80
---- _streperus_, 79
---- _turdoïdes_, 82
_Aëdon galectodes_, 79
_Ægialitis cantiana_, 287
---- _curonica_, 288
---- _hiaticula_, 287
---- _vocifera_, 288
_Alauda arborea_, 176
---- _arvensis_, 174
---- _cristata_, 178
_Alca torda_, 345
_Alcedo ispida_, 188
Alpine accentor, 86
American bittern, 226
---- goshawk, 216
---- hawk-owl, 199
---- stint, 317
---- wigeon, 238
_Ampelis garrulus_, 114
_Anas boscas_, 239
_Anser albifrons_, 230
---- _brachyrhynchus_, 229
---- _cinereus_, 227
---- _segetum_, 228
_Anthus campestris_, 113
---- _obscurus_, 112
---- _pratensis_, 108
---- _richardii_, 115
---- _spipoletta_, 113
---- _trivialis_, 110
Aquatic warbler, 82
_Aquila chrysaëtus_, 204
---- _clanga_, 216
_Archibuteo lagopus_, 216
Arctic tern, 317
_Ardea alba_, 226
---- _bubulcus_, 226
---- _cinerea_, 223
---- _gazetta_, 226
---- _purpurea_, 226
---- _ralloïdes_, 226
_Ardetta minuta_, 226
_Asio brachyotus_, 197
---- _otus_, 196
_Astur palumbarius_, 216
_Athene noctua_, 199
Avocet, 316
Auk, little, 351
Baillon’s crake, 278
Barnacle goose, 232
Barn-owl, 193
Barred warbler, 70
---- woodpecker, 183
Barrow’s goldeneye, 246
Bar-tailed godwit, 316
Bartram’s sandpiper, 317
Bean-goose, 228
Bearded titmouse, 89
Bee-eater, 190
Belted kingfisher, 189
_Bernicla brenta_, 230
---- _leucopsis_, 232
_Bernicla ruficollis_, 227
Bewick’s swan, 234
Big plover, 282
Bittern, American, 226
---- common, 224
---- little, 226
Black-bellied dipper, 88
Black-billed cuckoo, 193
Blackbird, 47
Blackcap, 67
Black crow, 167
---- eagle, 204
---- grouse, 273
---- guillemot, 350
Black-headed bunting, 154
---- gull, 328
Black kite, 216
---- redstart, 59
---- scoter, 253
---- stork, 226
---- swift, 179
Black-tailed godwit, 316
Black tern, 323
Black-throated diver, 341
---- thrush, 51
---- wheatear, 54
Black-winged stilt, 316
Blue rock, 262
Bluethroat, 59
Blue titmouse, 97
Blue-winged teal, 244
Bonaparte’s sandpiper, 317
Bonxie, 331
_Botaurus lentiginosus_, 226
---- _stellaris_, 224
Brambling, 137
Brent goose, 230
Broad-billed sandpiper, 317
Brown owl, 198
Brünnich’s guillemot, 351
_Bubo ignavus_, 199
Buff-backed heron, 226
Buff-breasted sandpiper, 317
Buffel-headed duck, 246
Buffon’s skua, 333
Bullfinch, 142
_Bulweria columbina_, 339
Bulwer’s petrel, 339
Bunting, black-headed, 154
---- cirl, 150
---- corn, 146
---- Lapland, 154
---- little, 154
---- ortolan, 154
---- reed, 151
---- snow, 152
---- yellow, 148
Bustard, great, 281
---- little, 281
---- Macqueen’s, 281
Butcher-bird, 114
_Buteo vulgaris_, 202
Buzzard, 202
---- honey, 217
---- moor, 216
_Caccabis rufa_, 265
_Calcarius lapponica_, 154
_Calendrella brachydactyla_, 178
_Calidris arenaria_, 308
Capercaillie, 275
Capped petrel, 339
_Caprimulgus ægyptius_, 181
---- _europæus_, 179
---- _ruficollis_, 181
_Carduelis elegans_, 126
_Carpodacus erythrinus_, 144
Carrion crow, 166
Caspian tern, 323
_Certhia familiaris_, 124
_Ceryle alcyon_, 189
Chack-bird, 54
Chaffinch, 134
_Charadrius fulvus_, 286
---- _pluvialis_, 284
Chat, river, 80
_Chaulelasmus streperus_, 241
_Chelidon urbica_, 121
_Chen albatus_, 227
Chiffchaff, 74
Chit-perle, 322
Chough, 157
_Chrysometris spinus_, 127
Churn-owl, 181
_Ciconia alba_, 226
---- _nigra_, 226
_Cinclus aquaticus_, 86
---- _melanogaster_, 88
_Circus æruginosus_, 216
---- _cineraceus_, 201
---- _cyaneus_, 199
Cirl bunting, 150
_Clangula albeola_, 246
---- _glaucion_, 249
---- _islandica_, 246
Clod-hopper, 54
Coal-mouse, 95
Coal-titmouse, 94
_Coccothraustes vulgaris_, 130
_Coccystes glandarius_, 193
_Coccyzus americanus_, 193
---- _erythrophthalmus_, 193
Collared pratincole, 284
_Columba œnas_, 261
---- _livia_, 261
---- _palumbus_, 259
_Colymbus arcticus_, 341
---- _glacialis_, 340
---- _septentrionalis_, 342
Common bittern, 224
---- curlew, 314
---- guillemot, 347
---- gull, 326
---- sandpiper, 309
---- scoter, 253
---- sheldrake, 235
---- skua, 330
---- snipe, 299
---- tern, 319
Coot, 280
_Coracius garrula_, 190
Cormorant, 218
---- green, 220
Corn-bunting, 146
Corncrake, 278
Cornish chough, 157
_Corvus corax_, 172
---- _cornix_, 167
---- _corone_, 166
---- _frugilegus_, 168
---- _monedula_, 163
_Cosmonetta histrionica_, 246
_Cotile riparia_, 122
_Coturnix communis_, 269
Crake, Baillon’s, 278
---- corn, 278
---- spotted, 277
Crane, 281
Cream-coloured courser, 284
Creeper, 124
Crested lark, 178
---- titmouse, 98
_Crex pratensis_, 278
Cricket teal, 243
Crossbill, 144
Crow, black, 167
---- carrion, 166
---- grey, 167
---- hooded, 167
---- Royston, 167
Cuckoo, 190
---- black billed, 193
---- great spotted, 193
---- yellow-billed, 193
_Cuculus canorus_, 190
Curlew, common, 314
---- Esquimaux, 317
---- stone, 282
Curlew-sandpiper, 303
_Cursorius gallicus_, 284
Cushat, 258
_Cyanecula suecica_, 59
---- _wolfi_, 59
_Cygnus bewickii_, 234
---- _immutabilis_, 233
---- _musicus_, 234
---- _olor_, 233
_Cypselus apus_, 178
---- _melba_, 179
Dabchick, 344
_Dafila acuta_, 238
Dartford warbler, 70
_Daulias luscinia_, 62
_Dendrocopus major_, 181
---- _minor_, 183
Desert wheatear, 54
Develing, 179
Dipper, 86
---- black-bellied, 88
Diver, black-throated, 341
---- great northern, 340
---- red-throated, 342
Dotterel, 289
Dove, ring, 258
---- rock, 261
---- stock, 261
---- turtle, 262
Double snipe, 298
Duck, buffel-headed, 216
---- eider, 251
---- harlequin, 246
---- long-tailed, 250
---- tufted, 246
---- white-eyed, 346
---- wild, 239
Dunlin, 300
Dunnock, 85
Dusky shearwater, 337
Eagle, black, 204
---- golden, 204
---- spotted, 216
---- white-tailed, 205
Eagle-owl, 199
Eared grebe, 345
Eastern plover, 286
_Ectopistes migratorius_, 264
Egyptian nightjar, 181
---- vulture, 216
Eider duck, 251
_Elanoides furcatus_, 217
_Emberiza cirlus_, 150
---- _citrinella_, 148
---- _hortulana_, 154
---- _melanocephala_, 154
---- _miliaria_, 146
---- _pusilla_, 154
---- _rustica_, 154
---- _schœniclus_, 151
_Endromias morinellus_, 289
Esquimaux curlew, 317
_Erithacus rubecula_, 59
Erne, 205
European hawk-owl, 199
_Falco æsalon_, 211
---- _peregrinus_, 208
---- _subbuteo_, 210
Falcon, Greenland, 217
---- Iceland, 217
---- peregrine, 208
---- red-crested, 217
---- red-footed, 217
Fallowchat, 54
Fieldfare, 46
Finch, mountain, 137
Firecrest, 74
Firetail, 58
Flycatcher, pied, 118
---- spotted, 116
Fork-tailed petrel, 335
_Fratercula arctica_, 351
French partridge, 265
_Fringilla cœlebs_, 134
---- _montifringilla_, 137
_Fulica atra_, 280
_Fuligula cristata_, 246
---- _ferina_, 248
---- _marila_, 247
---- _rufina_, 246
Fulmar, 337
_Fulmarus glacialis_, 337
Furze-wren, 70
Gadwell, 241
_Gallinago cælestis_, 299
---- _major_, 298
_Gallinula chloropus_, 279
Gannet, 221
Garden warbler, 69
Garganey, 243
_Garrulus glandarius_, 158
_Gecinus viridis_, 184
_Glareola pratincola_, 284
Glaucous gull, 329
Glead, 207
Glossy ibis, 226
Goatsucker, 179
Goldcrest, 72
Golden-crested wren, 72
Golden eagle, 204
Goldeneye, 249
Golden oriole, 114
Golden plover, 284
Goldfinch, 126
Goosander, 255
Goose, barnacle, 232
---- bean, 228
---- brent, 230
---- grey lag, 227
---- pink-footed, 229
---- solan, 221
---- white-fronted, 230
Goshawk, 216
Grasshopper warbler, 82
Great black-backed gull, 327
---- black-headed gull, 330
---- bustard, 281
---- crested grebe, 342
---- grey shrike, 116
---- northern diver, 340
---- reed-warbler, 82
---- skua, 330
---- snipe, 298
---- spotted cuckoo, 193
---- spotted woodpecker, 181
---- titmouse, 92
---- white heron, 226
Greater shearwater, 337
---- whitethroat, 65
Grebe, eared, 345
---- great crested, 342
---- little, 344
---- red-necked, 345
Green cormorant, 220
Greenfinch, 128
Greenland falcon, 217
---- redpole, 140
Green plover, 290
---- sandpiper, 310
Greenshank, 312
Green-winged teal, 244
Green woodpecker, 184
Grey-backed crow, 167
Grey crow, 167
---- lag-goose, 227
---- phalarope, 295
---- plover, 286
---- wagtail, 105
Griffon vulture, 215
Grouse, black, 273
---- red, 272
_Grus communis_, 281
Guillemot, black, 350
---- Brünnick’s, 351
---- common, 347
Gull-billed tern, 323
Gull, black-headed, 330
---- common, 326
---- glaucous, 329
---- great black-backed, 327
---- great black-headed, 330
---- herring, 324
---- Iceland, 217
---- ivory, 329
---- laughing, 329
---- lesser black-backed, 325
---- Sabine’s, 330
_Gyps fulvus_, 216
Gyrfalcon, 217
_Hæmatopus ostralegus_, 293
Half-curlew, 313
_Haliaëtus albicilla_, 205
_Harelda glacialis_, 250
Harlequin duck, 246
Harrier, Montagu’s, 201
Hawfinch, 130
Hawk-owl, American, 199
---- European, 199
Hawk, sparrow, 206
Heather-bleater, 299
Hedge-sparrow, 84
_Helodromus ochropus_, 310
Hen-harrier, 199
_Heniconetta Stelleri_, 246
Heron, 223
---- buff-backed, 226
---- great white, 226
---- night, 223
---- purple, 226