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 decidedly angular beneath; its sides are compressed, and edges somewhat drawn in the foot resembles that of Cephus grylle, but the toes are proportionately longer; the wings are also smaller and more pointed, and the tail, composed of twelve feathers, shorter; the general plumage is thick and compact; the under surface is usually white and almost fur-like, whilst the upper parts of the body are more or less dark brown. The Guillemots principally inhabit northern latitudes, at certain seasons appearing in more temperate climates; except during the period of incubation they seldom visit the land, but pass their whole time upon the ocean. They are excellent swimmers, and dive well, using both feet and wings for their propulsion, so that their movements beneath the water are performed with admirable rapidity and precision; their flight is rapid but hurried, and, owing to the shortness of their wings, whirring and noisy. So numerous are these birds in the neighbourhood of their breeding-places, that (more especially if it be a rock of a pyramidal form) they resemble at a distance a great swarm of bees. When descending into the water to fish for food, their wings are kept quite straight and motionless. Except during the breeding season these flights are not often attempted, at other times they seldom leave the water, or if induced to take a short excursion, by way of exercising their wings, they soon drop down again into the friendly shelter of the waves. They are almost unable to progress upon dry land; occasionally, however, they may be seen upon the beach, half walking and half flying, with a very peculiar gait, somewhat resembling dancing. Anyone who has visited the breeding-places of these birds will no longer wonder that they have in all languages received names expressive of foolishness and stupidity. When in the water they will often let a boat come close to them without showing the slightest distrust of its dangerous occupants, and on dry land, such is their unconsciousness of harm, that they will allow a man to come within a few steps of them without stirring from the spot. This so-called stupidity or indolence is, however, easily explicable. Of man, who seldom visits their wild resorts, they have no experience, and consequently have not learned to fear him; but should a Falcon or an Eagle make its appearance, even in the remote distance, thousands of them at once take wing, and hastily retreat to some place of safety. The cliffs on which they build present a remarkable spectacle; rocks abounding in rifts, cracks, shelves, and ledges, stretching along the shore or rising abruptly from the sea, afford them the situations they prefer; if isolated, solitary, and accessible to none but winged creatures, so much the more eligible. There, about the end of March or beginning of April, they may be seen to congregate, their numbers gradually increasing until countless multitudes throng every available situation. Thousands and hundreds of thousands swarm upon the ledges, shelves, and projections, wherever these are to be found, and range themselves in rows like a regiment of soldiers, all with their white breasts turned towards the sea, hundreds of thousands more may be seen flying off from the ledges of the cliffs down to the water below, while multitudes, equally innumerable, are as constantly flying upwards from the sea to the cliff, and whole fleets are swimming and diving in the waves beneath. Strange to say, although every place affording foothold is crowded to excess, the utmost order and decorum everywhere prevail; each seems desirous of assisting and accommodating the other, so that disputes or battles seldom occur. The countless pairs of which this vast assembly consists exhibit the utmost constancy and attachment, and may be seen before the eggs are laid, keeping constantly together, caressing each other with their beaks, and evincing the greatest affection. They fly off together to the sea, fish together for a supply of food, and then return to their nesting-place, where they subsequently share the duties connected with the incubation of the eggs, and the procuration of food for their progeny. The female lays but a single very large egg, which is shaped like a pegtop, and thus, by a simple but beautiful contrivance, is prevented from rolling off the narrow ledge on which, without any other protection, it safely rests. The egg is provided with a coarse shell, spotted and streaked with dark markings upon a light ground, but so variable are the colours, that out of a hundred scarcely two will be found exactly alike.