The southern sentinel. (Winnfield, La.) 1883-1910, 1885-11-13
THE TROUBLES OF BABY Gull.
LEMOT.

knows that; but without uOuDt the
Baby Guillemot has more trouble and
excitement than any other kind OF .
baby.
Its troubles begin away back in the
time when it is only an egg. To under
stand about this and its other troubles.
however, we should begin Baby Gull
lemot's story at the time when Father
and Mother Guillemot begin house.
keeping.
Although . bird with feathers and
wings like any other bird. the guile
mot, which is distantly related to the
duck family, very much prefers the
water to the air. Indeed, it is more at
home in the water than the fish that
belong there, and except when it is
ready to 60 to housekeeping. it spends
all its time floating on the bosom of the
ocean, diving yards and yarrs down
into the waters depths in pursuit OF
fish, or swimming miles and miles up
and down the coast
About the beginning of April is the
time when all good guillemots set
about housekeeping. They have GER
tain lonely islands. all girt about with
high steep cliffs, to which they always
go, and there they flock by the thou
sand and tens of thousands. until every
ledge is covered. As they are obliged
to stand upright, like so many soldiers,
they show only their pure white
breasts. and the different lodges Of
rock look as if they were covered with
snow.
Almost any other bird would build
some kind of nest, but the guillemot is
. very odd sort of bird. and lays its one
solitary egg on the hard bare rock.
The bare rock. of course, is anything
but warm up in the northern regions
where the guillemots 60. and therefore
the parent birds are obliged to invent .
way of warming the egg on all sides.
This is the way they do it: They pluck
the feathers and down from off . mar
row strip ON the breast, and then sit
down 30 that the egg touches the barred
skin. and at the same time is covered
on the sides by the warm down. The
part that res.a on the rock Is still lett
out in the cold, however, and one
might suppose that the down which
had been plucked off would be placed
under that spot. But it is not; it is
thrown away, for the bird has better
plan It turns the egg over with it,
bill every once in q while. and so keeps
it warm on every side.
Now the guillemot is found every
where in the Arctic Seas of the Old
and Now Worlds In the winter they
come southwark IN large parties along
the coast of Norway and England. Hut
son Bay Labrador and Newfoundland
Audubon tells-us that large numbers of
American guillemots flock about the
Bay of Fundy.
In addition to outside troubles. Baby
Guillemot has its own Stiffness to con-
tend with. No other bird is so lacking
in wit. One species common in Great
Britain IS even given the title Of ''Fcol-
ish Guillemot. This Is from the fact
that twill suffer itself to be taken in the
hand and killed rather than leave the
cliff it has chosen for its abode.
But, as If to make up for its own
Stiffness, il ever . baby had devoted
parents. the guillemot has, for both
father and mother continually watch
over it, except at neal-times. when
they take turns ct sitting on the egg.
But for aIl their caro- they can not keep
trouble away; for man has been waiting
for this very time, and at the risk of his
life allows himself to be let down over
the clif by : rope in order that he may
gather the guillemots' eggs for food.
Thousands Of eggs are stolen from the
cliffs in this way.
This is the least Of Bsby's troubles,
hosrayer foP hpinNs nu1v an aunp II IL