134 



The Irish Naturalist. 



[June, 



chin and neck black, is the young of the Common Razorbill, 

 which has the chin and throat black. 



In 1889 and 1890 I saw several "young Razorbills" exactly 

 like the one I shot on the Tearaght, swimming and diving 

 around the Copeland islands — the same "young Razorbill" 

 which I found heavier and larger than the old common bird — 

 their young being with them. Only a single pair would be 

 met with. Here we have the " young Razorbill " accompanied 

 by its 3'oung. I passed quite close to them in our attending 

 boat, and saw them several times in the Sound between the 

 Copeland islands and the mainland, at Donaghadee — always 

 in single pairs — the "young Razorbill " with its young by its 

 side, and diving along with it. I saw the same kind of bird 

 with its young by its side on several occasions at the entrance 

 to Kingstown Harbour in 1894. Are these not proofs that the 

 " Young Razorbills" which had their own young with them, 

 were old birds, distinct from the common species ? 



Will it be said that these "Young Razorbills " accidentally 

 met with their younger kindred, which had been abandoned 

 by their own parents — the Common Razorbill— and became 

 their guardians ? 



I observed during the several years I was on the Tearaght 

 the great care and apparent anxiety of the Razorbill in the 

 rearing of its young. The hatching is done by the male bird 

 as well as the female. When one goes away the other takes 

 its place immediately. The Guillemots do the same ; perhaps 

 the principal object is to protect the eggs against the Herring 

 Gulls, which are continually hovering about, looking for any 

 exposed egg that they may carry it off. The Razorbills lay 

 their eggs mostly in splits or crevices in the rocks, where 

 they make a good fight and often cause blood to flow, before 

 they allow themselves to be captured. 



The following incident will illustrate this : — While I was on 

 the Tearaght, my wife with her little boy, about five years old, 

 went one evening for a walk along the pathway which skirts 

 the side of the island. She also had a little dog with her. 

 The boy with the dog wandered away some distance above the 

 road, while she had a rest by the way. After a little while, 

 she heard an awful screech from the boy ; he put his hand 



