iS'99-] M'Carron. — Notes on the Razorbill. 135 



into a hole where a Razorbill was hatching its egg, and was 

 caught by it. The little dog attacked it at once, but was 

 caught by the Razorbill, and began to roar even worse than 

 the boy. The bird still kept the grip, the dog crying furiously 

 until the boy's mother came up excited and breathless. She 

 at once attacked the Razorbill which let go the dog, and in 

 the twinkling of an eye, got a good firm grip of her hand. 

 They all walked away bitten and beaten by the Razorbill, 

 which remained in possession and unconquered. This shows 

 how fiercely they will fight for the protection of their young. 



The young Razorbills, like the young Puffins, leave their 

 nesting places in the night time, when they proceed to the 

 sea ; but I have seen a few of the 3'oung Razorbills set out 

 on this perilous journey in the day time. The young ones 

 are jostled all the way down to the sea by the old ones. If 

 the young one rests too long, the old one shoves it on, and on 

 it goes, rolling and tumbling, and falling sometimes down 

 steep cliffs : but at last the sea is gained. Then an interest- 

 ing performance takes place. The old bird wants to get the 

 young one off to sea. The young one, apparently, does not 

 understand this, and merely swims about. The old bird 

 seems excited, swims round it and right off before it a few 

 yards, then returns and dives a few times round about it. 

 At last it commences to peck and tug and worry the young 

 bird ; but it is so stupid that it cannot understand. Hours are 

 spent in this way, and little progress is made ; at last the old 

 bird dives down and conies up under the young one, which is 

 nicely poised on its back. In this w T a}* the mother swims off 

 to sea with its offspring, rising and falling with the heaving 

 of the billows, until they are lost to view in the distance. 

 This is no mere hearsay — it is my own actual observation ; 

 but my wife was the first on the island to observe it. Some 

 of the young ones give no trouble .when they tumble into the 

 water — they swim off to sea at once, along with the old ones. 

 Others are carried off by wind and tide, and young and old 

 wander along for months. The}' do not gather in flocks as 

 the Puffins do, but go along in single pairs. The shrill pierc- 

 ing cry of the young Razorbill can be heard all round the 

 coast of Ireland. It can be heard by people working in the 



