THE KAZOn-BlTX. 597 



The Great Auk is an inhabitant of the Arctic Seas, but its history has not yet been 

 satisfactorily traced. We know only that it extends from the extreme north to the 

 Orkney Islands and St. Kilda ; a few, liowever, have been seen as far south as Devon- 

 shire and Waterford. It is generally considered as a scarce bird. 



"When Mr. Bullock made his tour of the Orkneys in 1813, he was informed that one 

 male only had made his appearance for a long time, which had rcgailarly visited Papa 

 Westra for several years. The female, which the natives called the Queen of the Auks, 

 was killed just before Mr. Bullock's arrival; the king, or male, that gentleman had the 

 pleasure of chasing- for several hours, in a six-oared boat, but without being able to kill 

 him. The rapidity with which he pursued his course under water was almost incredible. 

 Very soon after, however, the male bird was sent to Mr. BuUock, and it is now in the 

 Ornithological Collection of the British Museum. 



The Great Auk is remarkable for the imperfect development of its wings : its length 

 is somewhere about three feet ; and its wings are destitute of the feathers requisite for 

 flight. The wings are very short, not exceeding four inches and one-fourth from the 

 tips of the largest quill -feathers to the first joint, and, though useless for the purposes 

 of flight, are very serviceable in swimming imder water. The great auks frequent the 

 frozen seas as far north as navigators have penetrated, seldom straying far from land or 

 floating ice, and yet never quitting the water but for the purposes of breeding, being 

 nearly as unfit for waEiing as for flying ; and when on shore, like other auks and 

 holding themselves in a nearly vertical position. 



THE RAZOR-BILL, OR RAZOK-BILLED AUK.* 



The full-grown individuals of this species measure about fourteen or fifteen inches in 

 leno-th, and twenty-seven in extent of wing. They inhabit the Arctic Seas of both 

 continents, and migrate to the coasts of Norway, Holland, France, and Great Britain. 

 Not only do they associate with guillemots, but they breed in the same places. 



About the beginning of May, they take possession of the highest clifi's for the purpose 

 of incubation, assembling on the ledges of the rocks in great numbers, and sitting closely 

 too-ether, often in a series of rows, one above another. There they deposit their single 

 large egg on the bare rock ; and notwithstanding the multitudes of them thus mingled 

 too-ether, no confusion takes place ; for each bird knows its own egg, and hatches it in 

 that situation. 



The sun's rays, reflected from the bare rock, doubtless aid the heat of incubation. 

 But it has often excited surprise that the eggs are not rolled ofi" into the sea by gales of 

 wind, or even on being touched by the birds ; and it is alleged that, if they are removed 

 by the human hand, it is extremely difiicult to replace them in their former steady 

 situation. In accomiting for this, it has been elicited that the egg is fixed to the spot 

 on which it is first laid by a glutinous substance with which the egg is covered, and 

 which keeps it firm in its place until the young are hatched. 



In the friths and other inlets, when frequented by shoals of young herrings or other 

 fishes, the Razor-bills may frequently be seen in great abundance, and in fine weather 

 they are occasionally to be met with in the open seas. They associate with the guille- 

 mots and kittewakes. Among their breeding-places are St. Abbs, in Berwickshire, the 

 Bass Rock, and Fontoleugh, near Structarm. 



Mr. Macgillivray says : " The Hebrides aflbrd many such retreats, one of the most 

 interestino- of which is the little island of Berneray, called by mariners Barray Head, 



• Alcu 'I'orda. 



