RAZORBILL. 263 



Razorbill. Alca torda Linn. 



Although the Razorbill (Plate 114) is classed as a British 

 resident, it is only from about the end of March to the beginning 

 of August that it wiUingly comes to land ; the rest of its life — 

 day and night alike — is spent at sea. It is a pelagic inhabitant 

 of the North Atlantic, nesting so far south as the Channel 

 Islands in the east, and New Brunswick in the west. In winter 

 it enters the Mediterranean and visits the seas of the Canary 

 Islands and Azores. In their breeding haunts all round the 

 British Isles the Razorbill and Guillemot are usually near neigh- 

 bours. In autumn and winter the Razorbill keeps well away 

 from the shore, but stormy weather drives it in ; after continuous 

 rough weather, when it finds difficulty in obtaining food, large 

 numbers of weakened birds are beaten to death by the breakers. 



The boat excursionist, seeing a small black and white duck- 

 like bird swimming in front of the steamer and adroitly 

 diving under the bows, calls any auk a " Diver," but the bird 

 may be a Razorbill, one of the Guillemots, or a Puffin. In 

 the shape of its bill the Razorbill is intermediate between the 

 two ; it is deep and laterally compressed, far more so than the 

 long pointed bill of the Guillemot, but shallower and less 

 smartly decorated than that of the Puffin. It is black and 

 transversely grooved, the deepest groove being sharply lined 

 with white. The swimming Razorbill looks black on the back 

 and wings, the Guillemot brown ; it floats buoyantly, tossed like 

 a cork, its head rests easily on its stout neck, its short, pointed 

 tail is slightly elevated. It can paddle quickly, and does so 

 as the cutwater approaches, glancing back over its shoulder 

 to judge the right moment to duck ; when the curl from the 

 bows threatens to swamp it, the bird neatly dives, leaving a 

 trail of bubbles from its now open wings, for it flies under 

 water. When swimming under water the bird inclines down- 

 ward to react against the uplift of its air-filled body, and 



