AUKS 273 



RAZOR-BILL. Alca torda, Linnaeus. PI. 26, figs. 13, 14. 

 Length, 17 in. ; bill, 1-3 in. ; wing, 7-25 in. ; tarsus. 

 1-25 in. 



May be found in limited numbers in the tideway 

 of the open sea all round the coast throughout the 

 year, but most conspicuous when frequenting the 

 cliflfs in hundreds during the breeding season. 



These birds, which are nowhere so numerous as 

 Guillemots, have been observed to carry their young 

 on their backs over a rough sea, and to transport 

 them in the same way from the cliffs. They go 

 southwards for the winter to the Mediterranean. 



One shot off Canvey Island at the mouth of the 

 Thames, Dec. 14, 1895, weighed 27 oz. ; the stomach 

 was full of sprats, which were then plentiful. The 

 weight varies from 24 to 27 oz. 



LITTLE AUK. Mergulus alle, Linnceus. PL 26, figs. 

 15, 15a. Length, 8-5 in.; bill, 0*65 in.; wing, 4*5 

 in. ; tarsus, 0*9 in. 



A winter visitant from Iceland and Spitsbergen, 

 where it breeds, and where it is known to sailors 

 as rotche or rotge} It is somewhat irregular in 

 its appearance. After storms at sea, great num- 

 bers are driven upon the coasts of the eastern 



^ Wheelwright states that the Spitsbei'gen name for these birds 

 (rut-ges) is derived from their peculiar cry, rott-td-tet-tet (" Ten Years in 

 Sweden," p. 441). But I suspect some confusion here in applying 

 the Northern name to the wrong species — see Raine's note on the word 

 Rutgoys which occurs (pp. 327, 343) in the " Durham Household Book," 

 1530-1534, published by the Surtees Society in 1844, and which from 

 its signification is more applicable to the Brent Goose, q.v. 



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