124 BIRDS OF ICELAND 



Eicliardson's Skua the shafts of all the primaries are 

 white at all ages. Length 23 inches (14| without the 

 central tail-feathers), wing about 12 inches. 



Buffon's Skua feeds on any animal matter, insects, 

 Crustacea, stolen fish and eggs, mice, lemmings (in 

 Europe), and sometimes moorland berries. 



Alca torda, Linn. Razorbill. 



Native names : ' 'Alca,' ' Klumba ' ; to which Herra 

 Grondal adds in brackets ' Klumbunefja ' (Club- 

 bill), and 'drunnefja' or 'drumbnefja' (Pole- or 

 beam-bill). 



A common resident, breeding in suitable localities 

 round the coasts, assembling in large flocks during the 

 winter, especially off the south coasts. It nests in 

 colonies, on ledges and in holes of sea-cliffs, laying 

 one large egg, usually white in ground colour, but 

 sometimes of a lisfht maroon or umber brown, blotched 

 and scribbled with dark brown and black. They are 

 usually less pear-shaped and rounder at the small end 

 than Guillemot's eggs, and are about 2f inches long. 



The bird is black above, with a sooty throat which 

 in winter turns white ; rest of underparts white ; bill 

 flat with a thin curved white line across the middle, 

 and another from the top of the bill to the eye. 

 Length 17 inches, wing 7| inches. 



The food consists of fish, and any marine creatures 

 of suitable size. The Razorbill passes most of its time 



