THE MUSEUM. 



1 1 



Doubtless two of the most interest- 

 ing birds on the whole Labrador coast 

 :and that afford the greatest opportunit}' 

 •of study are the Auks and Puffins. Most 

 -collectors are more or less familiar with 

 the eggs, which are \er}- pretty and 

 show really wonderful diversity of color, 

 but a great many probably are not fa- 

 miliar with the breeding habit of the 

 species, except in a vague manner. I 

 wdll here give descriptions of the two 

 species taken from ni}- '^ Bird Notes in 

 Labrador. " 



RA20R-BILLEI) AUK: TlXKEK TuKRli. 



Utaviania tarda. — {L) Leach. 



Regarding this and the succeeding 

 •characteristic birds of Labrador a book 

 ■could be well written, but we must pass 

 them by with notices mcrel}' brief but 

 to the point. With regard to the Razor- 

 billed Auk, the "Tinker" or "Turre" 

 as it is often called, I have noticed them 

 breeding at the Fox Islands, off Kekarp- 

 wei River, in almost as large colonies as 

 the "Parakeets'" off Parakeet or Green- 

 ly Island. I noticed them, also, in 

 thousands about several other small is- 

 lands, and found that this species was 

 always very abundant about this local- 

 ity while much rarer and replaced by 

 the Foolish Guillmot or "Murre" far- 

 ther northward. Here they breed in 

 the crevices of the rocks, long, deep, 

 and narrow clefts being sought. I did 

 not find but a single &^'g in a nest but 

 was repeatedly told by the inhabitants 

 that, if I took the eggs, the birds "will 

 lay again another daw" The people 

 here systematically take all the eggs 

 they can find regularly twice a week 

 •throughout the breeding season, and 

 find the birds so \\onderfully accomo- 

 datino- that the last batch taken is near- 



ly as numerous as the first. The 

 "Turres" associate with both the 

 "Murres" and the Black Guillemots. 

 The n^^^ of the latter bird, though 

 smaller and otherwise distinct, is not 

 unsimilar in appearance, and often the 

 two are found breeding side bv side, 

 though seldom ever in anv great num- 

 bers. The Razor-billed Auks are 

 among the first birds to be seen on ap- 

 proaching the Labrador coast. We 

 found them much more abundant in 

 Southern than in Northern Labrador. 

 With both the Razor-billed Auk and 

 the Foolish Guillemot considerable sim- 

 ilarity of habits appear to exist; possi- 

 bly this results from the fact that both 

 species are so numerous that the chan- 

 ces of individualizing them is reduced 

 to the shape of the bill as seen at short 

 range only, l)ut regarding the flight 

 and habits of the two I kno\\' of no 

 one who has satisfactoril}', to me at 

 least, distinguished between them. 

 We saw thousands of both species; 

 they passed and repassed us so rapidly 

 and so thoroughly bewildered us, as 

 they seemed to be bewildered them- 

 selves, that I could not tell surely in 

 describing either species whether the 

 remark applied equalh' to both or ex- 

 clusively to one. It appears to me 

 that both were remarkabl\" similar in 

 habits. 



On approaching the coast we saw 

 single birds or long lines of them fry- 

 ing here and there in a frightened man- 

 ner close to or near the water, often 

 almost touching the wa\es with their 

 wings as they veered or rose and fell 

 in undulations like the billowy crests 

 beneath them. They were never wild, 

 but flew directly over our vessel or 

 across her bows \\ ith as much fredom 



