(5 ALCA TOUDA. 



ably coiiuiion, especially daring migrations, throughout our section. They winter from the 

 Carolinas, southward, but are particularly common in Florida at this season, where, per- 

 haps, a lew remain to breed. As {\o all the members of the family, the Pied-billed Grebe 

 places its nest on a mass of floating debris in some quiet, reedy cove of a pond or river, 

 depositing the eg^^% early in June. The young follow their parents as soon as hatched and 

 are cared for by them with great assiduity. All the Grebes possess the power of inflat- 

 ing the space between the skin and body, and thus they can ride lightly on the water, or 

 by contracting the skin and feathers, are enabled to sink slowly beneath the surface, often 

 swimming with only the head exposed; or they will remain hidden in the reeds, with the 

 bill alone i)rojecting. This Grebe migrates with the other species in September and October. 



FAMILY III. ALCIDiE. THE AUKS, PUFFINS, ETC. 

 Bill, usualli/ short and more or less compressed. Legs, short, ivifh toes fully webbed. 

 Members of this family liave the neck quite short. The legs are placed far back in the 

 body, yet the birds can generally stand in a perpendicular position with ease. Sternum, 

 long and narrow, with two marginal indentations. The outer covering of the bill is moult- 

 ed in some species. The young are covered with down at birth but do not enter the wa- 

 ter until fully fledged, being fed by the parents by nsgurgitation. 



GENUS f. ALCA. THE AUKS. 



Gen. Ch. Bill, shorter than head ,fealheretl at base , cumpressed, but not as hiijh as long. Theliiil is ridged transverse- 

 ly. There is but one species within our limits. 



ALCA TORDA. 

 Razor-billed Auk. 



Aha torJa Linn., Syst. Nat., 1; 1760, 210. 



DESC'RIFXION. 



Sp. Cn. Form, rattier slender. Size, medium. Color. Adult. Head, upper neclj, and upjjer parts, sooty-brown, 



lightest anteriorly. Very narrow line from bill to eye, tip of secondaries, and beneath, white. Iris and feet, brown, liill, 



black, crossed with a curved line of white. In winter. Similar, but wliite beneath to bill. Youmj, similar to tlie winter 



adult, but with bill weaker. 



OBSERVATIONS. 



Kuown by the peculiar bill and wliite line in front of eye. Distributed, in summer, from Maine, northward; winter- 

 ing from Massachusetts to Florida. 



DIMENSIONS. 

 Average measurements of specimens from North America. Length, 17 00; stretcli, '26-00; wing, 765; tail, 3-35; bill, 

 1-45; tarsus, MS. Longest specimen, 18-00; greatest extent of wing, -27-00; longest wing, 7-75; tail.^S-Sn; bill, I'sO; tai-sus,' 

 1-25. Shortest .specimen, 15-00; smallest extent of wing, 25-00; shortest wing, 7-20; tail, 3-25; bill, 1-40; tarsus, 1-00. 



DESCIUFflON OF NESTS AND EGGS. 

 Eygs, placed in holes of elifts. one or two in number, rather oval in form, white in color, spotted and blotched with 

 very dark-brown and umber. Dimensions from 2-10x3-10 to2-I5x315. 



HABITS. 

 The southernmost locality from which I have ever received eggs of the Razor-billed 

 Auk, is a cluster of rocks, about twenty miles from Grand Menan, but the favorite breed- 

 ing ground of the species, is further north, and I found them very a,bundant on the Mag- 

 dtilon Islanils. Here, they place their eggs in holes of rocky cliffs or beneath slabs on the 

 surface. On Bird Rock, where the Razor-bills abound, they were quite tame, allowing 

 me to approach within a few feet of them as they sat on the rocks, but they always managed 

 to elude my grasp, even when incubating, and each bird usually deposits but one egg, 

 though I have occasionally found two. 



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