296 THE RAZOR-BILL. 



loftier ledges than the Guillemot cared to occupy, and that 

 in little parties, separately, or mixed with other species, and 

 occasionally a solitary bird might be seen tenanting a snug 

 cranny."^ In a list of birds which frequent St. Abb's 

 Head, given to Mr. Hardy in 1855 or 1856 by the late 

 Andrew Wilson of Coldingham, it is stated that the "Coulter 

 Neb " {Alca torda) then nested at the Eampart, Skelly, and 

 Foul Carr Cove ; and comments on this list in 1857 by the 

 late Mr. Francis Purves show that it was then found on all 

 parts of the Head. 



From the above statement it would appear that the subject 

 of our notice was formerly much more plentiful at St. Abb's 

 Head than it is at the present time, when it is found breed- 

 ing in small numbers only, along with colonies of Guillemots, 

 on the ledges of the high precipitous rocks which run into 

 the sea near the ruins of the ancient nunnery. When I 

 visited this haunt in the end of June 1886, very few 

 Eazor-bills were to be seen, whilst the ledges were covered 

 with hundreds of Guillemots. In size, colour, and habits, 

 this species resembles these birds, and it returns to its 

 nesting places in spring about the same time. Its single 

 egg, which is usually deposited on the bare rock, is smaller 

 and more oval than that of the Guillemot, and is white, 

 blotched, and spotted with reddish-brown. During autumn 

 and winter the Eazor-bill is found off the coast of the 

 county, where it feeds on small fishes and crustaceans. It 

 swims with great ease, and is an expert diver. 



Mr. Hardy, writing on the effects of the severe winter 

 of 1878-79, mentions that in February 1879 numbers of 

 dead Eazor-bills were found washed ashore near Oldcambus.^ 



1 Hist. Ber. Nat. Club, vol. iii. p. 73. 2 75/,;. vol. ix. pp. 126-389. 



