378 BRITISH BIRDS. 



approaching black, and that of the underlying spots pale greyish brown; they 

 varv iu size from large blotches, often couHuent round the large end, to the 

 minutest speck. In rare instances a few streaks are mixed with the spots, 

 and in still rarer instances most of the markings are streaks. The richest 

 and handsomest eggs that I have seen are those from Lundy Island ; those 

 from the Yorkshire cliffs are, on an average, not quite so handsome ; hand- 

 some eggs are still rarer in collections from the north of Norway, and 

 rarest of all in those from St. Kilda. The normal eggs vary in length from 

 3'1 to 2'7 inch, and in breadth from 1'95 to 1"7 inch; but the three large 

 eggs already alluded to vary in length from 3'75 to 3*55 inch, and in 

 breadth from 2-25 to 2-2 inch. 



The Razorbill only rears one nestling in the year, but if its egg be i;aken 

 it will lay a second and even a third. Mr. Theodore Walker has observed 

 that the young remain on the cliffs until they are nearly fledged, and 

 when once on the water that they never revisit the cliffs, being fed and 

 tended by their parents on the sea. When the young are fledged, the 

 breeding-places are deserted for the remainder of the year, and the birds 

 often go far out to sea or wander down the coasts in search of their finny 

 prey. It is said that the young are sometimes conveyed to the water in 

 the bill of the old birds, and that on the sea they are taught to dive by 

 their parents. 



The Razorbill is larger than the Puffin, but not quite so large as the 

 Guillemot. There is no difference in colour between the sexes, but there 

 is an important seasonal change of plumage. The general colour of the 

 upper parts in nuptial dress is black, slightly glossed -with, green, and 

 shading into brownish black on the wings and tail; the secondaries are 

 narrowly tipped with white, forming a band across the wing, which is very 

 conspicuous during flight ; on each side, from the base of the ridge of the 

 culmen, extending to the eye, is a narrow white streak ; the chin and 

 throat are brownish black ; the remainder of the underparts, including the 

 axillaries and under wing-coverts, are pure white. Bill bhick, Avith a curved 

 transverse white line in the centre on each side ; legs, feet, and claws 

 brownish black ; irides hazel. After the autumn moult the general colour 

 of the upper parts is not so strongly sufiuscd with gi-een, the sides of the 

 nape are mottled with white, and the chin, throat, and sides of the head 

 are pure white, uniform in colour with the rest of the underparts; the 

 narrow white line from the bill to the eye is also much less clearly defined. 

 Young in first plumage very closely resemble adults iu winter plumage, 

 but the upper parts are browner, the wing-bar is suffused with buff, the 

 narrow white line from the bill to the eye is nearly obsolete, and the bill 

 is much smaller, without the furrows and the white transverse stripe on 

 each side. After the first spring moult the adult nuptial plumage is almost 

 completely assumed, but the bill, although presenting the white trans- 



