THE RAZOR-BILL 291 
‘unconcerned. When, however, a Gull had picked up a prize, these 
birds seemed instinctively to know it, and darting off with the 
rapidity of a Hawk (which bird they much resemble in their manner 
of flight), they attacked the unfortunate Gull in the air, and in spite 
of his screams and attempts to escape, they pursued and beat him 
till he disgorged the fish or whatever he had swallowed, when one 
of them darted down and caught the substance before it could reach 
the water. The two then quietly returned to their sandbank, 
where they waited patiently to renew the robbery, should an 
opportunity occur. As the flock of Gulls moved on with the flow 
of the tide, the Boatswains moved on also, hovering on their flank 
like a pair of plundering freebooters. I observed that, in chasing 
a Gull, they seemed perfectly to understand each other as to who 
should get the spoil; and in their attacks on the largest Gulls 
(against whom they waged the most fearless warfare), they evidently 
acted so as to aid each other. If another pair of Boatswains 
intruded on their hunting-ground they immediately seemed to send 
them further off ; not so much by actual battle, as by a noisy and 
screaming argument, which they continued most vigorously till 
the new-comers left the neighbourhood. 
“T never saw these birds hunt for their own living in any other 
way than by robbing the other Gulls. Though not nearly so large 
as some of the birds which they attack, their Hawk-like swoops 
and great courage seem to enable them to fight their way most 
successfully. They are neatly and powerfully made, their colour 
a kind of sooty dull black, with very little gloss or shining tints on 
their feathers.” 
ORDER PYGOPODES 
FAMILY ALCID 
THE RAZOR-BILL 
ALCA TORDA 
Wings reaching to the origin of the tail ; head and upper parts black ; a band 
across the wing ; an interrupted line from the eye to the base of the bill, 
and all the under parts white; bill black, with three or four furrows, of 
which the middle one is white; irides hazel; legs dusky. In summer 
the line from the eye to the bill is pure white, and the whole of the throat 
and neck is black, tinged with red. Length seventeen inches. Eggs 
white, blotched and spotted with two shades of brown. 
In general habits, the Razor-bill closely resembles the Guillemot 
and Puffin. Indeed, in some parts of the coast, the Razor-bill is 
called a Puffin, and the latter a Sea Parrot ; and in Cornwall botb 
