KAZOK-BILL. 367 



of the beak, the aperture almost entirely closed by a membrane covered with 

 feathers. Legs short, abdominal ; only tliree toes, all in front, entirely united 

 by membrane ; claws but slightly curved. Wings short, tail pointed. 



The Razor-bill so closely resembles the Common 

 Guillemot in the localities it frequents ; in the time of its 

 movements ; in its manners, habits, and food ; in its general 

 colours and appearance, and the seasonal changes of its 

 plumage ; that the history of the one species, given at page 

 343, is the history of the other, and repetition would be use- 

 less. The egg of the Razor-bill, however, differs in size, 

 form, and colour ; it wants the lengthened pear shape of that 

 of the Guillemot, as well as its agreeable green colour ; it 

 measures only two inches and three-quarters in length, by 

 one inch and ten lines in breadth ; the ground colour is 

 white, blotched and spotted with red-brown, and blackish- 

 brown. The bird is abundant on most of the islands of the 

 Arctic seas, and the Zoological Society have received a 

 young bird in its first winter-dress from Tangiers ; but this 

 is the farthest southern range I am able to quote for it. 



Both sexes are alike in plumage, and in summer the beak 

 is black, with three transverse grooves, and one white line on 

 the upper mandible, two transverse grooves and a Avhite line 

 on the lower mandible ; from the top of the beak to each 

 eye there is a well-defined streak of pure white ; irides dark 

 brown ; the whole of the head, chin, throat, hind neck, back, 

 wings, and tail black; the tips of the secondary quill-fea- 

 thers, the breast, and all the under surface of the body pure 

 Avhite ; legs, toes, and their membranes brownish-black ; 

 whole length about seventeen inches ; wing, from the wrist 

 seven inches and a half. 



A young bird of the year killed in December, represented 

 by the central figure in the illustration, has the beak smooth 

 and black, as yet without ridge, groove, or white line on 

 either mandible ; the white line from the top of the beak to 



