NESTS AND EGGS OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



742. Razor-billed Auk — utamania torda. White, with a creamy or 

 bluish tint spotted and blotched with dark brown or black, the spots often 

 becoming confluent and generally forming a circle towards the large 

 end; pyriform to oval in shape, one in number; size about 3. by 2. The 

 eggs exhibit a great variety in the distribution and style of markings. 

 In shape they are not distinguishable from some types of the Common Guille- 

 mot, but are shorter in proportion to their breadth and generally more 

 rounded. The Razor-billed Auk is abundant on the coasts and islands of 

 the North Atlantic and some parts of the Polar seas. Breeds from the 

 northeastern coast of Maine northward. It frequents the rocky shores 

 and deposits its eggs in June and July in the caverns and fissures of 

 the rocks. 



Hab. Coasts and islands of the North Atlantic, south in winter on the North American coast to South- 

 ern New England. 



743. Common Puffin — fratercula arctica. Pure white when laid 

 but soon become soiled and appear to be a dirty yellowish-white, 

 some specimens are marked with blotches of brownish-red, the propor- 

 tion of marked ones being about one in five; size from 2.25 to 2.85 

 long by 1.45 to 1.85 broad, rather pointedly oval in shape. Only one 

 egg is laid. The Puffin or Sea Parrot breeds from the northeastern 

 coast of Maine or Bay of Fundy northward. The nest is placed in, a 

 burrow in the earth, dug by the birds. Far north, thousands breed in 

 the fissures of rocky cliffs and in the sides of bluffs. The eggs are de- 

 posited late in June and in July. In many instances two birds are found 

 sitting each on its egg in the same burrow. 



Hab. Coasts and islands of the North Atlantic; south in winter to Long Island, and casually further. 



744. Horned Puffin — fratercula corniculata. The Horned Mask- 

 ing Puffin inhabits the coasts and islands of the North Pacific. Its gen- 

 eral habits and characteristics are the same as the Common Puffin. An 

 ^SS of tl^is species is described as dead white in color and rough 

 shelled, measuring 2.75 by 1.75. 



Hab. Coasts and islands of the North Pacific, from Kurile Islands to Sitka. 



747. Parrot Auk — phaleris psittacula. This Auk, with a curi- 

 ously shaped beak, and called Pug-nosed Auk, inhabits the coasts and 

 islands of the North Pacific and Polar seas. It breeds in the crevices 

 and rifts of the rocky and most inaccessible cliffs and crags. The single 

 egg is described as resembling a small, narrow hen's egg, white, granu- 

 lar and rough, variously soiled and discolored. Size from 2.25 to 2.35 

 long by 1.45 to 1.50 broad. 



Hab. Coasts and islands of the North Pacific, from the Aleutian and Kurile Islands northward. 



