ALCA TORDA 385 



Older ALC^^. 



Family ALCID^. 



ALCA TOBDA, Linnaeus. 



EAZORBILL. 



Alca torda, Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 210 (1766) ; Locke, Expl. Sci. Alg. 

 Ois. ii, p. 210 (1867) ; Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xxvi, p. 

 565 ; Koe7iig, J. f. 0. 1888, p. 297 ; id. J. f. 0. 1893, p. 105. 



Description. — Adult male, spiiug, from Porto Farina, North Tunisia. 



Upper plumage blacli, tlie short secondaries tipped witli white, forming 

 a narrow alar bar ; sides of head and throat white, with a few blacliish 

 feathers here and there ; remainder of underparts pure white. 



Iris, bill and feet black, the bill with a narrow white line or groove on 

 each side of the mandibles. 



Total length 18 inches, wing 7-50, culmen 1-80, tarsus 1-25. 



Adult female resembles the male. 



The bill in young birds is straighter and smoother than that of the adult 

 and is without the white lines on the sides. 



The Kazorbill is not uncommon in winter on the northern coast 

 of Tunisia, and in some years is even abundant. It is, however, more 

 or less irregular in its occurrence, its visits being probably in a great 

 measure dependent on the state of the weather. Tlie species may be 

 met with along the north coast from Tabarka to Goletta, and in 

 stormy weather is even to be found occasionally on the Lake of Tunis, 

 but I have no note of its occurrence on any of the southern shores of 

 the Eegency. 



It occurs in winter on the coasts of Algeria and Marocco, and, 



according to Colonel Irby, is in some winters to be found in very 



large numbers in the Straits of Gibraltar. The species inhabits the 



North Atlantic as far as about 73° N., ranging southward to the 



Mediterranean, the Canaries and the Azores, and on the American 



coasts to Southern New England. There is no authentic record of 



the occurrence of this Auk in the Pacific. 



25 VOL. II. 



