RAZOR-BILL 



PLATE CCX. 

 Alca torda, 



ANY slight hollow or cranny in a rock of the cliff over- 

 hanging the sea, or even the bare unsheltered surface 

 of the rock itself, a preference being given to the most pre- 

 cipitous places, is chosen by the Razor- Bill as a deposit for 

 its single egg. This is laid in the month of April. It is 

 exposed to accidents of different kinds, and is not unfre- 

 quently thrown down by a high wind, or by some other 

 bird, great numbers frequenting the same breeding-places ; or 

 is broken by a chance stone or mass of earth dislodged 

 from above. The young are borne down to the sea on the 

 back of one or other of the parents. Razor-Bills often build 

 in company with Kittiwakes, Puffins, Herring Gulls, and 

 Guillemots, each kind keeping to itself. 



The old ones show much attachment to their young. 

 The latter are able in July to provide for themselves, but 

 the descent to the sea is not always accomplished with 

 safety. It sometimes happens that in throwing themselves 

 down from the edge of the cliff, to which they are led by 

 their parents, they fail in clearing the obstacles below, and 



the force of the fall in such case is fatal. They are also at 



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