119 



RAZOR-BILL. 



PLATE OCX. 



Alca twda, PENNANT. MONTAGU. 



ANY slight hollow or cranny in a rock of the cliff overhanging the 

 sea, or even the bare unsheltered surface of the rock itself, a prefer- 

 ence being given to the most precipitous places, is chosen by the 

 Razor-bill as a deposit for its single egg. This in the month of April. 

 Even here, however, it is exposed to accidents of different kinds, and 

 is not unfrequently thrown down by a high wind, or some other bird, 

 great numbers frequenting, from the like causes of predilection, the 

 same breeding-places, or is broken by a chance stone or mass of earth 

 dislodged from above: such landslips overwhelm also, at times, the 

 bird herself. 



The old ones shew 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, and instructed, as it were, almost, what to 

 do, they fail in clearing every obstacle below, and the force of the fall 

 in such case is fatal. They lay towards the end of May, or the 

 beginning of June. 



The egg is subject to almost endless variety. Its prevailing colour 

 is white, blotted and spotted with blackish brown and reddish brown. 



