A LABRADOR SPRING 



carefully, are seen to be scarlet, with a steel 

 blue base on the lower mandible, a white line 

 on the upper and an orange patch at the com- 

 misure. There is a curious blue horny spur 

 above the eye, and the edges of the eyelid are 

 vermilion, while the inside of the mouth is a 

 deep gamboge yellow, and the feet are orange 

 red. 



Another bird that later in the season laid its 

 eggs on this island, one can not say nested, for 

 the egg is deposited on the bare rock, was the 

 razor-billed auk, and we saw a little company of 

 seventeen of these birds flying about the island, 

 all that was left of the throngs that bred in that 

 region in Audubon's day. Here the bill is jet 

 black ornamented with a curved white line, 

 and wonderfully set off, when the bird opens 

 its mouth, by the brilliant yellow lining of that 

 cavity. The birds were swimming about in 

 little bands with their tails cocked up, and were 

 evidently discussing matrimonial plans. 



One does not expect to pick up the eggs of 

 wood birds at sea, but on our return from Bald 

 Island we were obliged to anchor behind Little 

 St. Charles Island, where a fishing boat from 

 Esquimaux Point had also taken refuge from 

 128 



