X 



THE RAZOR-BILL. 



Alca torda. 



F the reader will for a moment 

 glance at the beak of the 

 bird in the illustration he 

 will see that the name 

 " Razor-bill " is a very ap- 

 propriate one. 



The creature to which 

 this peculiarly -shaped ap- 

 pendage belongs is a well- 

 known inhabitant of most, 

 if not all, of the seas sur- 

 rounding the islands of 

 Great Britain. Like the 

 common Guillemot, it spends 

 most of its time upon the "sad 

 sea waves," and, with the 

 exception of those periods oc- 

 cupied in breeding and rear- 

 ing its young, it seldom 

 troubles terra firma with its 

 presence. It feeds upon the 

 lesser crustaeea, and any of 

 the smaller kinds of fishes, 

 pursuing its prey with ease 



