G2 FAMILIAR WILD BIRDS. 



and certainty. It swims and dives equally well, and is' 

 quite as capable of securing its food below the water as 

 on the surface. Like most birds of this class, the water is its 

 proper element, and its easy and rapid movements therein 

 offer a great contrast to its clumsy efforts at locomotion 

 when upon dry land. When disturbed and compelled to 

 take to its wings, it rises in the air with difficulty, splash- 

 ing along on the water for some little distance. The 

 flight is however rapid, strong, and capable of being sus- 

 tained for a considerable distance, far more powerful than 

 would be imagined by the comparative smallness of the 

 wings. 



This bird is probably an exclusively North- Atlantic 

 species. It breeds on the sea rocks (in greater or less num- 

 bers) from Cornwall to Shetland, round the coast of 

 Ireland, the Channel Islands and St. Kilda. Nova Scotia, 

 Newfoundland, and Labrador are also stated as localities 

 frequented by the Razor-bill for breeding purposes, as are 

 also the rocky shores of Norway. 



The Razor-bill lays but one egg, the measurement of 

 which is about two inches and three-quarters by one inch 

 and ten lines ; the grounding is white, and the markings 

 are reddish-brown and blackish-brown, but the eggs are 

 subject to much variation. 



The Razor-bill must be considered as a rather late 

 breeder, as its eggs are seldom found before the middle of 

 May. The birds begin to assemble with Puffins, Guillemots, 

 and Gulls at their breeding-places about the end of March 

 or the beginning of the following month, and the sea, rocks, 

 and precipices are then crowded with vast numbers. Ac- 

 cording to some authorities, Razor-bills pair for life, and 

 regularly return year after year to the same identical crevice 



