STEIICORAPJUS. ALCA. 275 



General Distribution. The Pomatorliine Skua breeds in 

 the arctic regions of the Old and New Worlds north of about 

 69 N. latitude. In winter it occurs on the inland waters o 

 Europe down to the Mediterranean, and is found as tar south 

 as Walvisch Bay, in southern Africa, Burma, Japan, Cape 

 York, north Australia, and Callao Bay, Peru. 



Order ALCIFORMES- 



Family ALCID^. 



Genus ALCA Linnceus, Syst. Nat. 1758, p. 130. 

 Type : A. torda Linn. 

 Alca, latinized from the Icelandic alka, our " auk." 



Alca torda. KAZORBILL. 

 Alca torda Linnaeus, Syst. Nat. 1758, p. 130 : Sweden. 



Alca torda Linn. ; B. O. 17. List, 1st ed. 1883, p. 205 ; Ogilvie- 

 Grant, Gat. Birds B. M. xxvi. 1898, p. 565 ; Saunders, 

 Manual, 2nd ed. 1899, p. 695. 



Torda, the name by which the bird is known in Gothland ; cf . Tordmule, its 

 name in Angermannia, Sweden (Linnasus, Faun. Suec. 1746, p. 43), and in 

 modern Swedish generally. 



Distribution in tlie British Islands. A Resident, breeding 

 on suitable sea-cliffs throughout our Islands, arriving towards 

 the end of March or in April and remaining till the young- 

 bird is taken to sea by its parents. During the rest of the 

 year it is common oft' our coasts. 



General Distribution. The Razorbill breeds on the coasts 

 and islands of the north Atlantic, from Scandinavia to the 

 Channel Islands and Brittany, the Faeroes, Iceland, and 

 south Greenland to Newfoundland and New Brunswick. 

 In winter it wanders southwards and visits the Baltic and 

 Mediterranean seas east to the Adriatic, and, in the Atlantic, 



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