564 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. 



FAMILY ALCID^E. 



Bill without lamellae along the edges ; usually shorter than the head, compressed, 

 and pointed; anterior toes connected fully by a continuous membrane; hind toe 

 often entirely wanting; the outer as large as the middle; the claws higher than 

 broad; legs inserted far back; wings short, concave. 



The Alcidce are readily distinguished from the Colymbidce by the absence of hind 

 toe, the continuous webbing of the toes, the compressed claws, and other characters. 

 The species are all exclusively marine, usually arctic, only coming southward in 

 winter. Owing to their boreal residence, they are little known ; and several species 

 doubtless yet remain to be discovered. 



Sub-Family ALCIN^E. The Auks. 

 ALGA, LINNJEUS. 



Aka, LINNAEUS, Syst. Nat. (1758). 



General form short, broad, and strong; wings short; tail short; bill about as 

 long as the head, feathered at base, much flattened laterally, wider, and somewhat 

 hooked at the end ; upper mandible with oblique transverse grooves ; wings short 

 and feeble; tail short, pointed; legs and feet short and strong; toes fully webbed. 



ALCA TORDA. Linnceus. 

 The Razor-billed Auk. 



Aka torda, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. (1758) 130. Aud. Orn. Biog., III. (1835) 

 112; V. 428. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Much smaller than the preceding; general form short and heavy; bill rather 

 long, densely feathered at base, flattened laterally ; upper mandible with three to five 

 curved transverse grooves ; under mandible with three or four transverse grooves ; 

 feathers on side of upper jaw reaching far beyond the middle of the commissure, and 

 nearly as far as those of the lower jaw; wing moderate, pointed; tail short, gradu- 

 ated, with the middle feathers longest and pointed; legs short, strong; a narrow 

 but very distinct line of white on each side from the base of the upper mandible to 

 the eye ; head and entire upper parts brownish-black, more clearly brown on the 

 throat and neck in front, and darker on the back ; secondary quills narrowly tipped 

 with white ; entire under parts white ; bill black, with a single transverse band of 

 white on both mandibles; feet black. 



Total length, about seventeen inches; wing, eight to eight and a half; tail, three 

 and a half; bill to gape, two and a half inches. 



Hob. North-eastern coast of America; Newfoundland, Labrador, and south ia 

 winter to New Jersey; also, arctic regions of Old World. 



