ALCAD^E. 557 



be a distinct species, to which he gave the name of 

 the " Blackbilled Auk." Bewick also mentions the 

 " Blackbilled Auk" as distinct, but winds up his 

 account of it with the following quotation from 

 Latham : " This from its external marks should 

 appear to be a different species from the Razorbill, 

 but we are pretty certain it is no other than the 

 young of that bird." 



In the adult bird the bill is narrow at the ridges 

 and flat at the sides, not so broad as that of the 

 Puffin, but rather longer in proportion to the 

 breadth. There is a distinct white streak across the 

 bill ; irides dark brown ; there are two narrow streaks 

 of white from the top of the upper mandible, one to 

 each eye ; the head, the back of the neck, and all the 

 upper parts black ; the tips of the secondary quills 

 are white, making a white bar on the wing ; the chin 

 and front of the neck in summer are very dark sooty 

 brown ; the breast and under parts are white ; legs, 

 toes and webs black. In winter the sides of the face, 

 chin and fore part of the neck are white, and there is 

 no white line from the upper mandible to the eye. 

 One specimen in my collection, shot by me off Ex- 

 mouth on the 10th of April, wants the white lines 

 from the bill to the eyes, but otherwise the summer 

 plumage is beginning to return, the white on the fore 

 part of the neck being much mixed with brown. A 

 young bird of the year, also shot by me at Exmouth, 

 on the 22nd of November, has the bill much smaller, 



SB 3 



