THE RAZOR-BILL 291 



unconcerned. When, however, a Gull had picked up a prize, these 

 birds seemed instinctively to know it, and darting off with the 

 rapidity of a Hawk (which bird they much resemble in their manner 

 of flight), they attacked the unfortunate Gull in the air, and in spite 

 of his screams and attempts to escape, they pursued and beat him 

 till he disgorged the fish or whatever he had swallowed, when one 

 of them darted down and caught the substance before it could reach 

 the water. The two then quietly returned to their sandbank, 

 where they waited patiently to renew the robbery, should an 

 opportunity occur. As the flock of Gulls moved on with the flow 

 of the tide, the Boatswains moved on also, hovering on their flank 

 like a pair of plundering freebooters. I observed that, in chasing 

 a Gull, they seemed perfectly to understand each other as to who 

 should get the spoil ; and in their attacks on the largest Gulls 

 (against whom they waged the most fearless warfare), they evidently 

 acted so as to aid each other. If another pair of Boatswains 

 intruded on their hunting-ground they immediately seemed to send 

 them further off ; not so much by actual battle, as by a noisy and 

 screaming argument, which they continued most vigorously till 

 the new-comers left the neighbourhood. 



" I never saw these birds hunt for their own living in any other 

 way than by robbing the other Gulls. Though not nearly so large 

 as some of the birds which they attack, their Hawk-like swoops 

 and great courage seem to enable them to fight their way most 

 successfully. They are neatly and powerfully made, their colour 

 a kind of sooty dull black, with very little gloss or shining tints on 

 their feathers." 



ORDER PYGOPODES 



FAMILY ALCID.E 

 THE RAZOR-BILL 



ALCA TORDA 



Wings reaching to the origin of the tail ; head and upper parts black ; a band 

 across the wing ; an interrupted line from the eye to the base of the bill, 

 and all the under parts white ; bill black, with three or four furrows, of 

 which the middle one is white ; irides hazel ; legs dusky. In summer 

 the line from the eye to the bill is pure white, and the whole of the throat 

 and neck is black, tinged with red. Length seventeen inches. Eggs 

 white, blotched and spotted with two shades of brown. 



In general habits, the Razor-bill closely resembles the Guillemot 

 and Puffin. Indeed, in some parts of the coast, the Razor-bill is 

 called a Puffin, and the latter a Sea Parrot ; and in Cornwall both 



