148 AUKS, MURRES, AND PUFFINS 



81. Uria lomvia lomvia (Linn.}. BRUNNICH'S MURRE. Ads. in 

 summer. Upperparts, wings and tail sooty black; foreneck somewhat 

 browner; tips of secondaries, breast and belly white; base of upper mandible 

 greenish, rounded outward beyond edge of lower mandible. L., 16'50 

 W., 8-40; Tar., T30; B., 1'25; depth of B. at nostril '47. 



Remarks. Adults are to be distinguished from adults of U. t. troile by the 

 darker color of the head, which in lomvia is darker than the throat, by the 

 size of the bill and thickening of its cutting edge at the base. Winter and 

 immature birds can be distinguished from those of U. t. troile only by the size 

 of the bill, which, as the measurements show, is longer in that species. 



Range. Coasts and islands of the n. Atlantic. Breeds from s. Ellesmere 

 Land and n. Greenland to n. Hudson Bay and Gulf of St. Lawrence; resident 

 in Greenland and Hudson Bay; s. casually in winter on Atlantic coast from 

 Maine to S. C., and in interior to n. Ohio, cen. Ind., and cen. Iowa. 



Washington, A. V., several, Dec. 1896. Long Island, W. V. Nov. 22- 

 Mch. 24. Ossining, A. V. Cambridge, two records, Nov., Dec. N. Ohio, 

 casual on Lake Erie in winter. 



Nests in communities, side by side on the bare ledges of rocky cliffs. Egg, 

 1, not distinguishable from that of U. t. troile. Date, Bird Rock, Que., June 17. 



Brtinnich's Murre often nests in the same colonies with the Common 

 Murre, which it resembles in habits, and from which, at close range, 

 it may be distinguished by its shorter, heavier bill and swollen, whitish 

 margin of the base of the mandible. The downy young of the two species 

 can be distinguished by the somewhat hairy, gray-streaked back of 

 troile as compared with the more downy, brown mottled back of lomvia. 

 Both utter the characteristic screech of young Murres while young 

 Razor-bills whistle. This species sometimes invades the interior in 

 numbers. 



1905. FLEMING, J. H., Proc. 4th Int. Orn. Cong., 528-543. 1910. 

 EATON, E. H., Birds of New York, 108, 109. 



32. Alca torda Linn. RAZOR-BILLED AUK. Ads. in summer. Upper- 

 parts, wings and tail sooty black; foreneck somewhat browner; tips of 

 econdaries, a line from eye to bill, breast, and belly white; bill black, 

 crossed by a white band. Ads. in winter. Similar, but with sides and front 

 of neck white. Im. Similar to ad. in winter, but with bill smaller and with- 

 out white bar. L., 16'50; W., 7'90; Tar., 1'35; B., T25. 



Range. Coasts and islands of the n. Atlantic. Breeds on American 

 side of s. Greenland to N. F. and N. B. ; winters from N. B. and Ont. to L. I. 

 and casually to N. C. 



Long Island, W. V., Nov. 2-Feb. 6. 



Nest, in the crevices and fissures of cliffs and rocky places Eggs, 1-2, 

 pale bluish white or buffy, thickly spotted and speckled with chocolate 

 markings most numerous and sometimes confluent at the larger end, 3*00 x 

 1'90. Date, Bird Rock, Que., May 24. 



"When brooding, it crouches along, not across, the egg, its mate 

 often standing near; and both sexes incubate, though the male may 

 be seen bringing food to the sitting female. . . . The young flutter 

 from the rocks to the sea, or are taken by the neck and carried down 

 by the parents. They are at first very loath to follow the old bird in 

 diving, and remain crying plaintively on the surface of the water. 

 The Razor-bill utters a peculiar grunting or groaning, especially when 

 sitting. On the water it may be distinguished from the Guillemot, 

 [=Murre] at a distance, by its upturned tail." (Saunders.) 



