92 Jtird-LiJe in Labrador. 



out the breeding season, and find the birds -so wonderfully ac- 

 commodating that the last batch taken is nearly :>s numerous 

 as the first. The " turres " associate with both the " murrcs " 

 and the black guillemots. The egg of the latter bird, though 

 smaller and otherwise distinct, is not unsinnlar in appearance, 

 and often the two are found breeding side by side, though sel 

 dom in any very great numbers. The razor-billed auks are 

 among the first birds to be seen on approaching the Labrabor 

 coast. We found them much more abundant in Southern 

 than in Northern Labrador. With both the razor-billed auk 

 and the foolish guillemot considerable similarity of habits 

 appear to exist ; possibly this results from the fact that both 

 species are so numerous that the chances of individualizing 

 them is reduced to the shape of the bill as seen at short range 

 only, but regarding the flight and habits of the two I know 

 of no one who has satisfactorily, to me at least, distinguished 

 between them. We saw thousands of both species ; they 

 passed and repassed us so rapidly and so thoroughly bewild- 

 ered us, as they seemed to be bewildered themselves, that I 

 could not tell surely in describing either species whether the 

 remark applied equally to both or exclusively to one. It ap- 

 peared to me that both were remarkably similar in habits. 

 On approaching the coast we saw single birds or long lines of 

 them flying here and there in a frightened manner close to or 

 a little above the water, often almost touching the waves with 

 their wings as they veered or rose and fell in undulations like 

 the billowy crests beneath them. They were never wild, but 

 flew directly over our vessel or across her bows with as much 

 freedom as along the surface of the sea on either side of us. 

 Their flight was strong and well-sustained, the beats of their 

 wings rapid and powerful. At times they would turn from 

 side to side quickly, so as to show alternately their white bel- 

 lies and their black backs. They appeared to prefer a long 

 straight line from which, if they veered at all, it was suddenly 

 and in a right-angled direction. The nearer we approached 

 the coast the more abundant they became. They filled the 



