GREAT AUK. RAZOR-BILL. 231 



legs (or the entire tarsi on which it rests) it stands erect and 

 stately. From a specimen obtained on the Waterford coast, 

 we are indebted to Mr. Thompson for the following interesting 

 notice : " It was received by Dr. Burkitt, of Waterford, on 

 the 7th of September, 1834, from Mr. R. Davis, Jim., of 

 Clonmel, who stated it had been taken in the preceding 

 month of May (by the fisherman from whom he purchased 

 it), at a short distance from the shore, at the mouth of Wa- 

 terford harbour, off Ballymacaw. According to its captor it 

 was apparently almost starved. When in his yawl, off the 

 coast, he saw the auk swimming about near him, and held 

 out some sprats, for which it came close to the boat. It was 

 taken with little difficulty. He kept it for some days, feeding 

 it chiefly with potatoes mashed in milk, which were partaken 

 of greedily. After having the bird for ten days he sold it to 

 Mr. Davis, by whom it was sent to Mr. Grough of Horetown, 

 county Wexford, where it lived for about four months. For 

 a considerable time, perhaps three weeks, it was not known 

 to eat anything at its new destination, but potatoes and milk 

 were then forced down its throat, from which time it ate vo- 

 raciously until the day before its death. This auk stood very 

 erect, and frequently stroked its head with its foot, especially 

 when any favourite food was presented. When in Mr. Gough's 

 possession it was chiefly fed upon fish, of which fresh-water 

 species (trout, &c.) were preferred to sea-fish ; they were 

 swallowed entire. It was rather fierce." 



Breeding in remote northern latitudes, the eggs are ob- 

 tained with great difficulty, and are of greater value than 

 those of any species with which we are acquainted. Two 

 observed in the possession of M. Lefebre, Quai Malaquai, 

 Paris, were valued at 144 francs each (6), and plaster casts, 

 painted to resemble the original, were valued from ten to 

 fifteen francs. 



Habitat Northern Europe. 



SPECIES 224 THE RAZOR-BILL. 



Alca tor da. Linn. 

 Pingouin macroptere. 



THE RAZOR-BILL nearly equals the guillemot in its numbers 

 and distribution around the shores of the island, and closely 

 resembles that bird in habits, amicably frequenting the same 

 ledge on the face of the rock, where it deposits its single egg, 

 enormously disproportionate to the size of the bird, and often 

 in situations at an immense altitude over the ocean. Inte- 



