142 FAMILIAR WILD BIRDS. 



and certainty. It swims and dives equally well, and is 

 quite as capable of securing- its food below the water as 

 on the surface. Like most birds of this class, the water is its 

 proper element, and its easy and rapid movements therein 

 offer a great contrast to the clumsy efforts at locomotion 

 when upon dry land. When disturbed and compelled to 

 take to its wings, it rises in the air with difficulty, splash- 

 ing along on the water for some little distance. The 

 flight is however rapid, strong, and capable of being sus- 

 tained for a considerable distance, far more powerful than 

 would be imagined by the comparative smallness of the 

 wings. 



This bird is probably an exclusively North- Atlantic 

 species. It breeds on the sea rocks (in greater or less num- 

 bers) from Cornwall to Shetland, round the coast of 

 Ireland, the Channel Islands and St. Kilda. Nova Scotia, 

 Newfoundland, and Labrador are also stated as localities 

 frequented by the Razor-bill for breeding purposes, as are 

 also the rocky shores of Norway. 



The Razor-bill lays but one egg, the measurement of 

 which is about two inches and three-quarters by one inch 

 and ten lines ; the grounding is white, and the markings 

 are reddish-brown and blackish-brown, but the eggs are 

 subject to much variation. 



The Razor-bill must be considered as a rather late 

 breeder, as its eggs are seldom found before the middle of 

 May. The birds begin to assemble with Puffins, Guillemots, 

 and Gulls at their breeding-places about the end of March 

 or the beginning of the following month, and the sea, rocks, 

 and precipices are then crowded with vast numbers. Ac- 

 cording to some authorities, Razor-bills pair for life, and 

 regularly return year after year to the same identical crevice 



