476 THE Divma birds — pygopodes. 



Puffins' holes and crevices of the rocks. "When he passed the Murre Kocks, a large 

 proportion of the myriads of birds flying around the ship were Auks, easily distin- 

 guished, even at a long distance, by their bill. As the two species thus breed indis- 

 criminately together, many of the eggs coming from the rocks where the Murre nests 

 are in reality those of the Auk. There is no difficulty, however, in distinguishing 

 them from each other. The egg of the Auk never has a green or a blue ground-color, 

 but is always white, spotted and blotched with dark umber, and seldom or never 

 streaked. It is also more elliptical, much less pointed, and somewhat smaller. The 

 Razor-bill lays by preference in the cracks and crevices of rocks, but also in company 

 with the Murres on the bare rock, and with the Puffins in their deserted holes. He 

 found young, that had been hatched out but a short time, on the 26th of July. On 

 being wounded, or taken in the hand alive, this bird utters a loud hoarse cry, and 

 lights and scratches most furiously, biting with great force, its strong hooked bill 

 enabling it to inflict a severe wound. Dr. Cones found the flesh of this bird well 

 flavored, and not possessing the slightest rank or fishy taste when thoroughly stewed. 

 He never noticed more than a single egg. The eggs, though differing in their mark- 

 ings, are comparatively uniform in their size and shape, about 3.00 inches in length 

 by a little less than 2.00 in breadth ; the ground-color is either pure white or with a 

 creamy tinge, and the spots are of different shades of umber-brown. 



Eggs of this species have a ground-color varying from a dull buffy white to a 

 pale greenish buff, or a buffy white with a greenish tinge. They are usually boldly 

 marked with large blotches of blackish brown, burnt-umber, and lavender-gray. They 

 do not usually vary much in their general appearance or size, and their shape is 

 almost always exactly oval. Typical eggs in my collection from Labrador measure : 

 2.92 by 1.80 inches ; 3.00 by 1.90 ; 2.85 by 1.92. 



Genus URIA, Bkisson. 



Uria, Briss. Orn. VI. 1760, 70 (part). 



Lomvia, Biiandt, Bull. Ac. St. Petersb. II. 1837, 345 (type, Colymbus troilc, Linn.). 



Cataradcs, Gray, List Gen. aud Subgen. 1841, 98 (same type). 



Char. Much larger than Cepphus. Bill much longer than the tarsus, much compressed, the 

 gonys concave, and nearly as long as the culnien ; maxilla notched near the tip, its toniia much 

 inflected ; nasal fossai completely and densely feathered ; a distinct longitudinal furrow in the 

 feathering behind the eyes ; plumage white beneath at all seasons. 



Key to the Species. 



1. U. troile. Depth of bill through angle less than one third the length of the culmen ; 



head and neck uniform smoky brown, scarcely, never conspicuously, darker on pileum 



and nape, 

 a. Troile. Wing, 7.75-8.30 inches (average, 7.99) ; culmen, 1.70-1.90 (1.81) ; gonys, 



1.05-1.20 (1.14) ; depth of bill through angle, .50-.60 (.52) ; tarsus, 1.40-1.60 (1.51) ; 



middle toe, 1.60-1.75 (1.70), Ilab. North Atlantic, south, in winter, to New England. 

 ^. Californica. Wing, 7.85-8.80 inches (average, 8.30) ; culmen, 1.60-2.50 (1.86); gonys, 



1.15-1.40 (1.27) ; depth of bill through base, .55-.62 (.57); tarsus, 1.35-1.60 (1.50) ; 



middle toe, 1.65-1.85 (1.74). Ilah. Pacific coast of North America, south to California 



(breeding). 



2. U. lomvia. Depth of bill through angle more than one third the length of the culmen ; 



pileum and nape black, like the back, in more or less conspicuous contrast with the deep 

 snuff-brown of other portions of tlie head and neck. 



