Class II. RAZOR-BILL AUK. ' 149 



the color black; the upper mandible is marked 

 with four transverse grooves ; the lower Mdth 

 three, the widest of which is white, and crosses 

 each mandible. The inside of the mouth is of 

 a fine pale yellow; from the eye to the bill is a 

 line of white ; the head, throat, and whole up- 

 per side of the body, are black ; the wings of the 

 same color, except the tips of the lesser quil 

 feathers, which are white; the tail consists of 

 twelve black feathers, and is sharp pointed; 

 the whole under side of the body is white; the 

 legs black. 



These birds, in company with the Guillemot, £' 



appear in our seas the beginning of February ; 

 but do not settle on their breeding places till 

 they begin to lay, about the beginning of May. 

 They inhabit the ledges of the highest rocks that 

 impend over the sea, where they form a gro- 

 tesque appearance, sitting close together, and 

 in rows one above the other. They properly lay 

 but one egg apiece, of an extraordinary size 

 for the bulk of the bird, being three inches long; 

 the color of it is a dead white, irregularly spot- 

 ted with ferruginous brown, or most elegantly 

 streaked with lines crossing each other in ail 

 directions; if this egg is destroyed, both the 

 auk and guillemot will lay another; if that is 

 taken, then a third; they make no nest, de- 



