Unusual Occurrence of Bazor- Billed Auk at Montreal. 'A\~ 



St. Lawrence to their natural habitat, they would have 

 become confused by finding the river frozen over, and 

 therefore would remain on any open water they could 

 find— lost, and finally starved to death for lack of their 

 natural salt-water food. The food of the Murrea according 

 to Audubon, consists of small fish, shrimps and ofiier 

 marine animals, and they swallow some gravel also. The 

 specimen of Brunnich's Murre now in the possession of 

 the Natural History Society of Montreal, is a young bird, 

 being one of those which took the remarkable tli-dn 

 inland mentioned in this article. Brunnich's Murre, Una 

 lorn via (Linn), belongs to the Order Pygopodes — the 

 Diving Birds — (Sub-order Cepphi), Family Alcidae — the 

 Auks, Murres, etc. (Sub-family Alcinae), Genus I'ria 

 (Brisson). There are tw r o species and two sub-species of 

 Murres recognized as North American Birds, the first two 

 inhabiting the North Atlantic coasts, and of the two sub- 

 species, one is found on the Pacific coast of North 

 America, and the other one on the coasts and islands of 

 Behring's Sea. In general appearance the Murres closely 

 resemble one another, both in size and plumage. Habitat 

 of Brunnich's Murre is the Arctic Ocean and coasts of the 

 North Atlantic, south, in winter, to New Jersey; bleeding 

 from Gulf of St. Law T rence northward. (See Bidgway's 

 Manual of North American Birch.) 



Unusual Occurrence of PlAzor-Billed Auk at 

 Montreal. . 



By E. D. Wintle. 



David Denne, Esq., has been kind anough to draw my 

 attention to the taking of the Razor-Billed Auk in the 

 vicinity of Montreal, and on further enquiry I Learn that 

 four were observed, on the 10th of November (1893), 

 swimming about on the river at St. Lambert, one of which 



