696 RAZORBILL. 
This Auk has been obtained off Jan Mayen, but is unknown in 
Spitsbergen and the high Arctic regions to the eastward. It breeds 
in the Feroes, Iceland, Scandinavia up to lat. 71° N., and south- 
ward to Brittany; while in winter it visits the Baltic, and goes up 
the Mediterranean to the Adriatic and Malta, though the majority 
keep well out in the Atlantic as far as the Canaries, unless driven 
into bays by stormy weather. In summer it resorts to the west coast 
of Greenland up to about 73°, but seldom reaches the American side 
of Davis Strait, and it has not been met with in the Arctic waters to 
the westward. Southward, it breeds in Labrador and down to the 
Bay of Fundy ; while in winter it has visited North Carolina. There 
is no proof of its occurrence in the Pacific. 
The Razorbill deposits a single egg, by choice in a burrow ora 
crevice, or at least on an over-hung ledge, but in default of these it 
will make use of an open shelf, like a Guillemot. When brooding it 
couches along—not across—the egg, its mate often standing near ; 
and both sexes incubate, the male bringing food to the female 
when she is sitting. The eggs, often laid by the middle of May, 
are not so pear-shaped as those of the Guillemot and seldom show 
the faintest tinge of green; they are usually white or pale chocolate- 
brown, blotched and often zoned with mahogany-colour or black : 
measurements 2°9 by 1'9 in. On holding the empty shell against 
the light the inside lining-membrane shows gveez : whereas in that of 
the Guillemot it appears to be yeVowish-white, except when over- 
powered by the green of the shell itself. The young flutter from 
the rocks to the sea, or (it is said) are taken by the neck and 
carried down by the parents ; they are at first very loth to follow the 
old bird in diving, and remain crying plaintively on the surface of 
the water. The food consists of small fish (which are carried 
diagonally in the bill, not at right angles as they are by the Puffin), 
and crustaceans. The Razorbill utters a peculiar grunting or groaning, 
especially when sitting ; on the water it may be distinguished at a 
distance from the Guillemot by its upturned tail. 
The adult (figured on the right) is chiefly greenish-black above, 
deep brown on the throat, and white below ; in winter the upper- 
parts lose the greenish gloss, and the throat, fore-neck and cheeks 
are white. Length 17 in., wing 7°3. A young bird killed in 
December (central figure) has the bill smooth and black without 
any white groove on either mandible, and shows only a faint white 
line from the top of the bill to the eye ; its plumage resembles that 
of the adult in winter. I do not think that breeding takes place 
until the bird is nearly two years old. 
