STERCOEARIUS. — ALCA. 275 



General Distribution.— Tciq Pomatorhine Skua breeds in 

 the arctic regions of the Old and New Worlds north o£ about 

 69 N. latitude. In winter it occurs on the inland waters of 

 Europe down to the Mediterranean, and is found as far south 

 as Walvisch Bay, in southern Africa, Burma, Japan, Cape 

 York, north Australia, and Callao Bay, Peru. 



Order ALCIFORMES- 



Family ALCIDiE. 



Genus ALCA Linnceus, Syst. Nat. 1758, p. 1150. 

 Type ; A. torda Linn. 



Alca, latinized from the Icelandic dlka, our " auk." 



Alca torda. Eazoebill. 



Alca torda Linnceus, Syst. Nat. 1758, p. 130 : Sweden. 



Alca torda Linn. ; B. O. IT. List, 1st ed. 1883, p. 205 ; Ogilvie- 

 Orant, Gat. Birds B. M. xxvi. 1898, p. 565 ; Saunders, 

 Manual, 2nd ed. 1899, p. 695. 



Torda, the name by which the bird is known in Gothland ; of. Tordmule, ita 

 name in Angermannia, Sweden (Linnaeus, Faun. Suec. 1746, p. 43), and in 

 modern Swedish generally. 



Distribution in the British Islands. — A Resident, breeding 

 on suitable sea-cliffs throughout our Islands, arriving towards 

 the end of March or in April and remaining till the young 

 bird is taken to sea by its parents. During the rest of the 

 year it is common off our coasts. 



General Distribution. — The Razorbill breeds on the coasts 

 and islands of the north Atlantic, from Scandinavia to the 

 Channel Islands and Brittany, the Faeroes, Iceland, and 

 south Greenland to Newfoundland and New Brunswick. 

 In winter it wanders southwards and visits the Baltic and 

 Mediterranean seas east to the Adriatic, and, in the Atlantic, 



t2 



