The Razorbill. I2 9 



the Spanish Peninsula. In Norway it breeds on Svaerholtklubben, and possibly 

 beyond 71° N. latitude. I saw some off the coast about the borders of Finmarken, 

 just north of 70 N. latitude, in June 1896. Seebohm says that Henke found it 

 breeding on the island of Onega, in the White Sea. But it does not breed on 

 Spitsbergen or Novaya Zemlya; and as to the Pacific, Seebohm says the only 

 record is doubtful. There seems to be no doubt but that it has been met with 

 on Jan Mayen Island (" Zoologist," 1890, p. 45). A few pairs still breed in a 

 deep cleft in a rock on Heligoland. 



On the American side it breeds in great numbers in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, 

 in Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and Labrador; and in Greenland, Col. Feilden, 

 who accompanied the Polar expedition on board H.M.S. Alert, found the Razorbill 

 breeding in considerable numbers at Ritenbenk — about lat. 70° N. (" Zoologist," 

 1878, p. 380). 



In winter the Razorbill is said to go down the Atlantic some distance beyond 

 the mouth of the Mediterranean, and a good many enter that sea. With regard 

 to the Italian coast, Professor Giglioli states that he would not be surprised to 

 hear that the Razorbill occasionally breeds in the Mediterranean. Two examples 

 in summer dress were shot near Genoa on the 16th May, 1880, and there are two 

 specimens in the Museum at Syracuse (" Ibis," 1881, p. 221). On the American 

 side it goes south in winter as far as the middle States ; two specimens, probably 

 storm-driven, have occurred on Lake Ontario. 



The Razorbill resorts to rocky cliffs and islets for breeding purposes, and lays 

 its one egg in the early part or middle of May. This is usually deposited in 

 some cleft or crevice in the rock, or under a rock; it is, however, also deposited 

 in some cases upon shelves or ledges on the face of a cliff. 



The single egg is shorter, rounder and less pointed than that of the Guillemot. 

 They measure about 2"9 inches long by about 1*85 broad, but are subject to variation. 

 The ground colour varies from white to pale reddish-brown ; it is rarely white 

 tinged with faint bluish, and never green. The markings are usually in the form 

 of blotches and spots of various sizes, and less commonly take the form of streaks. 

 The blotches occasionally are confluent, and form a broad zone round the larger 

 end of the egg. The markings are dark brown, red-brown, or black, and there 

 are under markings of a greyer tint. Both sexes are said to incubate. 



When Razorbills and Guillemots occupy the same breeding station, as they 

 often do in great numbers, they are not usually found breeding in close proximity. 

 Their separation is probably to be accounted for by the preference shown by the 

 respective birds for slightly different breeding sites, the present species preferring 

 to deposit its eggs within a crevice, while the Guillemot affects an open ledge. 



