286 WILD-FOWL AND SEA-FOWL OF GREAT BRITAIN 



I have little to say of the Common Razor-bill. 

 Where a lot of fowl are hard at work, fishing, they 

 get so to speak mixed up a bit ; and no wonder, 

 when on the toss of the tide they are up and under 

 in all directions, heads bobbing up and tails going 

 down. A regular boil-up it is altogether ; the nets, 

 too, are heaving near the surface, ready to burst, 

 and some of the birds are meshed in them, a rare 

 mixture of scales and feathers. And that is how 

 the best specimens are got for the bird-preservers, 

 if the crew do not require them for eating. I knew 

 very well why the men set such store by their bags 

 of dried sage and their wicker hampers of onions, 

 when they were on a fishing cruise. As the shape 

 of some of the birds' bills under notice alter in their 

 progress from the young state to that of maturity, 

 also in summer and in winter, nice distinctions could 

 not be expected at that time of day from the hungry 

 crew of a fishing-smack ; and a choice bit of fish, 

 or a mess of fish cooked as fishermen only know 

 how to cook it, is all very well backed up by some- 

 thing solid — fish alone will not keep the wind out 

 of you ; a good basin of Willocks and Razor-bills, 

 stewed with sage and onions, and a good hunch of 

 home-made bread a week old, will. 



The Puffin sheds some of the horny parts of the 

 bill in the autumn, so that the bill in winter is 

 smaller. The young bird of the year has a very 

 different bill to that of the adult. It is larger, but 

 very like the general appearance of the Little Auk's 

 bill. The sides of the young bird's head are grey. 



