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for instance, on Jussarb" and about Soderskar. Borggreve states that it is an irregular winter 

 visitant to the German coasts of the North Sea, occurring much more rarely in the Baltic, and 

 scarcely ever in the interior. Boeck obtained it in Prussia; and it has once been obtained in 

 Mecklenburg on fresh water. According to Borggreve it breeds on Bomholrn and Hesselo, and 

 is very common on the coasts of Denmark in winter. It breeds in some numbers on the cliffs of 

 Heligoland, and is tolerably common off the coasts of Holland and Belgium during the winter ; 

 and on those of France it is abundant at that season. Numbers breed along the precipitous 

 north and west coasts, the Aiguilles d'Etretat being a well-known locality for this species and 

 for the Guillemot. In the neighbourhood of Marseilles and on the " etangs " it is in some years 

 quite abundant during the winter ; and MM. Jaubert and Barthelemy-Lapommeraye speak with 

 unwonted enthusiasm of the magnificent " chasse " they have enjoyed in bygone days, the " bag " 

 sometimes consisting of half a dozen Razorbills in the course of a morning. Mr. Howard 

 Saunders states that it is rarer than the Guillemot on the coasts of Spain ; and Colonel Irby 

 writes (Orn. Str. Gibr. p. 218) as follows: — "The Razorbill, in some winters, appears in the 

 Straits in very large numbers, as in the winter of 1871-72, when, during February, they were 

 to be seen in all directions about Gibraltar Bay, some coming into the New Mole so close to the 

 land that we threw stones at them. They lingered on very late, as I saw ten on the 19th, one 

 on the 21st, and two on the 28th of March, and one on the 7th of April. In this case their 

 appearance was, no doubt, attributable in the first instance to heavy gales and storms outside the 

 Straits." It occurs in winter along the coasts of Italy, becoming less frequent towards the south, 

 until on the shores of Sicily it is only known as a rare visitant during severe weather. Count 

 Salvador! says that there are three specimens in the Cagliari Museum, but that it is of rare 

 occurrence in Sardinia. 



Mr. C. A. "Wright includes it in his list of birds occurring in Malta, and writes (Ibis, 1874, 

 p. 230) as follows: — "I have lately had an opportunity of examining the specimen, taken many 

 years ago, which gave rise to the admittance of the species Uria troile into the Malta list. It 

 turns out to be a young Razorbill, Alca torda, which name should be substituted for the erroneous 

 one (Ibis, 1864, p. 152)." I do not find it recorded from Greece or the eastern shores of the 

 Mediterranean ; nor does it occur in North-east Africa ; but, according to Loche, it is met with 

 accidentally in Algeria, after stormy weather, in winter, and very rarely in summer ; and Favier 

 states {fide Irby, /. c.) that it occurs near Tangier from November to February. 



In Asia it does not appear to occur on the Arctic coasts ; but, according to Temminck and 

 Schlegel (who remark that Pallas, Steller, Pennant, and Krusenstern met with it numerous in 

 the North Pacific), it is found on the coasts of Japan, and they received thence a specimen in 

 moult. Dr. Coues, however, states that it is only rare or of accidental occurrence in the North 

 Pacific ; but on the Atlantic coasts of America it is common, and breeds in great numbers on 

 the islands in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and on the coasts of Labrador and Newfoundland, and 

 in winter strays south to New Jersey. 



On land the Razorbill walks with difficulty, and with a hobbling motion ; indeed it appears 

 only to settle on the rocks where its breeding-stations are, and seldom or never on the level 

 shore ; but on the water it is evidently quite at home, and swims and dives with the greatest 

 ease. Its flight is direct and rapid, the bird propelling itself by rapid beats of the wing, often 



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