THE RAZORBILL or AUK 



(A lea tor da) 



THE razorbill, or auk, which, in suitable localities, is one of the commonest 

 of British sea-birds, has an interest all its own from the circumstance that 

 it is the nearest living relative of the now extinct great auk, these two 

 species being, in fact, the sole members of the genus Alca. Both these birds 

 present a considerable superficial resemblance to the penguins of the Southern 

 Hemisphere ; and it seems to be due to this resemblance that the latter owe their 

 name, for there appears to be little doubt that the great auk was the true and original 

 penguin, or pinguin, and that the birds we now know by that name were so called 

 by the old voyagers on account of their likeness to the former species. Such 

 resemblance as exists between the two groups is, however, merely of the most 

 superficial kind, auks being strong fliers, with feet of normal structure, whereas 

 the wings of penguins serve the purpose of paddles, and the bones of their feet 

 are quite unlike those of all other birds. 



Auks, in fact, appear to be near relatives of the gulls and terns, which have 

 assumed, in accordance with their mode of life, a partially upright position of 

 body. For these birds, in common with guillemots, very frequently breed on the 

 narrow ledges of cliffs, where it is obvious that an upright posture affords them 

 greater facilities for movement and at the same time economises space. In 

 accordance with this habit, razorbills, in common with other members of the 

 auk tribe, lay pear-shaped eggs, which cannot well roll off the bare ledges of 

 rock on which they are often laid. As a rule, each female deposits only one, 

 relatively large, egg ; while no female incubates more than a pair of these eggs 

 at the same time. Sometimes, in place of a bare ledge, the egg is laid in a 

 hollow in the rock, or, where the soil is of a suitable nature, in a hole excavated 

 by the parent bird. 



All members of the auk tribe are inhabitants of the cooler portions of 

 the Northern Hemisphere ; their place in the corresponding southern latitudes 

 being taken by the aforesaid penguins. 



In addition to its remarkable bodily shape, the adult razorbill is easily 

 recognised by the great lateral compression and subterminal expansion of the 

 beak, from which the bird derives its ordinary vernacular name ; as well as 

 by the deep groovings and wide band on the sides of this appendage. The 

 curved white stripe running from just in front of the eye to the root of the 

 beak is another distinctive feature of the species ; and this, too, in a more or 

 less distinct form, in birds of all ages, whereas in the young the groovings and 



