Crass II. RAZOR-BILL AUK. 
the color black; the upper mandible is marked 
with four transverse grooves; the lower with 
three, the widest of which is white, and crosses 
each mandible. The inside of the mouth is of 
a fine pale yellow; from the eye to the bill is a 
line of white; the head, throat, and whole up- 
per side of the body, are black; the wings of the 
same color, except the tips of the lesser quil 
feathers, which are white; the tail consists of 
twelve black feathers, and is sharp pointed; 
the whole under side of the body is white; the 
legs black. 
These birds, in company with the Guillemot, 
appear in our seas the beginning of February ; 
but do not settle on their breeding places till 
they begin to lay, about the beginning of May. 
They inhabit the ledges of the highest rocks that 
impend over the sea, where they form a gro- 
tesque appearance, sitting close together, and 
in rows one above the other. They properly lay 
but one egg apiece, of an extraordinary size 
for the bulk of the bird, being three inches long; 
the color of it is a dead white, irregularly spot- 
ted with ferruginous brown, or most elegantly | 
streaked with lines crossing each other in all © 
directions; if this egg is destroyed, both the 
auk and guillemot will lay another; if that is 
taken, then a third; they make no nest, de- 
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