2 
RAZORBILL. 
the crews who assisted me at my work often hegged for a few to be shot when the birds were abundant 
in the Channel, stating that they proved excellent when baked, after having been skinned and laid in fresh 
water, by which means the fishy flavour is removed. 
I am not acquainted with any breeding-stations of this species in the south of England, within many 
miles of the Sussex coast, that are resorted to at the present time. That such still exist, however, is 
evident, as a fisherman who was working his shrimp-net over the sands near Shoreham on the 9th of August, 
1883, captured in the shallow water a young one that had strayed some distance from the old bird. So 
far as I could judge (my examination having unfortunately been a “post mortem”), the downy juvenile 
was about ten days or a fortnight old. The man who secured this variety, knowing that I would like 
to attempt to rear it, carried the little stranger home and sent word to me at Brighton. On arriving and 
making inquiries, I learned that his wife, having been wearied by its continued cries for food, had put 
an end to its existence, declaring that she could not bear to hear it “ calling for its titty.” 
