ALCINJE. ALCA. MORMON, 
217 
white, largely blotched, clouded, sprinkled, and dotted with 
deep brown or black, and haying spots of paler brown and light 
purplish-blue interspersed. The Razor-bills feed on small 
fishes and Crustacea, which they procure by diving, at which 
they are extremely expert. They can remain a considerable 
time under water, and are often seen to rise at a great dis- 
tance. Their flight is direct, rapid, performed by quick con- 
tinued beats of the wings, several individuals usually forming 
a string. Their flesh is dark and unsavoury, but the eggs 
afford good eating. 
Razor-bill. Common Auk. Falc. Gurfeh Murre. Marrot. 
Alca Torda, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. 210, summer ; Alca Pica, 
i. 210, winter. — Alca Torda, Lath. Ind. Ornith. ii. 793. — 
Alca Torda, Temm. Man. d’ Ornith. ii. 936. — Alca Torda, 
Razor-billed Auk, MacGillivray, Brit. Birds, v. 
284. Alca impennis. Great Auk. 
Length about thirty inches ; wings diminutive, with the 
quills scarcely longer than their coverts ; the tail short, of 
fourteen feathers ; bill rather longer than the head, black, 
with eight or nine white grooves on the upper, ten or twelve 
on the lower mandible ; the head, neck, and upper parts black, 
the throat and sides of the neck tinged with chocolate-brown, 
the wings with greyish-brown, the upper parts glossed with 
green ; the lower parts, and a large oblong spot before each 
eye, with the tips of the secondary quills, white. 
Adult, 30, 28, 7, 3f, 2, 2|, 
This species is met with in high latitudes, along the coasts 
of both continents, but not in great numbers. A few indi- 
viduals have been seen about the islands of St Kilda and our 
north-eastern islands. One was captured in 1822, but made 
its escape. The habits of this remarkable bird are little 
known. It is supposed, rather than observed, to be inca- 
pable of flying. 
Garefowi. 
Alca impennis, Linn. Syst. Nat, i. 210. — Alca impennis, 
Lath. Ind. Ornith. ii, 791. — Alca impennis, Temm. Man. 
d’Ornith. ii. 939. — Alca impennis, Great Auk, MacGillivray, 
Brit. Birds, v. 
GENUS CXLXXI. MORMON. PUFFIN. 
The Puffins resemble the Auks, but have the bill still 
more elevated. It is about the length of the head, nearly 
as high as long, extremely compressed, obliquely grooved on 
