2 10 
British Birds . 
Buffon’s Skua. 
THE AUKS. 
Sub-Order 
A LOSE. 
THE 
RAZOR-BILL. 
( Alca torda.) 
whereas all the primaries of 
5. crepidatus are white-shafted. 
Buffon’s Skua breeds in the 
Arctic Regions of both Hemi- 
spheres, and migrates south- 
ward in winter, when it occurs 
at intervals on the coasts of 
Britain. The habits, as well 
as the nest and eggs, do not 
seem to vary from those of 
the preceding species. The 
eggs measure about two inches in length. 
The Auks are inhabitants of the northern portions of the Old 
and New Worlds, but although very similar to the Gulls as 
regards their anatomy and osteology, they are quite different 
in external appearance, as well as in their method of nidification. 
This species is at 
once told by the white 
groove which ornaments 
its bill, and by its exposed 
nostrils. The general plumage is black in 
summer, and the throat is black with the 
rest of the under surface of the body white, 
as well as the tips of the secondary-quills 
and a small streak across the lores to the 
eye. In winter, the throat and sides of the 
face become white like the breast, and there 
is a line of black above the ear-coverts, while 
the bill still retains the white grooves. In 
the young birds, however, these are not seen 
in winter. '1 he Razor-Bill is an inhabitant of the rocky coasts of Northern Europe 
and the Atlantic side of North America. It nests in suitable places throughout 
Britain, but is more plentiful in the north, and is principally found on our southern 
coasts in winter. It is a gregarious bird at all times of the year, and like the 
Puffins and Guillemots obtains its food by fishing. It lays but a single egg in a 
crevice of a rock, or on a bare shelf of the latter. The ground colour of the egg is 
white, and it is generally very handsomely blotched with rufous. It is not so pear- 
shaped as that of the Guillemot, and is rather smaller than the egg of the latter bird. 
„ TTT , The Great Auk is no longer a British bird, as there can be no 
GREAT AUK doubt that it is now entirely^ extinct. In form it was like a 
(Plautus impennis.) gigantic Razor-Bill, but had such small wings that it was not 
The Razor-Bill. 
