116 
at.tkn's NatIjralist’s library. 
he qw^r ^ dexterity as 
nder thl f f'l ^''■- ^he Razor-bill Ls 
under the water aided by its webbed feet ; it is capable of 
remaining under the surface for a long time, and when sub- 
merged not only catches fish, but searches for crustaceans 
molluscs, &c. The note of this bird, which is rarely heard’ 
may be described as a low croaking sound.” ' 
places its eggs on the rocks, 
far out” of%iIr^""'^^ m some niche or crevice, sometimes 
ar out of reach, and seldom m the open, though Saunders 
SS Se 
1 " shape from that of the Guille- 
"s^i ?hc . ^ extraordinary variation in colour is not so marked 
aS 111 the eggs of the latter bird. A reliable test for their identifi- 
cation consists in the fact that, when the egg of the Razor- bill 
hot H "^1 * at through the blowing- 
Snif moi’f always appears green, whereas the inside of a 
Guillcniols egg generally appears to be yellowish-green, though 
greenish eggs of the latter bird have often a pervading tint of 
green refiected through by the external colour of the eog Mr 
Roliert Read writes “ The Razor-bill lays its eggs on tlie bare 
rock, without any sign of a nest, like the Guillemot. The eggs 
are, however usually placed in more sheltered positions than 
those of the latter bird, such as in a corner or hollow among tlie 
rocks, or under a projecting boulder. Some of the eggs with 
he red ground-colour are very handsome, but I have found 
them mingled with those with white and every intermeSe 
shade of ground-colour on the same rocks. SoL varieties of 
the O Jrlyd’ ^ distinguish from those of 
THE GREAT AUKS. GENUS PLAUTU.S. 
Plautus, Briinn. Zool. Fund., p. 78 (1872). 
Type P. impennis (Linn.). 
Only a single species of the genus Plautus is known. Once 
plentiful within a limited latitude, it has become extinct within 
the present century, and, in spite of hopes that some indi- 
