444 The Hijlory ^ ANIMALS, 
three other farrows running tranfverfely, or a little obliquely, at fome diftance below 
this j but they are lefs confiderable, efpecially the laft of them, which, in fome fpeci- 
mens I have feen of this bird, has been almoft obliterated, fo that a man might have 
eafily miffaken the number of furrows on the beak for only three : the upper chap of 
the beak is fomewhat longer and larger than the other, and is crooked and hollow at 
the extremity, and receives the under chap into it. 
The head, as alfo the neck, fhoulders, back wings, and indeed every other part of 
the upper furface of the bird, is black: the belly, the bread:, and half way up the 
throat, are of a fine fnow-white, but the upper part of the throat is reddifh ; there are 
two very remarkable white lines on the head ; they run on each fide, one from the 
angle of the beak to the eyes: the mouth is of a beautiful bright yellow within, and 
the iris of the eyes is of a pale hazel colour. 
The wings are fhort, and are rather formed for affixing it’s motions along the fur- 
face of the water, than for high flights: the tail alfo is fhort ; the legs are fhort, and 
very robuft; the feet are webbed, and they have no hinder toe : the legs {land fo ex- 
treamly backward in this fpecies, that the bird walks but very awkwardly, and, when 
doing fo, feems to {land eredt upon it’s tail. Nature has calculated all the parts of 
animals for the purpofes they are to ferve, and the bufinefs of thefe is to affift the ani¬ 
mal in fwimming, not walking. 
This is a native of our own coafls 5 it builds in the crevices of rocks, and on cliffs. 
It makes no neft, but lays a Angle egg on the bare rock, and there fits on it. It has 
been defcribed by all the authors who have written on thefe fubjedts. Willughby and 
Wormius call it, limply, Alca 5 Ray, Alca Hoieri. Our people, in different parts of 
the kingdom, have three feparate names for it. Thofe about the weftern coafl call 
it the Razor-bill; in the northern it is called the Awk, and in Cornwall, and fome 
few other particular places, the Murrel. The eggs are efteemed a delicacy ; they are 
very large, and though the creature lays but one egg, they are to be had in great a- 
bundance, for multitudes ufually breed together. 
COLYMBUS. 
t I A H E beak of the Colymbus is of a fubulated figure, and fomewhat compreffed 5 
j|_ it is more than equal in length to the head of the bird, and it has no denticu- 
lations at it’s edges: the legs are placed very backward, fo that the bird walks awk¬ 
wardly. 
Colymbus pedibus palmatis indivifis. 
The Colymbus , with palmated , undivided feet . 
This is a very beautiful bird, and is extreamly common in fome particular parts of 
the North of Europe, though wholly unknown elfewhere; the bird is about equal to 
our common wild-duck in fize : the head is large, in proportion to the body, and is 
rounded at the fides, but fomewhat depreffed on the crown: the eyes are large, fharp, 
and piercing, and their iris is of a fine pale hazel: the beak is about an inch and three 
quarters in length, and toward the bafe it is moderately thick ; it is from thence all the 
way fmaller to the very extremity, where it is fharp, and is all the way compreffed or 
flatted at the fides; it is all over of a deep gloffy black : the head and neck are grey, 
and have the appearance of being covered with a friar’s hood, or fome ornament of 
that kind: the back and wings are black, but they are beautifully variegated with large 
and fquare fpots of white; thefe are fmaller on the wings than on the back : under 
the neck there is a large black fpot, of an oblong, quadrated figure; this has the ap¬ 
pearance of a fhield, and is four inches in length, and two in breadth : the fides of it 
are variegated with grey and white feathers, in manner of a zone; the bread and 
belly are white. 
The 
