. An illustrated manual of British birds . parents ; they are at first very loth to followthe old bird in diving, and remain crying plaintively on the surfaceof the water. The food consists of small fish (which are carrieddiagonally in the bill—not at right angles, as by the Puffin) andcrustaceans. The Razor-bill utters a peculiar grunting or groaning,especially when sitting ; on the water it may be distinguished fromthe Guillemot, at a distance, by its upturned tail. The adult (figured on the right) is chiefly greenish-black above,deep brown on the throat, and white below; in winter the upper
. An illustrated manual of British birds . parents ; they are at first very loth to followthe old bird in diving, and remain crying plaintively on the surfaceof the water. The food consists of small fish (which are carrieddiagonally in the bill—not at right angles, as by the Puffin) andcrustaceans. The Razor-bill utters a peculiar grunting or groaning,especially when sitting ; on the water it may be distinguished fromthe Guillemot, at a distance, by its upturned tail. The adult (figured on the right) is chiefly greenish-black above,deep brown on the throat, and white below; in winter the upperparts lose the greenish gloss, and the throat, fore-neck and cheeksare white. Length 17 in., wing 7*5. A young bird killed in De-cember (central figure) has the bill smooth and black without anywhite groove on either mandible, and shows only a faint white linefrom the top of the bill to the eye ; its plumage resembles thatof the adult in winter. I do not think that breeding takes placeuntil the bird is nearly two years old. ALCID^., 68l. THE GREAT AUK. Alca impexnis, Linnoeus. This species, also called the Gare-fowl, is now supposed to be ex-tinct—and with good reason, for the latest examples were obtainedoff Iceland in 1844, since which the bird has been assiduously butvainly sought. It formerly inhabited the shores of Iceland, the Faeroes,and the Scandinavian coast of the North Sea; while its presence inthe Outer Hebrides had been on record since 1684, though the birdhad evidently become very rare in Scottish waters by the begin-ning of the present century. An adult male—now in the EritisliMuseum, and from which the above illustration is taken—wasobtained by Bullock in 1812 from Japa Westra, in the Orkneys;in August 1821 or 1822, Fleming received a live bird which hadbeen captured on St. Kilda ; and in May 1834 another—now in theMuseum of Trinity College, Dublin—was also taken alive at themouth of Waterford Harbour. No other British specimens are inexistence; but
Size: 1491px × 1675px
Photo credit: © Reading Room 2020 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, bookidillustra, booksubjectbirds
