Nests and Eggs of Birds of the United States / Illustrated

by Thomas G. Gentry

There yet remains a very strange fact concerning this Auk, which needs to be noted. It pertains to the number of eggs which is to constitute a nest-full. When nesting occurs in secluded situations, where security against tidal currents, and divers accidents, is to be gained, in the majority of instances, two eggs are found under a single female. In exposed situations, on the other hand, it is a rare occurrence to find more than one egg as a complement.

The above statements, which are substantially those of Audubon, have been repeatedly verified by other observers, some of whom are among the writer's most reliable correspondents. At first we were disposed to question their accuracy. We could not see what advantages a sequestered situation had over one that was open and exposed, so as to lead the birds to double their number in the former case. Our only way out of the difficulty then, was by supposing the two eggs to be laid by different birds, in close proximity to each other. For want of the necessary room to accommodate the two females, it became the duty of one or the other to assume the responsibility of them. Owing to the great difficulty of distinguishing the eggs of this species from those of the Murre or Foolish Guillemot, which most oologists have experienced, and which Audubon does not seem to have encountered, it occurred to us that as the Auks are prone to drop their eggs alongside of those of the Guillemots, maybe the two eggs were those of distinct species, and not the product of the one under consideration.

Without further mincing of matters, there does not seem to be any valid reason for doubting the authenticity of Audubon's statements. But as a true student of Nature, it is our duty to receive the facts, confirmed as they have been by subsequent observations, and seek an explanation thereof which will be both rational and philosophic.

In exposed situations, the eggs are subject to certain perils, such as exposures to storms and violent gusts of wind, which more retired places would guard against. The Auks have doubtless learned this as a lesson of experience. Perhaps, necessity only compels them to occupy such sites, when there is a scarcity of deep fissures and horizontal caverns, by reason of a superabundance of mated individuals. If one egg could be better protected and covered than two, which the nearly erect attitude of the bird would seem to warrant us in believing, some females would certainly not be slow in perceiving the advantages to be acquired. The experiment being tried by birds of unusual sagacity, and with happy results, in course of time all the others would be led to the practice of depositing a single egg. Furthermore, the laying of one egg, in case of breakage, would not be as severely felt as in cases where more than one constituted the complement. The habit of laying one egg in exposed situations, would doubtless be continued for a while at least, should the species so accustomed, ever be called upon to nest in places protected by the rocky munitions of Nature. And, on the other hand, birds habituated to nesting in sheltered situations, would for a while continue to deposit two eggs for a setting.

The eggs being laid, the female soon commences to incubate. This seems to be the exclusive labor of the sex. The fact that she plucks the feathers from her abdomen, forming one or two bare spots (according to the number which is to compose her complement) with a ridge of feathers between them, though circumstantial in character, is the only kind of evidence that we have to offer in support of our assertion. Of the precise time required for hatching, we have no knowledge. From the size of the egg, and the thickness of its shell, we reason from analogy that it cannot be less than twenty-four days. The female is not a constant sitter during the daytime, the heated pebbles on clear, sunshiny days supplying the necessary warmth during her absence. When the weather is cloudy, and even during the cool nights, she remains on the nest, the male, as a faithful husband, doubtless answering her calls for food, or keeping her company.

That these birds manifest true affection for each other cannot be denied. They may have a different way of showing it from what we are accustomed to see among our small land-birds, but we cannot speak with positiveness. But this much is undisputed, when one is killed, its mate does not desert it, but paddles around it, as if seeking the cause of its stillness. At such times, so absorbed does it become, whether from grief or wonder we cannot say, that it can easily be approached and knocked over with an oar.

The food of the Razor-bills consists of small fishes, roe, shrimps, various marine animals, and floating garbage, which they procure by diving and swimming, or pick up among the rocks which they frequent. The young doubtless subsist upon the same materials, which they receive from their parents, in small pieces, during their earliest life. But after they have passed the downy stage, and are thrown, in a measure, upon their own resources, they imitate the example of their parents.

So much like the eggs of the Foolish Guillemot or Murre, already mentioned, are those of this species, that it is impossible to discern a characteristic so peculiar and persistent as to enable us to distinguish them apart. The ground-color is generally a pure-white; but specimens are often met with which are cream-colored, and others, again, which are tinted with green. The spots and blotches are irregularly distributed, but chiefly about the middle and the larger end. Some are small and nearly round, others large and irregular. In color they show different shades of black and brown. In addition to these markings, there are others scattered over the egg, of an obscure-purple hue, which have the appearance of being beneath the outside of the shell. The eggs vary in shape; occasionally they are pyriform and ovoidal, and, at other times, decidedly ovate.

Their length is 3.19 inches, and breadth 2.13. In the Plate, the egg is figured the natural size, and placed upon the summit of a small pile of stones at the entrance to a cavern along a rocky seashore. The birds are reduced and put in the background, the idea being to show their form, as well as the arrangement of their plumage.