Alca torda
Order Charadriiformes
Family Alcidae
Adult in summer.— Head, throat, and upper parts sooty-black; line from bill to eye, narrow line across wing, and under parts white; bill short and deep.
Adult in winter.— Similar, but throat, fore neck, and cheeks white; no white line from bill to eye.
Immature.– Similar to winter adult, but bill smaller.
The Razor-bill is an irregular winter visitant to the coast of New England and Long Island, occurring off rocky shores. It gets its food by diving, and uses its wings under water to propel itself. Its pattern of black and white resembles very closely that of the Murre, but it may be distinguished by its deeper bill, and, when sitting on the water, by its upturned tail.
Hoffmann – A Guide to the Birds of New England and Eastern New York (1904)