134 



BRANCH VERTEBRATA. 



FIG. 



life. On the land they sit upright. Most species pluck 

 out feathers to bring their eggs into immediate contact 

 with their flesh, for greater warmth during incubation. 

 The Puffin drives rabbits from their holes, or burrows to 

 the depth of two or three feet to lay its single egg, while 

 the Auk deposits its two eggs upon a rocky shelf in the 

 side of a cliff overhanging the sea.* 



The Grebe \ (greb) has its toes 

 partly separate and flat, the edges 

 being furnished with a broad, stiff 

 membrane, making each one a 

 paddle. On the land, it lies down 

 and pushes itself along by its feet. 

 In the water, however, it is per- 

 fectly at home, diving and using 

 its wings in pursuit of fishes and 

 aquatic insects. J 



The Loon, or Great Northern 

 Diver, in its mature plumage of 

 the fourth year, has few rivals in 



Co lym' bus tor qua' tvs. 

 Loon. ( iV) 



been preserved, there being now known only seventy-six skins and sixty-eight 

 eggs a skin being recently bought for the American Museum in New York for 

 $625. 



* The Puffin and Auk are confined to the colder regions of the North, as the 

 Penguin is to those of the South. 



t The Grebe, the Auk, and other aquatic birds, are a source of revenue to 

 the people inhabiting the rocky coasts, which they frequent in multitudes. The 

 nests are often built in the ledges of cliffs inaccessible from below, but the hardy 

 fowlers suspend themselves by stout ropes from the summit of the precipices, and 

 by swinging to and fro reach every cranny and crevice of the rock, gathering eggs 

 and young birds. The calling is a perilous one. Often the rope chafes against a 

 projecting edge of the rock, or vertigo seizes the fowler, or he reaches too far, or 

 slips from his footing. The men holding the rope above hear a shriek of despair, 

 and then all is still save the roar of the remorseless waves below. 



If Singularly enough, the stomach of the .Grebe always contains a mass of its 

 own feathers, involuntarily swallowed probably, in dressing and cleansing its 

 plumage. One species makes a floating nest upon which it sits and hatches its 

 progeny. But if disturbed, it plunges one foot into the water, and, employing it 

 as an oar, transports its dwelling from the threatened danger. 



