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LITTLE AUK. 

 Mergulus alle (L.). 



Winter visitant, not uncommon in some years, though irregular 

 in its appearance ; occasionally driven inland during stormy weather. 



An early allusion, perhaps the earliest, to this species 

 was made in a statement of the Rev. W. Dalton of Copgrove, 

 near Knaresborough, to the effect that the Little Auk had 

 been found near his house (Montagu's " Orn. Diet." 1813, 

 p. 5 of Newman's 1866 reprint). 



Thomas Allis, 1844, wrote : — 



Mergulus alle. — Little Auk — Hugh Reid says that about three 

 years ago a large flight of these birds crossed the country near Doncaster; 

 that many were picked up dead, and many caught alive in an exhausted 

 state ; several of the specimens are now in his own collection ; a fine 

 specimen was picked up alive near Hebden Bridge on 25 th October 

 1834 ; and about the same time another at Luddenden, about four 

 miles off, both now in S. Gibson's collection. Arthur Strickland 

 observes, " Except a few birds out of plumage in winter time, it is 

 seldom found on this coast." This bird differs from the rest of the 

 tribe, being at times found far inland ; and some years ago I have 

 known several killed in the water at Foss Island, near York. 



Strickland's observations, quoted by Allis, may have been 

 correct in his day, but do not, at the present time, accurately 

 represent the status of the Little Auk, which may be described 

 as an erratic winter visitant on the coast from the Arctic 

 regions, being not uncommon in some seasons, in others 

 rare or altogether absent, while at long intervals extra- 

 ordinarily large numbers of these little Arctic visitors are 

 reported. In the year 1841, when the flight, mentioned by 

 Hugh Reid, took place near Doncaster, many were noted in 

 October at Redcar {Zool. 1845, p. 1183 ; and Yarrell's " British 

 Birds "), as also in the autumn of 1863. In 1878 a sudden 

 north-west gale, with snow, sprang up on 12th November, 

 and, from that date to the 21st, examples of this bird were 

 washed up on the shore ; many were found at Lowthorpe 

 in 1879 ; in November 1884 they were again abundant, 

 and in January and February of 1890 numbers were reported 



