alcidjE: auks, murres, etc. 



1061 



Comparatively few species are 

 common to both oceans. All the 

 members of the family are exclu- 

 sively marine. They are decidedly 

 gregarious, at least in the breed- 

 ing season, when some of them 

 congregate in countless numbers 

 at places called " loomeries." A 

 calculation worked out by Professor 

 Newton in 1898 gave 3,000,000 

 Puffins for one locality among the 

 Hebrides. Usually one, some- 

 times two, rarely three eggs are 

 hud, either upon bare rock or 

 ground, in crevices among 

 rocks, or in burrows exca- 

 vated for the purpose. Auks 

 are all altricial, and believed 

 to be chiefly monogamous. 

 The young are at first 

 covered with flufi"y down ; 

 rarely stiffish hairs appear 

 on some parts. The moult 

 is double ; young of the year 

 usually differ from adults, 

 and the latter are usually 

 unlike in their summer and 

 winter plumages. A prev- 

 alent feature is the pos- 

 session of crests or plumes, 

 or of elongated feathers of 

 peculiar shape on the sides 

 of the head. All the species 

 walk badly ; some scarcely 

 walk at 'all. The position 

 i>f the legs with reference to 

 tlie axis of the body necessi- 

 tates an upright position 

 when standing. Tlie birds 

 appear to rest on their rumps, with the feet extended horizontally before them, most of the 

 tarsus tiiuching the gniund. The Puffins, however, and a few others, stand well on their feet. 

 All the species but one Hy well, with rapid vigorous motion of the wings, in a straight, firm, 

 well-sust;uncd course, and progress on or under water with the utmost facility. Tliey are very 

 silent birds; tiie voice is rough an<l harsh; the notes are monotoned. They feed exclusively 

 upon animal substances procured from the water. 



The family is divisible into four subfamilies according to feathering of nostrils and otiier 

 characters, especially those derived from shape and structure of the bill. 



1 1., 'lie Kock tenanted by Cormorauts (P. bicristalus), Auks 



(iKM^jniii iiy H. W. Elliott. From Harper Brothers.) 



