88 alciDtE. 



on the 28th July. He describes this species as fishing for 

 Entomostraca, flocks of them diving just in time to avoid 

 the ship's stem. " These birds use their wings vigorously 

 to propel themselves under water. It was observable that 

 the individuals in a diving flock kept their relative distances 

 and bearings under water with as much correctness as if on 

 the wing, and all returned to the surface within a second of 

 one another. During the breeding-season the pouch-like 

 enlargement of the cheeks gives them a singular appearance. 

 The contents of the cheeks is a reddish-coloured substance, 

 which on closer examination is found to consist of immense 

 numbers of minute Crustacea. The adaptation of the 

 mouth in this species, as a receptacle for the food required 

 for their young, does not appear to have attracted much 

 attention among naturalists ; and 5'et a little consideration 

 would have shown that some such arrangement must be re- 

 quired. With fish- feeders, such as Alca, Uiia, and Frater- 

 cula, no difficulty arises in transporting food to their young ; 

 but in the case of Mcrgulus allc, which, I believe, subsists 

 entirely on minute Crustacea, the bill is manifestly incapable 

 of conveying the requisite amount of food, especially as very 

 often the breeding-places of the Little Auk are found inland, 

 at considerable distances from the sea. This bird does not 

 appear to be possessed of great powers of flight, or capable 

 of making headway against a gale : this will account for its 

 having often been picked up in an exhausted condition far 

 inland. In autumn Little Auks were migrating southwards 

 in immense numbers from Davis Strait : probably these 

 flocks were bound for the Labrador and Newfoundland 

 coasts, for I did not observe them later on during that 

 voyage in the Atlantic to the eastward of the longitude of 

 Cape Farewell" (Zool. 1878, p. 383). 



In the adult bird the beak is leaden-black ; the iridcs 

 hazel ; a small white spot over the eye ; the head, hind 

 neck, back, wings, and tail black, but the ends of the 

 secondaries and the sides of the scapulars margined with 

 white ; the colour of the chin, throat, and neck in front, 

 depend on the season, being black in summer and white in 



