LITTLE AUK. 89 



winter, but mottled with black and white in spring and 

 autumn ; under surface of the body white ; legs and toes 

 livid-brown, the membranes between the toes darker brown. 

 Sabine remarks, " The whole of the birds in the breeding- 

 season, the sexes being alike, had the under part of the neck 

 an uniform sooty-black, terminating abruptly, and in an even 

 line against the white of the belly ; the young birds, which 

 we saw in all stages from the egg, as soon as they were 

 feathered, were marked exactly as the mature birds ; but 

 in the third week in September, when we were on our 

 passage down the American coast, every specimen, whether 

 old or young, was observed to be in change ; and in the 

 course of a few days the entire feathers of the thi'oat and 

 cheeks, and of the under part of the neck, had become 

 white." 



The whole length of the bird is about eight inches and a 

 half; of the wing from the wrist four inches and a half. 



A nestling taken by Major Feilden on the 28th of July, 

 1875, is covered with down of a uniform sooty-brown, but 

 when half-fledged the underparts are white. 



An albino example of this species is in the British 

 Museum. 



In the oceans of the Southern Hemisphere there is a 

 genus of small Petrels — Pelecanoidcs — the members of 

 which bear a strong superficial resemblance to the Little 

 Auk in size, form, colour, and mode of flight ; but on close 

 examination, they will at once be recognized by their 

 tubular nostrils. 



VOL. IV. 



