358 



ALCAD/E, 



NATATORES. 



ALCADM. 



THE LITTLE AUK, 



OR Common Rotche. 



Aka aUe, Little Auk, Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. ii. p. 158. 



„ ,, „ Mont. Ornith. Diet. 



,, ,, ,, „ Bewick, Brit. Birds, vol. ii. p. 185. 



Mergulus meUuioteucos, Common Eotcit, Flem. Brit. An. p. 135. 



,^ ,, ,, ,, Seldy, Brit. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 430. 



,^ ,, ,, ,, Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 259. 



„ ,, Little Auk, Gould, Birds of Europe, pt. iv. 



Uriii alle. Guillemot nain, Temm. Man. d'Ornith. vol. ii. p. 928. 



Mergulus. Generic Characters. — Bill shorter than the head, thick, 

 broader than high at the base ; culmen arched ; upper mandible indistinctly 

 grooved ; under one with the symphisis very sliort and oblique ; tips of both 

 mandibles notched. Commissure arched. Nostrils lateral, round, situated at 

 the base of the bill, and partly covered with small feathers. Legs abdominal, 

 short ; feet of three toes, all directed forwards, and united by a membrane. 

 Wings and tail short. 



