414 AUKS. 



to contend with storms, the time of its arrival is not certain. On its first 

 appearance on our shore it is generally lean, but in a week or two becomes 

 excessively fat, and begins to seek for a proper place to deposit its solitary 

 ^'g'^ in security. 



These birds leave this country towards the end of August. When the time 

 comes for them to depart, they assemble in immense multitudes on the rocks, 

 from which they are supposed to fly for a considerable distance, and then to 

 complete their migration by swimming on the sea. They usually fly very 

 near the surface, and are frequently observed to dip their wings into the 

 water, which seems to strengthen them in their flight. 



Their diet consists principally of sprats and other small fishes : they retain 

 the food intended for their young until partially digested, and then disgorge 

 it into their mouths. Their bite is very severe, and they take such secure 

 hold, that the most common way of catching them is by introducing a stick 

 into their holes, which they eagerly seize, and will suffer themselves to be 

 drawn out with it rather than quit their hold. 



As is the custom with most diving birds, the puffin lays only one egg, and 

 always deposits it in some deep burrow. 



The appearance of an island frequented by these birds is thus graphically 

 described by Audubon : 



" On every crag or stone stood a puffin, at the entrance of every hole an- 

 other, and yet the sea was covered and the air filled by them. The burrows 

 were all inhabited by young birds of different ages and sizes, and clouds of 

 puffins flew over us, each individual holding a small fish by the head. The 

 burrows all communicated in various ways with each other, so that the whole 

 island was perforated as if by a multitude of subterranean labyrinths, over 

 which we could not run without the risk of falling at almost every step. The 

 voices of the young sounded beneath our feet like voices from the grave, and 

 the stench was extremely disagreeable. During the whole of our visit the 

 birds never left the place, but constantly attended to their, avocations. Here 

 one would rise beneath our feet ; there, within a few yards, another would 

 alight with a fish, and dive into its burrow, or feed the young that stood wait- 

 ing at the entrance." 



The True Auks {Alca) are mostly found in northern latitudes, but at 

 certain seasons they frequent the more temperate parts of Europe. They are 

 generally to be seen on rocks overhanging the sea, in the deep clefts of which 

 the female deposits a single egg without any kind of nest. These birds pass 

 their time chiefly on the water, where they are very expert in their evolutions, 

 swimming and diving with great rapidity. From the shortness of their wings, 

 their powers of flight are extremely limited, and, even in the best flyers among 

 them, is very heavy, being performed just above the surface of the water by 

 c[uickly-repeated movements of the wings. They feed on various kinds of 

 fish and other marine productions. 



The typical species of this sub-family is — 



The Arctic PuflQn or Coulterneb {Puffinus arciiais). 



