ALCIDiE — THE AUKS — URIA. 470 



Uria troile. 



The Foolish Guillemot may In- taken as eminently typical of those diving-birds 

 which are at once oceanic and Arctic. It occurs throughout the northern hemisphere, 

 although rare in the North Pacific Ocean. On the American coast il breeds from 

 the mouth of the Hay of Fundy — where it is comparatively rare — northward as far 

 as the land extends. In midwinter it is found in the open sea as far south as the 



''. IroiU califomica, summer adult. 



lower waters of the Chesapeake. It is very rarely met with in hays or land-locked 

 inlets, unless driven there by severe storms and against its nun will. 



In Europe it wanders in winter to the Mediterranean, and breeds from the British 

 Islands northward, [t is found throughout the Arctic Ocean, and breeds on 

 all the islands north of Asia, Europe, and America. It was found by Bischoff 

 present, but not abundant, at Etadiak 



It is given by Professor Reinhardt as being one of the resident species of Green- 

 land. In the summer of 1858 Dr. Walker, in the Expedition of the " Fox," encoun- 

 tered thousands of this species on the coast of Greenland, and afterward in Melville 

 Hay. 



According to Giraud, this bird is to be met with in winter off the coasts of Long 

 Island and New Jersey. Professor Newton states that Dr. Afahngren found it breed- 

 ing on Bear Island, Spitzbergen, in almost incredible numbers; and there he found 

 intermingled with it occasional specimens of Uria ringvia, which he regards rather 

 as a variety of this bird than as entitled to specific rank. 



Middendorff met with this species on the Siberian coast, on the margins of the 

 tundras of that desolate region. 



Mr. Howard Saunders states that it is found on the Mediterranean coast of Spain, 

 but that it is of very rare occurrence there. Three specimens only were obtained by 

 him during the winter. Near Gibraltar it was more numerous. Mr. Layard (" Ibis," 

 1807, p. 249) mentions that in his voyage from England to Cape Town, when off Cape 

 Finisterre he fell in with flocks of these birds. -Mr. Wright mentions that a single 

 example of this species was taken, about 1852, at Malta, and that in 1SC4 it was still 

 preserved in the museum of Professor Delicatu. 



During the breeding-season these birds assemble by hundreds, or, more frequently. 

 by thousands, at certain localities, generally on extensive rocky islands, or on cliffs. 

 or bold shores. Toward these points they usually converge early in the month of 

 May. Notwithstanding the immense numbers that sometimes resort to the same 

 rock, and although we often find these birds breeding in company with tho e oi 

 several other species, except when disturbed by the intrusion of man, there i 

 dom from confusion and a prevalence of order and system in their operations that is 

 quite remarkable. As if by mutual and common consent, not only do the different 



