144 BRITISH. SEA BIRDS. 
at certain spots during summer. Perhaps it is 
because the area of distribution is so wide in 
winter, and, comparatively speaking, so restricted 
during summer. The food of the Little Auk 
consists largely of minute crustaceans, and possibly 
of small fish. The bird is said to resort to the 
vicinity of fishing fleets, to pick up the refuse 
thrown overboard. 
In May, the Little Auk resorts to the land to 
breed. It is eminently gregarious, and some of its 
colonies consist of an almost incredible number of 
birds. Curiously enough, its breeding places are 
not always by the sea, some of them being situated 
a considerable distance from the coast. Sloping 
rock-covered banks at the foot of the cliffs, seem to 
be preferred to the cliff themselves. A favourite 
situation is on the sloping ground below a range of 
cliffs, where the surface is covered with stones and 
rock fragments that have, during succeeding ages, 
crumbled from the precipices towering above. Here, 
in cavities, worn by wind and storm, beneath large 
stones and rock fragments, or in various hollows 
and holes under the fallen dévis, the Little Auk 
deposits its single pale greenish-blue egg, out of 
reach of the Arctic foxes that prowl about the 
colony in quest of prey. The actions of the Little 
Auk at its nesting colony, seem to be very similar to 
those of the Puffin when breeding on slopes, as, for 
instance, on the island of Doon, one of the St. 
Kilda group. 
