BIRD NOTES 9 



after coming on to feed, die one by one. On 

 dissection, many birds that I have picked up on the 

 beach have been observed to be without the least 

 particle of fatty matter, the breastbone being very 

 prominent, and the tissues between the flesh and 

 the skin peculiarly " bubbled " or inflated with air. 



The late Mr. J. H. Gurney records in the Zoologist 

 that on llth May 1851 vast numbers were found on 

 the shore between Cromer and Yarmouth: "one 

 man collecting (for manure) four cartloads, partly 

 composed of seaweeds, but principally of dead 

 birds." 1 



LITTLE AUK. 



The Little Auk too has often been a sufferer from 

 adverse winds. The same conditions of weather 

 apply to these as to the Guillemots; but whereas 

 the Guillemots are seldom found dead or dying 

 beyond the reach of the high-water mark, this little 

 rock-bird, as if endeavouring to get beyond the fury 

 of the elements, even makes inland, to fall eventually 

 from exhaustion, sometimes in the oddest of places 

 in someone's garden, in a village churchyard, or in 

 the roadway. 



1 Birds of Norfolk (Stevenson), vol. iii. p. 278. 



