AUK. 



AUK. 



3ifl 



is a rare visitant to the British Isles. Dr. Fleming however gives an 

 account of one taken alive at St. Kilda, where they are sometimes 

 known to breed, which, even with a long and heavy cord tied to ita 



Great Auk (Alca impcnnia 



leg, swam under water with extraordinary speed. The power of 

 the apparently useless wings as organs of progression was still more 

 strongly shown in the Great Auk chased ineffectually by Mr. Bullock 

 during his tour to the Northern Isles; for the four oars of the bird 

 are said to have left the six-oared boat of his pursuers far behind. 

 According to the same authority, only a single pair had been known 

 to breed in Papa Westra for several years. Newfoundland is recorded 

 as one of their breeding places, and Pennant relates that the Esqui- 

 maux who frequented the island made clothing of their skins. In the 

 ocean that washes the Faroe Isles, Iceland, and Greenland, where 

 they dwell in great numbers, they may be frequently seen on the 

 floating ice ; but Pennant says that they are observed never to wander 

 beyond soundings, and that seamen direct their measures according 

 to their appearance. 



The food of the Great Auk consists principally of fish ; and the 

 Lump-Fish (C'yclopteriu lumput) is said to be its favourite morsel. 



The length of the bird is somewhat under three feet. The winter 

 plumage, which begins to appear in autumn, leaves the cheeks, throat, 

 fore part and sides of the neck white. In spring the summer-change 

 begins to take place, and confines the white on the head to a large 

 patch, which extends in front and around the eyes ; the rest of the 

 head, the neck, and upper plumage is of a deep black. There is a 

 specimen of the bird in its summer dress in the British Museum. The 

 Great Auk breeds in June and July, laying one egg, about the size of 

 a swan's, of a whitkh-yellow, marked with numerous lines and spots 

 of black, which have been supposed to bear some resemblance to 

 Chinese characters. 



In the Black-Billed Auk, Razor-Bill, or Murre (.4 lea lorda, Linnaeus), 

 the development of the wings is carried to the usual extent necessary for 

 the purposes of flight, though the bird uses them with great effect as 

 oars when swimming under water. 



The northern hemisphere, where they are widely diffused, is the 

 region allotted to these birds ; but it is in the higher latitudes that 

 they swarm. In England, the Needles and other adjacent precipitous 

 cliffs have a fair share of them ; and here, as in other places, the 

 ' dreadful trade ' of taking their eggs, which are esteemed a delicacy for 

 salads especially, is .carried on. In Kay's ed. of Willughby the habits 

 of the Razor-Bill are thus described : " It lays, sits, and breeds up 

 ita young on the ledges of the craggy cliffs and steep rocks by the 

 sea-shores that are broken and divided into many as it were stairs or 

 shelves, together with the Coulter-Nebs and Guillemots. The Manksmen 

 are wont to compare these rocks, with the birds sitting upon them in 

 breeding-time, to an apothecary's shop the ledges of the rocks 

 resembling the shelves, and the birds the pots. About the Isle of 

 Man are very high cliffs broken in this manner into many ledges one 

 above another from top to bottom. They are wont to let down men 

 by ropes from the tops of the cliffs, to take away the eggs and young 

 ones. They take also the birds themselves when they are sitting upon 

 their eggs, with snares fastened to the ends of long poles, and put 

 about the necks of the birds. They build no nests, but lay their eggs 

 upon the lre rocks." 



On the coast of Labrador they abound, and the thousands of birds 

 there killed for the sake of the breast-feathers which are very warm 



and elastic, and the quantities of eggs there collected, amount to almost 

 incredible numbers. 



The summer and winter dress of the Razor-Bill, though different, 



Itazor-liiU (Alca torda). 



do not vary so remarkably as the plumage of many other birds. In 

 the summer dress, the white streak which goes to the bill from the 

 eyes becomes very pure ; and the cheeks, throat, and upper part of 

 the front of the neck are of a deep black, shaded with reddish. In 

 winter the throat and fore part of the neck are white. 



The young of the year is by the best authorities supposed to be the 

 Alca Pica of Gmelin. 



The Razor-Bill is little more than 15 inches long. The egg (for they 

 lay but one) is very large in proportion to the bird, being about the 

 size of that of a turkey, but of a longer shape, pointed towards the 

 smaller end, white or sometimes yellowish, blotched, and streaked 

 with dark brown, chiefly towards the larger end. 



Fratercula. 



Le.wing the true Auks we come to the genus Fratercula, Briss. 

 (Mormon, Illigcr), of which the Labrador Auk, Common Puffin, or 



Common I'umn (Fratercula Arcticn}. 



Coulter-Neb (Fratercula Arctica, Mormon frattrcula, Temm., Alca 

 A rctica, Linn.), may be taken as an example. 



Selby gives the following account of the habits of this bird, and is 

 corroborated by others who have written on the subject: "Although 

 the Puffin is found in very high latitudes, and its distribution through 

 the Arctic Circle is extensive, it is only known to us as a summer 

 visitant, and that from the south, making its first appearance in the 

 vicinity of its breeding stations about the middle of April, and regu- 

 larly departing between the 10th and 20th of August for the southern 

 coasts of France, Spain, and other parts of Europe, where it passes 

 the remainder of the year. It breeds in great numbers upon Priest- 

 holm Island, off the coast of Anglesey, on the Isle of Man, and most 

 of the islands indeed of the English and Scottish coasts. Many resort 

 to the Faroe Islands, selecting such as are covered with a stratum of 

 vegetable mould ; and here they dig their own burrows, from there 

 not being any rabbits to dispossess upon the particular islets they 

 frequent. They commence this operation about the first week in May, 

 and the hole is generally excavated to the depth of three feet, often 



