M7 



A I K. 



A i i:\ 



in curving direction, and occasionally with two entrance*. When 

 yg~> in digging, which U principally performed by the male*, they 

 are sometime* to intent upon their won an to admit of being taken 

 by hand, and the nine may alw> be done during incubation. At this 

 period I hare frequently obtained specimen* by thrusting my arm into 

 the burrow, though at the risk of receiving a Mvere bite from the 

 powerful and sharp-edged bill of the old bint At the farther end of 

 thin hole the single egg U deposited, which in size nearly equal* that 

 of a pullet, and, aa Pennant observes, varies in form ; in HOIIIC instance* 

 one end being acute, and in others both equally obtuse. Its colour 

 when first laid in white, but it Boon becomes soiled and dirty from its 

 immediate contact with the earth, no materials being collected for a 

 nest at the end of the burrow. The young are hatched after a month'* 

 incubation, and are then covered with a long blackish down above, 

 which gradually gives place to the feathered plumage ; BO that at the 

 end of a month or five weeks they are able to quit the burrow, ami 

 follow their parents to the open sea. Soon after this time, or about 

 the second week in August, the whole leave our coasts, commencing 

 their equatorial migration. At an early age the bill of this l>ird i.. 

 small and narrow, scarcely exceeding that of the young Razor-Bill at 

 the name period of life ; and not till after the second year does thix 

 member acquire its full development, both as to depth, colour, and its 

 transverse furrows." 



In rocky places (Dover cliffs for instance) they deposit their single 

 egg, as Montagu observes, in the holes and crevices. The length of 

 the bird is about 12 inches. The half of the bill nearest the head U 

 bluish ; the rest red. The corners of the mouth ore puckered into a 

 kind of star. The legs and feet are orange. The plumage ia black 

 and white, with the exception of the cheeks and chin, which are 

 sometimes gray. The young pickled with spices are by some con- 

 sidered dainties ; they ore also occasionally potted in the north. 



Sprats are supposed to be the principal food of the Puffin, but there 

 is little doubt that other fishes and crustaceans are acceptable to the 

 t-ird. 



Mcrgulut. 



The Little Auk, Common llotche, or Sea-Dove (Mergulut mdano- 

 Ifucot of Ray. /'"' Mir of Temininck, and Alca Allt, Liumeua), is an 

 example of the genus itergtdut of our countryman Ray. 



Little Auk (iferguliu mtlanolfucoi). 



The Little Auk braves the inclemency of very high latitudes, and 

 congregate* in great flocks for within the Arctic Circle. The inho.-pit 

 able coasts of Ureenlond and Spitsbergen are the dwelling-places of 

 these birds, and thousands have been seen at Melville Island. In 

 those dreary regions they are said to watch the motion of the ice, and 

 when it is broken up by storms down they come in legions, crowding 

 into every fissure to banquet on the crustaceans and other marine 

 animal* which there lie at their mercy. It can hardly be called an 

 occasional visitant to this country, for thime which have appeared here 

 hare been evidently exhausted birds, buffeted by storms and driven 

 by contrary winds far from the spot congenial to their habit*. Tin* 

 Little Auk is between 9 and 10 inches in length ; the bill is black, and 

 the legs inclining to brown ; the plumage is block and white, and in 

 winter the front of the neck, which is block in summer, becomes 

 whitish : the change take* place in the autumn. 



The bird lays only one egg of a pale bluish-green, on the most 

 inaccessible ledge* of the precipices which overhang the ocean. 



The Perroquet Ank (Phalerit pnUaeula, Temininck, Alca ptUtacvla, 

 Pallas), may be taken an on illustration. 



Kamtchatka and other northern regions shelter these bird* in 

 abundance. They swim and dive admirably. Stories are told t.i 

 prove their uiisucpicioiis character; and it i mui that 

 place a drew With largo sleeve* utur their hulea aud burrow-, iuu< 



which the artless buds, mitflkipg the sleeves aforesaid for their u 



i-i-ir. if-. . r.-.-|. :-.IP| .in- I .!. :i. 



About midsummer they lay one large egg nearly of the site of a 

 hen's, with brown or dusky spot* on a whitish or yellowish ground. 



The Perroquet Auk is about 11 inches in length. From behind the 



rtrroquet Auk (7>W<fi piitt-'' 



eye a tuft of white feathcra, which hang on either Hide of th 

 shoots forth. The head, neck, and upper parts are block, bleating 

 into ash-colour on the fore part of the neck ; the under parts from t In- 

 breast are white ; the legs are yellowish. In the old bird the bill is 

 red, while the young one has it of a yellowish or dusky colour. 



(Yarrell, British fiirdt.) 



AUO.OLKPIS, a genus of Fosstf Cycloid Fishes, from the Chalk of 

 Sussex and Kent. (Agassiz.) 



AULO'PORA (Goldfuss), a genus of Fossil Palfpiaria, from the 

 Silurian Strata. 



AURANTIA'CE^E, Citron Wortt, or the Orange Tribe, are Dicoty- 

 ledonous Polypetolous ^Plants, with dork-green jointed leaves, filled 



Common Orange (Citrut Aurantium), 



1, A flower with Its calyx, corolla, stamen*, an I style ; 2, a portion of the 

 ; 3, an ovary cut through transversely ; 4, a fruit cut through in the 

 name diirctiun. 



with fragrant oiueutial oil I'ltlU-utcd in little transparent, d. t .. :u:d n 

 .1 changing to u succulent berry, the rind !' wliich i* 



