220 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN DIVING BIRDS 



entirely on minute Crustacea, the bill is manifestly incapable of conveying the 

 requisite amount of food, especially as very often the breeding places of the 

 little auk are found inland, at considerable distances from the sea. 



Mr. William Brewster (1906) writes that the stomachs of several 

 killed on Fresh Pond, Cambridge, Massachusetts, were "filled with 

 the remains of young alewives," which abounded in the pond. 



Behavior. Mr. Ekblaw says of the behavior of the dovekie: 



Like the murre and the guillemot, the dovekie floats either high or low in 

 the water, and dives more easily from the lower position. They dive very 

 quickly, and remain submerged for some little time. Observations of approxi- 

 mately 761 birds in 51 groups gave an average of 33 seconds for submergence, 

 when frightened by the approach of the steamer off Cape Walsingham, August 

 11, 1913. The maximum time of submergence was 68 seconds. The dovekie, 

 like the murre and guillemot, uses his wings as well as his feet in diving, 

 veritably flying through the water. On the dive it tips down as it goes under, 

 just like a "bobber" on a country boy's fish line, and then starts down at 

 an angle of from 45 to 60, only its little white tail visible, like a white bubble 

 sinking fast into the depths. 



The flight of the auklet suggests in the wing movements, at least, that of 

 the chimney swifts. It is a good strong flier when the expanse of wing sur- 

 face in respect to the weight of the bird is considered, but it does not fly 

 nearly so swiftly as the guillemot or murre, and in direct flight can not escape 

 from its enemies, the great burgomaster gull or the gyrfalcon. I have several 

 times seen the burgomaster gull far behind a flock of dovekies start in pursuit, 

 and though the little birds exerted themselves to the utmost to escape, the big 

 gull in a few movements overtook them, scattering them. The victim he singled 

 out then found his only hope of escaping in dodging his pursuer and taking 

 refuge in the water or among rocks. Likewise I have seen guillemots take 

 wing with the dovekies and soon distance them. The dovekie has a habit 

 of stooping from a considerable height at a very steep gradient, like a hawk 

 stooping to his prey, and at this time, the descent is meteoric in noise and 

 speed. At such a time, if one happens to be standing at the base of its descent 

 or near it, he receives an impression of great speed, undoubtedly more or less 

 correct, for the impetus of their rapid descent must give a high velocity. On 

 straight flying, however, the flight is not out of the ordinary quite what one 

 would expect from a bird with such relation of weight to wing expanse. 



Morris (1903) says, of its vocal powers: 



The note of this interesting little bird is a pretty chirrup or pipe, partly 

 plaintive and partly lively; it resembles the syllables "try" and "eye" fre- 

 quently repeated, especially when engaged with the nest. 



The note has also been likened to the syllables "al-le." 

 The important place which the dovekie fills in maintaining the 

 balance of life in the far north is well shown in the following obser- 

 vations by Mr. Ekblaw: 



The dovekie is preeminently a social bird. Its vast colonies on these north- 

 west Greenland shores form one of the most striking features of the coast and 

 play an important part in the ecology and human economy of the region. 

 They furnish the food for the many foxes of this region; without these birds 

 the foxes would be so few that the natives could not secure adequate clothing, 



