CHAPTER XXXVIII. 

 PYGOPODES. 



Diving Birds Praecocial and Altricial Birds. 



This is the order of the loons, the grebes, the auks, 

 and the puffins. The first two are birds well known in the 

 United States; the auks are arctic birds, and the puffins 

 are mainly so, although the common puffin nests along 

 our Atlantic coast from Maine northward, and the tufted 

 puffin on our Pacific coast islands from Behring Sea 

 down as far as the latitude of San Francisco. These 

 birds have the most highly developed natatorial powers 

 in the whole range of birds. The grebes swim and dive 

 with perfect ease, and are also very skillful on the wing, 

 though they do not use the wings in swimming, this, 

 according to the observation of careful investigators, 

 being done with the feet. The legs of all the birds of 

 the order are set so far back that the birds, when on 

 land, stand with the body nearly upright ; the whole tarsus 

 may then rest on the ground and the tail may be used for 

 a prop. 



All the different sorts of puffins are shy birds nesting 

 on islands in almost inaccessible crevices in cliffs, except 

 the common puffin, which nests on the ground. But 

 even in the latter case, the ground burrows are usually 

 located on some lonely island or little-frequented shore 

 where flying is the surest method of travel. The auks 

 are both coast and island nesting as to their habits; and, 

 since their inclinations lead them to frequent lonely 



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