SflO BIRDa. 



the tips of the secondary quills. It inhabits the extreme north, al- 

 though it breeds on the rocky coasts of England and Scotland. In 

 very hard winters it is seen on those of France. 



There is a smaller species which is black, with the upper part of 

 the wing white, Col. grylle, L. ; Vieill. Gal. 294; Choris., Voy. aut. 

 du M., Isles Aleut, pi. xxii; sometimes mottled throughout with 

 white, C. marmoratus, Frisch, Suppl. B., pi. 185, Edw. 50 and Penn., 

 Arct. Zool. II, xxii, 2. Individuals are sometimes seen all white, 

 C. lacteolus, Pall.* 

 We may also separate from the Guillemots the 



Cephus-j-. 



Vulgarly called Greenland Divers, which have a shorter bill with a more 

 arcuated back, but without any eraargination. The symphysis of the 

 lower mandible is extremely short. Their wings are larger, and the mem- 

 branes of their feet well indented. 



The species most known, called the Little Guillemot or Greenland 

 Dove, Colymbus minor, Gm. ; Enl. 917; Mergulus Alle, Vieill. 

 Gal. 295 ; Brit. Zool. pi. H, 4, f. 1 ; Edw. 91 ; Naum. Ed. I, 65, 

 f. 102, is the size of a large pigeon, black above, white beneath, with 

 a white line on the wing, as in the Guillemot. Its bill is black, and 

 feet red. Inhabits all the northern coasts, and builds under ground. 

 It is sometimes seen on the French coast in winter. 



Alca, Lin. 



Tlie Auks are known by the very much compressed, vertically raised 

 bill, which has a trenchant back, and is usually grooved transversely ; and 

 by the feet which are completely palmated, and have no thumb like those 

 of the Guillemot. All these birds inhabit the northern seas. We may 

 divide the genus into two subgenera. 



Fratercula, Briss. — Mormon, lUig. 



Or the Puffins, v/'hose bill, shorter than the head, is as high and higher 

 at its base than it is long, which gives it a very extraordinary form ; a. 

 folded skin usually covers its base. The nostrils placed near the edge 

 are merely narrow slits. Tlieir small wings can* just sustain them for a 

 moment; they live upon the ocean, like the Guillemots, and build their 

 nests on the rocks. 



The most common species, Alca arctica, L., and lahradoria, Gm.; 

 Mormon fratercula, Tem., Enl. 275 ; Brit. Zool., pi. H ; Edw. 358, 

 1 ; Frisch, 192; Naum. G5, f. 101, is the size of a pigeon, and has 



• Add the G. a gros hec (Uria Brunnichii , Sabine), Choris., Voy. aut. du M. pl.xxi; 

 — Uria lacrymans, Lapil., lb. XXIII — consult the article inserted there on this genus 

 by M. Valenciennes. 



f Cephus, the name of some sea birds often mentioned by the Greek writers, wliich 

 appear to have been species of Petrel or Gull. Mcehring, and subsequently Pallas, 

 applied the term to the Divers and Guillemots. Vieillot has changed it into 

 Mergulus, Gal. 295. 



