THE LITTLE-AUK 43 



down no fewer than thirty-two birds ; and a party of three guns sent 

 out to procure food killed no fewer than twelve hundred and sixty- 

 three birds in five or six hours in mid- August. 



Under water rotches use their wings just as in flying, and 

 Feilden notes "that the individuals in a diving flock kept their 

 relative distances and bearings under water with as much correct- 

 ness as if on the wing, and all returned to the surface within a 

 second of one another. During the breeding season the pouch-like 

 enlargement of the cheeks gives them a singular appearance. The 

 contents of the cheeks is a reddish-coloured substance, which on 

 closer examination is found to consist of immense numbers of minute 

 Crustacea." Colonel Feilden goes on to point out that the guillemots, 

 razorbills, and puffins, which live on fish, have no difficulty in trans- 

 porting food to their nests, but in the case of the rotche the bill is 

 useless for this purpose, while the breeding-grounds are in some 

 cases far inland, so that some structural modification is necessary 

 to enable it to transport food in sufficient quantity, and this has been 

 obtained by the distention of the cheeks. 



At the breeding-grounds the food of these birds consists practi- 

 cally entirely of small Crustacea (Entomostraca). The red colour of 

 these minute organisms stains the droppings of the bird and causes 

 them to assume a vermilion tint, conspicuous against the snow, and 

 sometimes giving the first indication of their arrival. 



The little-auk is a noisy bird, restless in its habits, and seldom 

 still. On the cliffs Hantzsch describes it as continually moving a step 

 or two and uttering its peculiar call. Malgrem says that the neigh- 

 bourhood of a breeding-place can be detected half a mile away by 

 these notes. The call has been variously written, " Rett, tet, tet, tet" or 

 " Perre, te-te-te, tett, tett, tett" and " Trrr, trrr, tet, tet, tet, trrr." Le Roi 

 describes the noise as somewhat resembling " Prrrrrrrr quiequiequie- 

 quiequie," and as it is uttered by hundreds of birds almost continuously, 

 it is naturally audible for some considerable distance. For its nesting- 

 place it chooses very similar sites to Mandt's guillemot. Some- 



