42 



of 



and a quarter long, both mandibles being 

 crossed obliquely with several ridges and 

 furrows. Two oval-shaped white spots 

 occupy nearly the whole space between the 

 bill and the eyes : the head, back part of 

 the neck, and all the upper parts of the body 

 and wings are covered with short, soft, glossy 

 black feathers, excepting a white mark 

 across the_ wings, formed by the tips of the 

 lesser quills. The wings do not exceed 

 more than four inches and a quarter from 

 the tips of the longest quill-feathers to the 

 first joint : legs black, short, and placed 

 near the vent. This species inhabits Norway, 

 Iceland, Greenland, and the Feroe Islands. 

 They are, sometimes, though very rarely, 

 met with on the northern isles of Britain, 

 but are never observed to be at any great 

 distance from the shore, A British-killed 

 specimen is in the Britiwh Museum ; it was 

 formerly in the collection of Mr. Bullock. 



The RAZOR-BILL, or Common AUK, 

 (Alca torda). These birds abound in the 

 higher northern latitudes ; they are, how- 

 ever, widely diffused ; and in England many 

 prt'cijiitous cliffs, the Needles, &c., have a 

 fair share of them. The Razor-bill is about 

 eighteen inches long, and the extended wings 

 about twenty-seven inches. They build no 

 nests, but lay their eggs upon the bare edges 

 of lofty rocks hanging over the sea, where 

 they form a very grotesque appearance, 

 from the singular order of the rows in which 

 they sit one above another. Their [one] 

 egg is disproportionately large, being three 

 inches long, the colour a greenish- white ir- 

 regularly marked with dark spots. Thou- 

 sands of these birds are killed on the coast 

 of Labrador, for the sake of the breast 

 feathers, which are very warm and elastic ; 

 and incredible numbers of eggs are also col- 

 lected there. 



The LITTLE AUK (Mergtdtts alle\ This 

 is a plump round-shaped little bird, about 

 nine inches long. The crown of the head is 



T.ITTL.E ADK. - ( .. t. .viOi.rjd ALUS.) 



flat and black ; nearly all the upper parts 

 of the plumage are of the same colour ; the 

 cheeks and under parts white : legs and toes 

 yellowish. These birds inhabit the inhos- 

 pitable shores of Greenland and Spitzbcrgen ; 

 but their great breeding station is said to be 

 in the northern part of Baffin's Bay. In 

 these dreary regions, we are told, when the 



ice has been broken up by storms, they watch 

 its motion, and come down in legions to 

 banquet on the various marine animals 

 which lie scattered before them. It is rarely 

 that the Little Auk is seen on our shores, 

 and can hardly be called an occasional 

 visitant. Like the others which have been 

 mentioned, it only lays one egg, which is of 

 a pale bluish-green, and is placed on the 

 most inaccessible ledges of rocks. 



Different species of this family of birds are 

 spread over various parts of the northern 

 world ; and some of them are met with on 

 almost all the rocky cliffs on the coasts of 

 Britain and Ireland. The female deposits 

 her single egg upon the bare mould, in a hole 

 dug out and formed in the ground b\ herself 

 and mate, for that purpose, or in one that they 

 find ready made by the rabbits, which they 

 easily dislodge. They assemble early in 

 April, prepare for the business of incubation 

 in May, and hatch their young in the be- 

 ginning of July ; from which time till the 

 middle of August they are employed in 

 nurturing and rearing their brood : they 

 then regularly depart for the southern coasts 

 of France, Spain, and other regions more 

 suited to their exigencies, where they pass 

 the remainder of the year. 



AULOSTOMA. A genus of Acanthop- 

 terygian fishes, closely allied to Fistularia, 

 from which they are distinguished by having 



numerous free spines before the dorsal fin : 

 the jaws are toothless ; the tube of the muz- 

 zle is shorter, wider, and more compressed 

 than in Fistularia : the body is very scaly ; 

 the tail is short and slender, ending in a com- 

 mon fin : the air-bladder is also larger than 

 in the true Pipe-fishes. The best known 

 species is a native of the Eastern seas. 



AURICULA. A genus of Molluscous 

 animals, having a head furnished with two 

 tcntacula, and eyes at their base : foot fhort 

 and narrow. They inhabit a shell having a 

 fancied resemblance to the ears of certain 



' EAR. (AORICOLA MIB.E.) 



animals ; hence the name. Several species 

 are European ; others are found on the banks 

 of rivers in Brazil, and the Indian and 

 American islands. The species known as 



