THE AUK, &c. 



219 



out offering to move, in silent wonder, till 

 every one of their number has been destroyed. 

 Their attachment to their nests was still more 

 powerful ; for the females tamely suffered the 

 men to approach and take their eggs without 

 any resistance. But the experience of a few 

 of those unfriendly visits, has long since 

 taught them to be more upon their guard in 

 choosing their situations ; or to leave those re- 

 treats where they were so little able to oppose 

 their invaders. 



The penguin lays but one egg ; and, in fre- 

 quented shores, is found to burrow like a rab- 

 bit : sometimes three or four take possession 

 of one hole, and hatch their young together. 

 In the holes of the rocks, where nature has 

 made them a retreat, several of this tribe, as 

 Linnaeus assures us, are seen together. There 

 the females lay their single egg, in a common 

 nest, and sit upon this, their general posses- 

 sion, by turns ; while one is placed as a sen- 

 tinel, to give warning of approaching danger. 

 The egg of the penguin, as well as of all this 

 tribe, is very large for the size of the bird, 

 being generally found bigger than that of a 

 goose. But as there are many varieties of the 

 penguin, and as they differ in size, from that 

 of a Muscovy duck to a swan, the eggs differ 

 in the same proportion. 



CHAP. VIII. 



OF THE AUK, PUFFIN, AND OTHER BIRDS 

 OF THE PENGUIN KIND. 



OF a size far inferior to the penguin, but 

 with nearly the same form, and exactly of the 

 same appetites and manners, there is a very 

 numerous tribe. These frequent our shores, 

 and, like the penguin, have their legs placed 

 behind. They have short wings, which are 

 not totally incapable of flight; with round bills 

 for seizing their prey, which is fish. They 

 live upon the water, in which they are conti- 

 nually seen diving; and seldom venture upon 

 land, except for the purposes of continuing 

 their kind. 



The first of this smaller tribe is the Great 

 Northern Diver, which is nearly the size of 

 a goose : it is beautifully variegated all over 

 with many strips, and differs from the pen- 

 guin, in being much slenderer, and more ele- 

 gantly formed. The Gray Speckled Diver 

 does not exceed the size of a Muscovy duck ; 

 and, except in size, greatly resembles the 

 former. The Auk, which breeds on the 

 islands of St Kilda, chiefly differs from the 

 penguin in size and colour : it is smaller than 

 a ducki and the whole of the breast and belly, 

 as far as the middle of the throat, is white. 



The Guillemot is about the same size ; it dif- 

 fers from the auk, in having a longer, a slen 

 derer, and a straighter bill. The Scarlet- 

 Throated Diver may be distinguished by its 

 name ; and the Puffin, or Coulterneb, is one 

 of the most remarkable birds we know. 1 



1 The Great Northern Diver, (see Plate XIX. fig. 

 41.) which is the principal of the auk tribe, is nearly 

 three feet and a half in length. The female is less 

 than the male. It inhabits chiefly the northern seas, 

 and is common on some of the coasts of Scotland. 



Most people, who have exercised any degree of ob- 

 servation, know that the swimming of birds is nothing 

 more than a walking in the water, where one foot suc- 

 ceeds the other, as on the land. " But no one, as far 

 as I am aware," says the Rev. Mr White, " has re- 

 marked, that diving fowls, while under water, impel 

 and row themselves forward by a motion of their wings, 

 as well as by the impulse of their feet; yet such is really 

 the case, as any one may easily be convinced who will 

 observe ducks when hunted by dogs in a clear pond. 

 Nor do I know that any one has given a reason why the 

 wings of diving fowls are placed so forward; doubtless 

 not for the purpose of promoting their speed in flying, 

 since that position certainly impedes it ; but probably for 

 the increase of their motion under water, by the use of 

 four oars instead of two : and were the wings and feet 

 nearer together, as in land birds, they would, when in 

 action, rather hinder than assist one another." 



The Speckled Diver is not quite so large as the other. 

 The Great Auk. (See Plate XX. fig. 32.) This 

 bird inhabits Europe and America; is three feet in 

 length; is very timid ; it has not the power of flying ; 

 its food is chiefly fishes. The wings are so short as to 

 appear as only rudiments ; secondary quill feathers tipt 

 with white ; the legs are black. Its egg is six inches 

 long, and white, with purplish lines and spots. The 

 Little Auk also inhabits Europe and America, and mea- 

 sures nine inches in length. 



The Guillemot is about the size of a common duck. 

 The upper parts of the body are of a dark brown colour, 

 inclining to a black. These are simple birds, and easily 

 taken. They generally join company with other birds, 

 and breed on the inaccessible rocks and steep cliffs in 

 the Isle of Man ; and likewise in Cornwall ; on Pries- 

 holm Island, near Beaumaris, in the isle of Anglesey; 

 also on the Fern Islands, near Northumberland : and the 

 clifls about Scarborough, in Yorkshire ; and several other 

 places in England. They lay exceeding large eggs, 

 being full three inches long, blunt at the one end, sharp 

 at the other, of a sort of bluish colour, spotted generally 

 with some black spots or strokes. (For little Guillemot, 

 see Plate XIX. fig. 23.) 



The Black Guillemot. The length of the black Guil- 

 lemot is about fourteen inches, breadth twenty-two, and 

 its weight fourteen ounces. These birds are found in 

 great numbers in the north sea, in Greenland, Iceland, 

 Spitzbergen, and the Feroe isles; and when the winter 

 sets in, they migrate southward along the shores of Scot- 

 land and England, where some of them remain and 

 breed. The nest is made in the deep crevices of rocks 

 which overhang the sea; the eggs are of a gray colour. 

 Some ornithologists assert, that the female lays only 

 one : others, that she lays two. They fly commonly in 

 pairs, and so low that they raise the surface of the sea by 

 the flapping of their narrow wings. The Greenlanders 

 eat the flesh of this bird, and use its skin for clothing, 

 and the legs as a bait for their fishing-lines. Ray, Al- 

 bin, Willoughby, and Edwards have named it the Green- 

 land dove, or sea-turtle. In the Orkneys it is called 

 the tyste. 



The Grebes belong to this family of birds. They are 



