54 THE STORY OF A BIRD LOVER 



feet were a part of his equipment. We took sev- 

 eral home, and found on the way back that these 

 birds were represented in great numbers all along 

 the Charles River, and that many had been caught 

 in the streets early in the morning. The gale 

 had driven in and imprisoned these strangers in 

 a place where they had scarcely ever been seen 

 before. 



We readily learned that the species was the little 

 auk, or dovekie, a common arctic bird, breeding 

 on the coast of Greenland and further north in 

 countless numbers, wintering as far south as the 

 coast of Long Island and New Jersey, but keep- 

 ing well out to sea. 



The name of the genus to which this bird was 

 then attributed was Mergulus. That afternoon 

 I took a pair of them with me to the laboratory 

 of Dr. Jeffries Wyman where I was about to do 

 some work and attend a lecture. I showed the 

 birds to Dr. Wyman, who was much interested 

 in my account of their advent, and proceeded to 

 give him what I supposed was the scientific 

 name. 



Now, there is a genus of birds with which are 

 associated most of our common sheldrakes, or 

 saw-billed ducks, which is known as Mergus, a 

 name similar to that mentioned a few lines above. 

 Wishing to display my newly acquired knowledge 

 before Dr. Wyman, I called the bird Mergus alle 



