PALMIPEDES. 159 



UKIA, Brisson. 



The Guillemots have a bill, which, though of the general form of the pre- 

 ceding, is covered with feathers down to the nostrils ; there is also an emar- 

 gination at the point which is somewhat arcuated. Their chief character, 

 however, consists in the absence of the thumb. Their wings, much shorter 

 than those of the divers, scarcely enable them to flutter. They feed on fish, 

 crabs, &c.; and are found among rocky precipices when they breed. 



ALCA, Linnaeus. 



The 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 |he 

 guillemot. Ah 1 these birds inhabit the northern seas. We may divide the 

 genus into two subgenera. 



FRATERCULA, Brisson MORMON. IHiger. 



Or the Puffins, whose bill, shorter than the head, is as high and higher at 

 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 mere slits. 

 Their small wings can just sustain them for a moment; they live upon the 

 ocean and breed on the rocks. 



The most common species, Alca arctica, Lin-, is the size of a Pigeon, and has 

 a black calotte and mantle, white beneath ; it sometimes breeds among the 

 cliffs on the English coast, and is very common on those of France during the 



winter. 



ALCA, Cuvier*. 



The true Auks have a more elongated bill, resembling in form the blade of 

 a knife ; it is covered with feathers as far as the nostrils. Their wings are 

 decidedly too small to support them, and therefore they never attempt to fly. 



APTENODYTES, Forster. 



The Penguins are even less capable of flying than the auks. Their little 

 wings are covered with mere vestiges of feathers, which at 

 the first glance resemble scales ; their feet, placed farther 

 behind than those of any other bird, only support them by 

 bearing on the tarsus, which is widened like the sole of the 

 foot of a quadruped, and in which are found three bones sol- 

 dered together at their extremities. They have a small thumb 

 directed inwards, and their three anterior toes are united by an entire 

 membrane. They are only found in the Antarctic Seas, never going on shore 

 except to breed. They can only reach their nests by drawing themselves 

 along on their bellies. 



The difference in their bill authorises their division into several subgenera. 



* Alca, Aik, Auk, the name of these birds in the Feroe Islands, and in the north of 

 Scotland. That of Penguin, first given to the Aptenodytes of the south by the Dutch, 

 indicates the oily nature of their fat. 



