494 



Stranded specimens washed ashore after storms, have 

 been recorded ; and Mr. Warren tells me that he has 

 picked up several some entire, others half devoured by 

 gulls, rats, &c. on the Sligo coast. 



Of much greater rarity in our Isles is the occurrence of 

 the Little Auk in full nuptial dress, of which we have the 

 following substantiated records. Thompson mentions an 

 occurrence in Ulster on May 22nd, 1846 (Nat. Hist. Irel.) ; 

 one shot at Wells in Norfolk on May 26th, 1857 (Stevenson, 

 * Zoologist,' 1857) ; one picked up dead on the Solent in 

 1870, now in the collection of the late Mr. F. Bond ; another 

 at present in the Museum at Cambridge (Harting, Handb. 

 Brit. Birds, 1901, p. 274) ; one obtained on Monach Island, 

 one of the Outer Hebrides, where the bird is never common, 

 on June 24th, 1893 (Ann. Scot. Nat. Hist., 1894, p. 55) ; 

 and one received from Tory Island off Donegal, in May, 

 1895, by Mr. K. M. Barrington. 



The Little Auk is the least in size of the Family to 

 which it belongs : it is a neat little creature with snowy 

 breast and dark glossy upper parts. At the same time it 

 is very hardy and compactly built, well adapted for its 

 rough seafaring life, and able to endure and to enjoy itself 

 in the intense cold of high Arctic latitudes. American 

 fishermen call it the ' Ice-bird,' for it is often seen in the 

 neighbourhood of icebergs. Mr. Saunders mentions that 

 when on board a steamer passing through the Gulf of St. 

 Lawrence, he saw a flock of Little Auks as early as August 

 15th, 1884, and there was much ice in the Gulf, and on 

 August 16th of this year I detected a few among numbers 

 of Razorbills and Puffins when passing an iceberg in the 

 same locality. 



Flight. If necessity arises this little bird can fly with 

 considerable speed, but when frightened, as by an approach- 

 ing vessel, it usually gets away by flitting along the surface 

 of the water for a short distance like a Black Guillemot, 

 and then suddenly disappearing from view by plunging into 

 a wave. Under water it travels remarkably fast, and when 

 it rises to the surface swims rather low. 



Voice. This species is said to be rather noisy, uttering 

 a sound like dlle-dlle, from which its specific name is taken. 



Food. Small fishes, crabs, and other marine creatures, 

 form the diet, and in autumn and winter Little Auks may 

 be seen near fishing-vessels in quest of animal offal. " Col. 

 Feilden found nestlings just hatched on July 28th ; and 



