144 BRITISH SEA BIRDS. 



at certain spots during summer. Perhaps it is 

 because the area of distribution is so wide in 

 winter, and, comparatively speaking, so restricted 

 during summer. The food of the Little Auk 

 consists largely of minute crustaceans, and possibly 

 of small fish. The bird is said to resort to the 

 vicinity of fishing fleets, to pick up the refuse 

 thrown overboard. 



In May, the Little Auk resorts to the land to 

 breed. It is eminently gregarious, and some of its 

 colonies consist of an almost incredible number of 

 birds. Curiously enough, its breeding places are 

 not always by the sea, some of them being situated 

 a considerable distance from the coast. Sloping 

 rock-covered banks at the foot of the cliffs, seem to 

 be preferred to the cliff themselves. A favourite 

 situation is on the sloping ground below a range of 

 cliffs, where the surface is covered with stones and 

 rock fragments that have, during succeeding ages, 

 crumbled from the precipices towering above. Here, 

 in cavities, worn by wind and storm, beneath large 

 stones and rock fragments, or in various hollows 

 and holes under the fallen ctibris, the Little Auk 

 deposits its single pale greenish-blue egg, out of 

 reach of the Arctic foxes that prowl about the 

 colony in quest of prey. The actions of the Little 

 Auk at its nesting colony, seem to be very similar to 

 those of the Puffin when breeding on slopes, as, for 

 instance, on the island of Doon, one of the St. 

 Kilda group. 



