ALCA. 



*nd breadth 27. These birds, in compa- 

 ny with the guillemot, appear in our seas 

 in the beginning of February, but do not 

 settle in their breeding-places till they 

 begin to lay, about the beginning of May. 



quill-feathers to the first joint, being only 

 4 inches : and these birds are therefor* 

 observed by seamen never to wander be- 

 yond soundings, and by the sight of them 

 they are able to ascertain the nearness of 



When they take possession of the ledges the land. They can scarcely even walk, 

 of the highest rocks that hang over the and of course continue on the water, ex- 



sea, they sit close together, and in rows 

 one above another, and form a ver}' gro- 

 tesque appearance. They lay only one 

 egg at a time, which is of a large size, in 

 proportion to that of the bird, being three 

 Inches long, either white or of a pale sea- 

 green, irregularly spotted with black: 

 if this egg be destroyed, both the auk and 

 the guillemot will lay another, and if this 

 be taken a third; as they make no nest, 

 they deposit the egg on the bare rock, 

 poising it in such a manner as no human 

 art can effect, and fixing it by means of 

 the viscous moisture that bedews its sur- 

 face on its exclusion; and though such 

 multitudes of eggs are contiguous to each 

 other, each bird distinguishes its own. 

 These eggs serve as food to the inhabi- 

 tants of the coasts which the birds fre- 

 quent ; and are procured with great ha- 

 zard by persons let down with ropes, held 

 by their companions, and who, for want of 

 stable footing, are'sometimes precipitated 

 down the rocks, and perish together. 

 They ?re found in the northern parts of 

 America, Europe, and Asia. They come 

 to breed on the Ferroe islands, along the 

 west of England, and on the Isle of 

 Wight, where they add to the multitude 

 of sea-fowl that inhabit the great rocks 

 called the Needles. Their winter resi- 

 dence is not positively ascertained ; as 

 they cannot remain on the sea in that sea- 

 son, and never appear on shore, nor retire 

 to southern climates. Edwards supposes 

 that they pass the winter in the caverns 

 of rocks, which open under water, but 

 rise internally as much above the level of 

 the flood as to admit a recess, and here, 

 as he apprehends, they remain torpid, and 

 live upon their abundant fat. The pace 

 of this bird is heavy and sluggish ; and its 

 ordinary posture is that of swimming or 

 floating on the water, or lying stretched 

 on the rocks, or on the ice. 



A., impennis, A. major of Brisson, pen- 

 guin of Ray, Martin, Edwards, &c. and 

 great auk of Pennant and Latham, has 

 its bill compressed and furrowed on both 

 sides, and has an oval spot on each side 

 before the eyes. Its length to the end of 

 its toes is three feet ; the bill to the cor- 

 ner of the mouth is 4i inches : the wings 

 are so small as to be useless for flight, 

 their length, from the tip of the longest 



cept in the time of breeding. According 

 to Mr. Martin, they breed on the isle of 

 St. Kilda, appearing there in the begin- 

 ning of May, and retiring in the middle 

 of June. They lay one egg, six inches 

 long, of a white colour : and if the egg 

 be taken away, no other is laid in the 

 same season. Mr. Macaulay, in his his- 

 tory of St. Kilda, observes that this bird 

 does not visit that island annually, but 

 sometimes keeps away for several years 

 together, and that it lays its eggs close 

 to the sea-mark, and is incapable, by the 

 shortness of its wings, of mounting high- 

 er. Birds of this species are said not to 

 be numerous ; they seldom appear on the 

 coasts of Norway. They are met with 

 near Newfoundland and Iceland. They 

 do not resort annually to the Ferroe Isl- 

 ands, and they rarely descend more to the 

 south in the European seas. They feed 

 on the cyclopterus and such fish, and on 

 the rose root and other plants. The skins 

 are used by the Esquimaux for garments. 

 These birds live in flocks at sea, and ne- 

 ver approach the land, except in very se- 

 vere cold ; and in this case they are so 

 numerous, that they cover the water like 

 a thick dark fog. The Greenlanders 

 drive them on the coast, and catch them 

 with the hand, as they can neither run 

 nor fly. At the mouth of the Ball river 

 they afford subsistence to the inhabitants 

 in the months of February and March, 

 and their down serves to line winter gar- 

 ments. Plate II. Aves, fig. 2. 



A. psittacula, or perroquet auk of Pen- 

 nant and Latham, is found in the sea that 

 lies between the northern parts of Asia 

 and America, sometimes by day in flocks 

 swimming on the water, though not very 

 far from land, unless driven out by storms, 

 and in the night harbouring in the crevi- 

 ces of rocks. About the middle of June 

 they lay upon the rocks, or sand, a single 

 egg about the size of that of a hen, and 

 of a dirty white or yellowish colour, spot- 

 ted with brown, which is esteemed good. 

 These birds, like others of the same class, 

 are stupid, and are mostly taken by the 

 natives, who place themselves in the 

 evening among the rocks, dressed in gar- 

 ments of fir, with large open sleeves, 

 into which the birds fly for shelter, as the 

 night comes on, and thus they become 



