THE ALCAD^E. 151 



reason, the Norwegians, who, being mostly a maritime popula- 

 tion, pay the greatest attention to the aspect of the sky, think 

 it impious to destroy, or even to disturb, this species. 



The family of Alcadce, comprising the Guillemots, Auks, 

 Razor Bills, and Puffins, is in form of body very similar to the 

 Divers : the legs, which are short and thick, are inserted very 

 far back, and give a still more erect carriage to the bird when 

 on shore. The wings are short and small in proportion to the 

 bulk of the body, and in the (now probably extinct) Great Auk, 

 so much so as to be unfitted for flight. The Auks are strictly 

 sea-birds, and nestle on its borders, breeding in caverns and 

 rocky cliffs, and laying only one large egg. They obtain their 

 food by diving, at which they are very expert. They are of 

 social habits, and congregate in vast flocks on the rocky islets 

 and headlands of the northern coasts. At the head of the 

 Magdalen Bay, on Spitzbergen, for instance, there is a high 

 pyramidal mountain of granite, termed Eotge Hill, from the 

 myriads of small birds of that name (Little Auk, Aloa aloe), 

 which frequent its base, and which appear to prefer its en- 

 virons to every other part of the harbour. They are so nume- 

 rous that Admiral Beechey frequently saw an uninterrupted line 

 of them extending .full half-way over the bay, or to a distance 

 of more than three miles, and so close together that thirty fell at 

 one shot. This living column, on an average, might have been 

 about six yards broad, and as many deep ; so that allowing 

 sixteen birds to a cubic yard, there must have been nearly four 

 millions of birds on the wing at one time. 



The calling or crying of the rotges amongst one another 

 sounds at a distance as if you heard a great many women scold- 

 ing together ; so that the noise of millions uniting in a chorus 

 must be terrific. On a fine summer's day, when a glorious 

 sunshine gilds the snow peaks and glaciers of Spitzbergen, the 

 merry cry of the little auk unites with that of the willocks, 

 divers, cormorants, gulls, and other aquatic birds ; and every- 

 where groups of walruses, basking in the sun, mingle their 

 playful roar with the husky bark of the seal. It is pleasant 

 to reflect that in those arctic wilds, uninhabitable by man, there 

 are still millions of creatures enjoying life, all owing their sup- 

 port to the inexhaustible " garners " of the deep. 



In the Penguins of the southern hemisphere, the shortness of 



M 



