44 
AI.CADE. 
occurs in winter on the southern coast. In Hudson'’s and 
Baffin’s Bays the Little Auk is very numerous., but does 
not descend far south even in the winter months. 
On the coast of Holland and France, this bird is a 
winter visitant, its numbers depending upon the weather. 
The ineredible numbers of this species that have been 
seen by voyagers on the surface of the northern seas are 
very remarkable; it is said that they cover the surface 
of the water, and the floating masses of ice as far as the 
eye can discern, and when they take flight they actually 
darken the sky. This species is so entirely a sea-bird, 
that it is only seen on land, or in the immediate vicinity 
of the coast, during the breeding season, and at other 
times hardly ever within fifteen or twenty miles from the 
shore. 
The nidification of this species takes place in the 
northern regions, on the ground, among rugged stones of 
all sizes just beyond the reach of the highest tides; in 
such spots families of fifty or a hundred congregate and 
lay each their single egg, deep in a crevice among the 
loose stones, or in a natural cavity to which there is but 
one entrance; where space allows it, several birds con¬ 
gregate in the same cavity. The egg measures about two 
inches in length and one inch five lines in width, of a 
blue colour without spots; its form is perfectly oval, and 
very blunt at either end. While one of the parent birds 
sits on the eggs, the other may be seen close by, perched 
on a rock or stone. The young do not leave the nest 
before they are fully fledged. 
The food of the Little Auk consists chiefly of small 
Crustacea of the Crab and Lobster .species that abound in the 
northern seas, a little below the surface of the water; but 
apparently not at the bottom of the sea, for it would be 
