AUKS. 
lOS 
eyes, ready to pounce upon any morsel tossed them ; and if a 
fragment was held up in the hand, they would hover a few feet 
over it, although not daring to come closer. Ihey also soon 
became used to our shooting, and scarcely noticed it even 
when near by. Unfortunately our companionslrip lasted only 
about ten days, when I broke camp, and so lost the opportunity 
of gaining their complete confidence. After the first few days 
they seemed to appropriate the camp, and made a fierce attack 
upon any others of their kind that chanced to come near. 
Nest. — A cup-shaped depression in the moss. 
Eggs. — Two in number. Smaller than those of S. crepidaUis, 
rather paler in tint, and more olive, some being light clay-brown. 
Two in the Seebohm collection in the British Museum are light 
bluish-green, very sparsely marked, and all the lighter-coloured 
eggs appear to be less plentifully spotted. Axis, 2'o-2'2 inchesj 
diam. i’5-i‘6. 
THE AUKS. SUB-ORDER ALC.®. 
The Auks, though outwardly so different from the Gulls, and 
possessing features in their economy so dissimilar to the latter 
birds, have nevertheless many characters in common with 
them, such as the schizognathous palate, the schizorhinal 
nostrils, the absence of basipterygoid processes, the furcation 
of the spinal feather-track on the upper back, and the webbed 
feet. Externally they differ from the Gulls in their squat 
appearance, their extraordinary diving powers, their close-set 
plumage, and in the manner of nidification and the shape of 
the eggs. They also have a double moult in the year. 
The Auks are all birds of the northern hemisphere, breeding 
in the arctic and sub-arctic regions. They wander south in 
winter, but are never found to the south of the equator. Some 
of them, such as the Puffins, have ornamental plumage in the 
shape of brightly-coloured crests and tufts of feathers on the 
sides of the head, as well as an ornamental colour on the bills, 
which is shed after the breeding season, just as other birds 
moult their feathers. 
