are able to fly. The breeding places are now deserted, and the 
little birds wander about the open ocean in search of their 
favourite food. In rough weather they are said to come nearer 
to the shore, and to frequent the land-locked bays and quiet 
fjords. 'I'hey seem but poorly adapted to withstand any 
violent storm, and are soon driven exhausted ashore, often for 
some considerable distance inland. The Little Auk only rears 
one nestling in the year, but it probably lays again if its first 
egg is taken. 
“The food of the Little Auk is principally composed of 
minute crustaceans, and probably small fish and marine insects. 
When engaged in rearing its young, it appears to store a great 
quantity of these small crustaceans in its mouth, visibly puffing 
out its cheeks as Swallows and other insect-feeding birds do, so 
that it may convey a large amount of food to its distant nestling 
at once.” 
Nest. — None, the eggs being either placed in a cliff high above 
the water, or in a crevice or under stones, often at some dis- 
tances beneath the latter. 
Eggs. — One. Uniform greenish-white. Axis, i'9-2'i inches ; 
diara., i-3-f3S- 
THE PUFFINS. GENUS FRATERCULA. 
Fratercula, Briss. Orn. vi. p. 8i (1760). 
Type, F. arclica (I.inn.). 
The Puffins are easily distinguished from the rest of the 
Auks by their peculiar bill, which has deep grooves or sulca- 
tions, while in summer there are some wattles on the face. 
'I'he nostrils are exposed, and are not approached by any of 
the close-set plumes of the face. In some of the Pacific 
species of Puffins {Lunda), there is a temarkable tuft of hairy 
straw coloured feathers springing from behind the eye. 
1. 'rilE PUFFIN. FRATERCULA ARCTICA. 
Aka arctica, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 21 1 (1766). 
Mormon arcticus, Macgill. Brit. B. v. p. 365 (1852). 
Fraterctda arctica, Dresser, B. Eur. viii. p. 599, pi. 625 (1877); 
B. O. U. List Brit. B. p. 208 (1883); Saunders, ed. 
