ALCA, auk, in ornithology, a genus of the order: of Anseres, in the Linnzean sys tem, the characters of which are, that the bill is without teeth, short, compressed, convex, frequently furrowed transverse ly ; the inferior mandible is gibbous before the base; the nostrils are behind the bill; and the feet have generally three toes. This genus comprehends 12 species, of which we shall notice the following: A. torda, with four furrows on the bill, and a white line on each side,running from the bill to the eyes. This is the alca of Clu sius and Brisson ; the ping-uin of Buffon ; and the razor-bill, auk, or murre, of Pen nant, Ray-, Willoughby, Albinus, Edwards, and Latham. This species weighs about 223 ouuces; its length is aboutD3 inches.: and 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. When they take possession of the ledges of the highest rocks that hang over the sea, they sit close together, and in rows one above another, and form a very gro tesque appearance. They lay only one egg at a time, which is of a large size, in proportion to that of the bird, beingthree 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 hare 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 down the rocks, and perish together. They are 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 lie 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 stretch. ed on the rocks, or on the ice.
A. impennis, A. major of Briason, pen. ruin of Ray, Martin, Edwards. &c. and great auk of Pennant and Lathsth, has its bill compressed and furrowed on both sides, and has an oval spot on each side before the eves. Its length to the end of its toes is three feet; the hill to the cor ner of the mouth is 4. inches : the wings arc so small as to be useless for flight; their length, from the tip of the longest quill-feathers to the first joint, being only 4+ inches: and these birds are therefore observed by seamen never to wander be, yond soundings, and by the sight of them they are able to ascertain the nearness of the land. They can scarcely even walk,
and of course continue on the water, ex cept in the time of breeding. According to Mr. Marlin, they breed on the isle of St. Edda, 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 arc 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 cyc:opterns and such fish, and on the rose-root and other plants. The skins are used by the Esquimau,: for garments. These birds live in flocks at sea, and ne ver approach the land, except in very se vere cold ; arid in this ease 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 Hall river they afford subsistence to the inhabitants in the months of February and March, and their down serves to line winter gar ments. Plate H. Ares, fig. 2.
A. psittacula, or perroquet auk of Pen nant and Latham, is tsmd 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 ben, 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 fur with large (men sleeves, into which the birds fly for shelter as the night comes orb, and thus they Itecosie eaby prey. They sometimes at sea mistake a ship for a roosting place, aud thus warn navigators of' their being near the land, at the access of night, or on the approach of storms.
A. cirrhata, tufted auk of Pennant and Latham, is entirely bla.ck, nearly 18 inches long, swimming about for whole days in the sea, where it dives well, and occasion ally flies swiftly, hut never departing far from the rocks and islands, and feedingon shrimps, crabs, and other shell-fish, which it forces from the rocks wjth its strong bill; in the night it conies to shore, bur rows about a yard deep under ground, and makes a nest with feathers and sea weed, in which it lodges with its mate, being monogamous. It lays one egg in May or June, which is fit to be eaten and used for food, but the flesh of the bird is hard auff insipid. This species inhabits the shores of Kamtschatka, the Kurile islands, and those that lie between Karnts chatka and America.
arctica, or puffin, found on the coasts of England; and particularly in Prestholm isle, where they- are seen in flocks almost innumerable. They come in the beginning of April, and depart in August. Fig.. 3.