ALCA, Lin. Tern. .AuK.
Bill straight, broad, compressed, much incurved a tthe tip, both mandibles half covered with feathers, and grooved near the point, the upper hooked, the lower forming a salient angle ; nostrils lateral, marginal, linear, situated near the middle of the bill, almost entirely closed by a membrane, and covered with feathers; legs short, placed far behind, and furnished with three fore-toes, connected by a web; wings short. The auks have nearly the same habits as the other marine arctic birds, seldom being seen an land, except for the purpose of breeding, and resem bling the guillemots, in particulat. in their mode of life, and n laying one large egg. M. Temminck has ascertain ed (hat they moult twice a-year; that the sexes do not materially differ in e..ternal appearance, and that the winter livery has been erroneously represented as the ap propriate costume of the female.
torda, Lin. &c. Razor-bill or Razor-billed Auk. Prov. Alk, Olke, Falk, Murre, !parrot, Scout, Bawkie, &c. Wings ending at the rump; tail lengthened, conical ; size of the teal. The full grown individuals measure about fourteen or fifteen inches in length, and twenty seven in extent of wing. They inhabit the arctic seas of both continents, and migrate to the coasts of Norway, Holland, Britain, France, &c. Not only do they associate with guillemots, but breed in the same places. About the beginning of May they take possession of the highest cliffs, for the purpose of incubation, assembling on the ledges of the rocks in great numbers, and sitting closely together, often in a series of rows above one another. There they deposit their single large egg on the bare rock, and, notwithstanding the multitudes of them which are thus mixed together, no confusion takes place; for each bird knows its own and hatches it in that situation. The sun's rays, reflected from the bare rock, doubtless aid the heat of incubation. But it has often excited wonder, that the eggs are not rolled off into the sea by gales of wind, or on being touched by the birds; and, it is alleged, that, if they are removed by the human hand, it is impos sible, or at least extremely difficult, to replace them in their former steady situation. This is accounted for by
some ornithologists, who assert, that the egg is fixed to the spot on which it is first laid by a glutinous substance, with which the shell is covered, and which keeps it firmly in its place, until the young is produced. The egg of this species is three inches long, and of a greenish-white colour, irregularly marked with dark spots. When eaten with salt, pepper, and vinegar, it is reckoned palatable; but the flesh of the birds themselves is rank and fishy tasted ; and yet the people in Orkney venture over the most dreadful precipices in quest of them.
A. imAennis, Lin. &c. Great Auk or Penguin, Prov. Xorthirn Penguin or Gair Fowl. Wings destitute of the feathers requisite for flight ; size of a goose. The wings are very short, not exceeding four inches and one fourth from the tips of the longest quill feathers to the first joint, and are thus useless for the purposes of flight, but, nevertheless, very serviceable in swnmning under water. The great auks frequent the frozen seas as far north as navigators have penetrated, seldom straying far from land or floating ice, and yet never quitting the water but for the purposes of breeding, being nearly as unfit for walking as for flying, and, when on shore, holding them selves, like the other auks and penguins, in a nearly ver tical position. They visit, though in no great numbers, the Orkneys and St. Kilda, arriving about the beginning of 11lay, and departing about the middle of June. On the ledges, or in the fissures of rocks, or in holes of its own excavation, and, frequently, close by the sea-mark, the fe male lays a single egg, of a very large size, being about six inches long, of a white or roan cast, marked with nu merous black or purple lines and spots, which have been compared to Chinese writing.