never leave the nest until perfectly fledged, and able to
provide for themselves ; as soon as this takes place the
attendance and care of the parents cease; they do not even
continue in the company of their young, which associate
together for some time afterwards. Their food is small fish
and Crustacea, and their cry is shrill hut rather plaintive.
Saxby adds that they are easily tamed, but almost invariably
die before the end of the first winter.
In summer the beak is black; inside of the mouth reddish
orange ; the irides brown ; the whole of the plumage
glossy black, except the patch on the wing-coverts, which is
white, with some black concealed on the basal portion ; legs
vermilion-red. The sexes are alike in plumage. The whole
length of the bird is fourteen inches ; of the wing from the
wrist six inches and a half.
In winter the inside of the mouth and the feet are less
brightly coloured than in summer; the crown is white
marked with black; back barred with black and white;
rump nearly white ; wings and tail as in summer ; rest of
plumage and underparts white.
In the young, at the end of August, the irides are dark
brown; bill blackish-grey; inside of mouth pale orange;
tarsi and feet deep brown, the front of former and upper
surface of the latter paler. By the end of September the
inside of the mouth has changed to brownish-pink, and the
legs and feet to a deep brownish-pink. In December the
colour of these parts differs only in degree from that in the
adults. By the end of June the bird has acquired its full
plumage, and is undistinguishable from the adult (Saxby).
Varieties of this species are occasionally obtained : Mr.
J. Whitaker has one with sandy wings and the back of a
lighter shade than that of the ordinary winter plumage.
Mergulus alle (Linnaeus*).
THE LITTLE AUK,
OR COMMON ROTCHE.
Mergulus melanoleucos.
Mergulus, Vieillotf.—Bill shorter than tlie head, thick, broader than high
at the base ; culmen arched; upper mandible indistinctly grooved; under one
with the symphisis very short and oblique; tips of both mandibles notched;
commissure arched ; nostrils lateral, round, situated at the base of the bill, and
partly covered with small feathers. Legs abdominal, short; feet of three toes,
all directed forwards, and united by a membrane. Wings and tail short.
The L ittle Auk, or Common Rotche, as it is also called,
though in its habits very similar to the Guillemots and the
true Auks, is only a winter visitor to the Biitish Islands,
and is more frequently met with among those of Orkney and
* Alca Alle, Linnaeus, Syst. Nat. Ed. 12, i. p. 211 (1766).
+ Analyse, p. 67 (1816).