3*$ A U K ,
by the ridiculous method of catching t h emOn e of the natives
places himfelf under a loofe garment of fur, of a particular make,
with large open fleeves, among the rocks, at evenings when the
birds, returning to their lodging-places at dulk, run under the
fkirts, and up the arm-holes, for lhelter during the night 3 the
man concealed beneath kills them as faft as they enter, and by
this means as many are taken in one evening as he can carry away.
Their ftupidity likewife occafions them to fly aboard a Ihip at
fuch times, miftaking it for a roofting-place 5 whereby navigators
have been taught to avoid the danger of falling in too near with
land, either of evenings or on approaching ftorms. The eggs are
«deemed good.
i a .
A N C IE N T A .
A n c ien t A u k , dr£2. Zool, N° 43°*
L e v , Muf,
D escription. T R I F L E bigger than she Little Auk: length near eleven
inches. Bill one inch and a quarter; the bafe white 5 from the
noftrils to the end black: the feathers come very forward on the
bill 5 and the eyes are placed far back in the head : the head, fides,
and throat, are deep black : the upper part of the body and wings
dulky black 5 the under of a pure white : on the ears, juft behind
the eyes, fpring feveral long narrow white feathers, which lay on
each fide of the neck, meeting at the lower part, and forming a
crefcent 3 thefe are fomewhat curled at the origin, where they are
moft numerous, and may perhaps be erefted, at the will of the
bird, as a ruff: the legs are placed quite in the vent, are one inch
and a quarter long, and dulky; the tail Ihort, rounded, and
black.
a Inhabits
Inhabits various parts, from the weft of North America to
Kamtfchalka and the Kurile IJlands *.
Alca aile, Lin. Syft. i. p . 211. 5.— Faun. Sua. N°_l42.— Orn. N° 106.
—Faun. Grunt. N° 54.— A3 - NiJr. i. p. 261. t. 6.—Martin Spitfi.
p . 6 m t. M. c .
Le petit Guillemot, Erif- Orn. vi. p. 73. 2.— Buf. Oif. ix. p. 354.
Mergulus melanoleucos roliro acuto brevi, Bait Syn. p. 13;. A. 5.
Small black and white Diver, m il. Orn. p. 343. pi. 59.— .Edw. pi. g I.
Greenland Dove, or Sea Turtle, Albin, i. pi. 85.
Little Auk, Br. Zool. ii. N9 233. pi. 82— Ar3 . Zool. N' 429.
Lev• Muf,
O l Z E of a Blackbird: length near nine inches. The bill is
ihort and ftout, and fomewhat rounded in Ihape -, colour black :
the upper parts of the bird are black, the under white : fcapulars
ftrëaked with white : acrofs the wings a trace of white : the legs,
yellowilh brown : webs black.
The male is faid to differ in having the throat black,
Edwards’s bird, and that figured in the Britijh Zoology, have the
head and neck black 3 and are fuppofed to differ in fex from the
above-defcribed, but this is not clear : I have received the laft from
North America, from which place I have feen two more of the fame -,
but the few I have met with of Englijh fpecimens, among which:
are two in my own colleftion, were like the firft-mentioned.
We believe this fpecies not to be very common in England,
being only met with now and then. We have received it from
Dover-, and a fécond fpecimen was Ihot near Dartford. It feems.
to be moft plentiful towards the north, being met with in various-
parts as far as Spitjbergen. Common in Greenland, in company
• Arft* Zool».
Place.
i i . 4- LITTLE A.
Description.
P lace and-
M anners..