Family Alcide
AUKS, MURRES, AND PUFFINS.
This family contains about thirty species, confined entirely to the northern parts of the northern hemisphere. Nearly all of these are found in North America, most of them, however, on only our Pacific coast. Without exception they are maritime birds, passing the greater part of their lives on the open sea. They nest in colonies, sometimes in enormous numbers, generally upon rocky, precipitous shores. Their progress on land is slow and awkward; but they are, as a rule, strong fliers, and accomplished swimmers and divers. Unlike the Grebes and Loons they use their wings in diving. Their food consists of fish, crustacea, and other forms of sea life.
I. Bill under 75 II. Bill over 75.
KEY TO THE SPECIES. 1. Depth of bill at nostril over 60. a. Bill yellowish, depth at nostril over 1.00. 34. DOVEKIE. 13. PUFFIN. 13a. LARGE-BILLED PUFFIN. b. Bill black, depth at nostril under 1.00 2. Depth of bill at nostril under 60.
A. Wing-coverts white or tipped with white. a. Greater wing-coverts entirely white 32. RAZOR-BILLED AUK. 28. MANDT'S GUILLEMOT. b. Basal half of greater wing-coverts black. 27. BLACK GUILLEMOT. B. No white on wing-coverts. a. Bill over 1.60 b. Bill under 1.60 . 30. MURRE. 31. BRÜNNICH'S MURRE. . 13. Fratercula arctica (Linn.). PUFFIN; SEA PARROT (see Fig. 5, c). Ad.-Upper parts, wings, tail, and foreneck blackish, browner on the head and foreneck; nape with a narrow grayish collar; sides of the head and throat white, sometimes washed with grayish; breast and belly white. (Breeding birds have the bill larger and brighter, and a horny spine over the eye.) L., 13.00; W., 6·10; Tar., 1.05; B., 1.85; depth of B. at base (in winter), 1.50. Range." Coasts and islands of the North Atlantic, breeding on the North American coast from the Bay of Fundy northward" (A. O. U.). Migrates southward in winter, rarely to Long Island.
AUKS, MURRES, AND PUFFINS.
Long Island, A. V. in winter.
Nest in a burrow in the ground or in crevices among rocks. Egg, one, dull white, sometimes with obscure markings, 2.49 x 1.68. Mr. Brewster, in describing his experience with this species in the