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Auks, Murres, Puffins
Unlike either the grebes or the loons, these diving birds are strictly maritime, passing the greater part of their lives upon the open sea and visiting the coast chiefly to nest. Enormous colonies of them appropriate long stretches of rocky cliffs at the far north at the breeding season, and return to the same spot generation after generation. In spite of their short wings, which are mere flippers, several species fly surprisingly well, although the great auk owed its extinction chiefly to a lack of wing-power. Under water the birds of this family do use their wings to assist in the pursuit of fish and other sea-food, which grebes and loons do not, many ornithologists to the contrary notwithstanding. On land the bird moves with a shuffling motion, laboriously and with the underparts often dragging over the ground. Agreeing in general aspects, the birds of this family differ greatly in the form of the bill in almost every species. This feature often takes on odd shapes during the nesting season, soft parts growing out of the original bill, then hardening into a horny substance, showing numerous ridges and furrows, and sometimes becoming brilliantly colored, only to fade away or drop off bit by bit as winter approaches.
