Bill toothless, short, compressed, convex, often transversely furrowed; lower mandible gibbous near the base; nostrils linear; legs (in most cases) three-toed.
The birds of this genus are mostly inhabitants of the Arctic seas; are accounted stupid, breed in holes, which they themselves often dig, and in the caverns and fissures of rock, where they rest during the night. In respect of colour, they are generally uniform, being black above, and white beneath. They are shaped like a duck, with their feet placed behind the centre of gravity; their bills are large, having the surfaces crossed with furrows, and ending in an acute point. They lay but one egg, which is very large, considering the size of the bird.
Puffin.—Bill compressed, two-edged with two grooves; orbits and temples white; upper eye lid daggered or furnished with a pointed callus; body black; cheeks, breast, and belly white; bill red, with a black base; legs red. Weighs between 12 and 13 ounces; length upwards of 12 inches. Inhabits the northern seas of Europe, Asia, and America, in vast flocks. Appears on many parts of our rocky coast about the middle of April, and begins to breed about the middle of May.
On the Dover cliffs, and other such places, they deposit their single egg in the holes and crevices; in other places they burrow like rabbits, if the soil is light, but more frequently take possession of rabbit burrows, and lay their egg some feet underground. On St Margaret's island, off St David's, the fishermen put their hands into the holes, and the puffins seize them so obstinately, that they allow themselves to be drawn out. In other places they are caught with ferrets, and the young are taken and pickled. About the latter end of August they retire from our coasts, and have all migrated by the beginning of September. Their principal food is small fish, particularly sprats, with which they feed their young.
Great ank or penguin.—Bill compressed, edged; an Impennir, oval spot on each side before the eyes. Bill black, with eight or ten grooves; wings short and imperfect; secondary quill feathers tipped with white; legs black. Three feet long. Inhabits Europe and America; occurs in the most northern parts of Britain, and breeds in the Isle of St Kilda, appearing about the beginning of May, and retiring about the middle of June. The shortness of its wings renders them useless for flight, but of singular service in diving under water, where they act as fins, and thus enable it to pursue its prey with great velocity. It lays an egg six inches long, white and marked with purple spots, close to the sea mark, being incapable of flying, and almost of walking.
Razorbill.—Bill with four grooves, and a white line on each side as far as the eyes. Bill black; the largest groove white; body black above, the under parts, from the middle of the throat white; secondary quill feathers tipped with white; legs black. In the young bird the bill has but one groove, and, in the still younger, there is no line from the bill to the eyes. Eighteen inches long. Inhabits Europe and North America. The birds of this species associate with the guillemots, and also breed in the same places. About the beginning of May they take possession of the highest impending rocks, for the purpose of incubation, and on the ledges of these rocks they assemble in great numbers, fitting closely together, and often in a series of ones above another. There they deposit their single large egg on the bare rock, and notwithstanding the multitudes of them which are thus mixed together, yet no confusion takes place; for each bird knows her own egg, and hatches it in that situation. The razorbill is principally called auk, murre, falke, marrot, and scot.
Dufty auk.—Size of the miffel thrush; the length 11 inches. Upper mandible of the bill bent at the point; colour yellow brown; the ridge white; irides white and surrounded with a black circle; forehead covered with downy feathers, which are reflexed, half one way, and half the other; behind the eyes a stripe of white; head and neck black; upper parts of the body black; legs livid; webs black. Inhabits Japan and Kamtschatka. Is sometimes seen at a great distance from land, when it is solitary, but on land is gregarious.
Perroquet auk.—Bill compressed, with a single groove in each mandible; a white spot on the upper eyelid, between and under the eyes. Inhabits the sea between Japan and Kamtschatka, and often intimates approaching land to mariners.
Tufted auk.—Entirely black; bill with three transverse grooves, 1½-inch in length, scarlet; sides of the head, Fig. 1. head, space round the eyes, and the angle of the throat white; a yellow tuft of feathers rises from the upper eyebrow and stretches to the neck; legs brownish orange; claws black; length 19 inches; female less; the tufts smaller, and the bill crooked only with two grooves. Inhabits Kamtschatka and the neighbouring islands.
Little auk, little black and white diver, Greenland dove, sea turtle, &c.—Bill without furrows and conical; the whole abdomen and tips of the flag feathers white; feet black. There is a variety that is totally white, and another with a rufous breast. Nine inches long. Inhabits Europe and America, particularly Spitzbergen, Greenland, and Newfoundland, where they are called ice birds; but they are rare visitants of the British isles.
Pigmy auk.—Bill carinated, depressed at the base; body black above, cinereous beneath. Seven inches long. Inhabits the islands between Asia and America.
Gen. 35. Aptenodytes, Penguin.
Bill straight, a little compressed and sharp-edged; upper mandible longitudinally and obliquely grooved, the lower truncated at the tip; tongue with reflected prickers; wings fin-shaped, without quill feathers; feet placed behind, four-toed, and palmated.
The birds of this genus resemble those of the preceding in colour, food, habit, and apparent stupidity, as also in the situation of their feet, in their erect walk, in their nests, and in their eggs. They differ from them, however, in this, that they are all inhabitants of the South seas, from the equator to the Antarctic circle. They are quite incapable of flying, the feathers on their wings being too short as to resemble scales. They are fortified against cold by an abundance of fat; they swim very swiftly; on land they sit erect, in a singular manner, and in vast multitudes, and they cackle like geese, only in a hoarser tone. Their nostrils are linear, and hidden in a furrow of the bill; their wings covered with a strong dilated membrane, and their tail feathers very rigid.
Crested penguin.—Bill reddish brown; legs reddish; frontal crest black, erect, auricular, sulphur colour, and shed on each side; body blueish black, white beneath; wings white beneath. Female with a yellowish stripe on the eyebrow. Twenty-three inches long. Inhabits the Falkland islands, and the southern parts of New Holland. Called hopping penguin and jumping jack, from its action of leaping quite out of the water, for three or four feet, at least, on meeting with the least obstacle. Though more lively than its congeners, it is so foolish as to allow itself to be knocked on the head with a flick, or even to be taken by the hand. When irritated, it erects its crest in a beautiful manner. These birds make their nests among those of the pelican tribe, with which they live in tolerable harmony, and seldom lay more than one egg, which is white, and larger than that of a duck.
Patagonian penguin.—Bill and legs black; ears with a golden spot; lower mandible tawny at the base; irides hazel; head and hind part of the neck brown; back dark blue; breast, belly, and vent white. Four feet three inches long. Inhabits Falkland islands and New Guinea. M. Bougainville caught one, which soon became so tame as to follow and know the person who had the care of it; at first it fed on flesh, fish, and bread, but after some time, grew lean, pined and died. This species is not only the largest, but the fattest of its genus; and its flesh, though not very unpalatable, is black.