The scientific name is Greek and means "I compress the beak."
Fortunately the "Old Man," as the natives call the bird, is not aware of what has been done to him. They are expert divers, using wings under water with such vigor as often to drive a school of fish into the air. Their aquatic prowess is hereditary. When young are fledged the parents take positions on the sea, near shore and utter calls resembling chirps of an English Sparrow with tremulo stop open. In response the little black and white youngsters, active as Quail, come trooping down the midnight hillside. Neither brush nor stone stop their impetuous feet and, diving fearlessly into tremendous breakers, they join the parents and fade into the gloom.
North Pacific. Aleutian and Near Islands: south in Winter to San Diego, California.