Altho structurally unlike Penguins, MURRES have the same singular habit of brooding the egg while standing and tucking it beneath the feet with the bill.
They swim more rapidly under water than they do on the surface, using wings as propellers. The dive is not neat like a Loon or Grebe but when depth is attained they are swift and skilful submarines.
The young have a shrill emphatic call freely translated into "beat it beat it!" Adults — hoarse, guttural notes or a soft, purring "murre" from which they are named.
Coasts and islands of Arctic and North Atlantic. South in Winter, at sea, to Delaware.