Part 164

Little Auk, Alca Alle, Wils. Amer. Orn. v. ix. p. 94.

Uria Alle, Bonap. Syn. p. 425.

Little Guillemot, Uria Alle, Swains. & Rich. F. Bor. Amer. v. ii. p. 479.

Little Auk or Sea Dove, Nutt. Man. v. ii. p. 531.

Little Guillemot, Uria Alle, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. iv. p. 304.

GENUS V. URIA, Lath. GUILLEMOT.

Bill generally shorter than the head, stout, compressed, tapering, acute; upper mandible with the dorsal line slightly arched; the ridge narrow, broader at the base, the sides sloping, the edges sharp and inflected, the tip a little decurved, with a slight notch; nasal groove broad, feathered; nostrils at its lower edge, subbasal, lateral, longitudinal, linear; lower mandible with the angle rather long, narrow, the dorsal line ascending and straight, the back very narrow, the sides nearly flat, the edges sharp and inflected, the tip acute. Head large, oblong; neck short and thick; body stout, elongated, rather depressed. Feet short, placed far behind; the greater part of the tibia concealed, its lower part bare; tarsus short, stout, compressed, anteriorly scutellate; toes three, of moderate length, middle toe longest, outer little shorter, scutellate, connected by entire webs. Claws small, slightly arched, compressed, rather acute. Plumage dense, very soft, blended. Wings rather short, narrow, acute; primary quills curved, tapering, the first and second longest; secondaries short, rounded. Tail very short, rounded, of twelve or more feathers.

478. 1. Uria antiqua, Gmel. Black-throated Guillemot.

Plate CCCCII. Fig. 1. Adult. Fig. 2. Young.

Bill yellow, shorter than the head, rather stout, compressed toward the end, the upper outline arched; feet yellow; head and upper part of neck black, excepting a band of elongated linear feathers beginning over the eye and extending down the hind part of the neck, and a broad band of white commencing behind the ear and curving forwards, to join the white, which is the general colour of the lower parts, with the exception of the flanks, which are black; back, wings, and tail greyish-black. Young, when fledged, with the bill black, the feet dusky; the upper parts blackish-grey, each feather black in the centre, the lower parts greyish-yellow, transversely barred with dusky; the tail broadly tipped with white.

Adult, 10-1/2, wings, 5-9/12.

North-west coast of America. Abundant.

Alca antiqua, Gmel. Syst. Nat. v. i. p. 551.

Black-throated Guillemot, Uria antiqua, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. v. p. 100.

479. 2. Uria occidentalis, Bonap. Horned-billed Guillemot.

Plate CCCCII. Fig. 5. Adult.

Bill orange-yellow, shorter than the head, stout, straight, with the dorsal line arched, and an oblong compressed knob on the ridge between the nostrils, which are linear, and placed in the bare skin; feet greyish-yellow; upper parts black, as are the cheeks, the upper part and sides of the fore neck; the lower parts white; two decurved bands of white slender feathers on each side of the head, one commencing over the eye, the other at the angle of the mouth; tail very short, even, of sixteen feathers.

Adult, 15-1/2, wing, 6-10/12.

North-west coast of America.

Cerorhyncha occidentalis, Bonap. Syn. p. 428.

Western cerorhyncha, Nutt. Man. v. ii. p. 538.

Horned-billed Guillemot, Ceratorhyncha occidentalis, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. v. p. 104.

480. 3. Uria Brunnichii, Sabine. Large-billed Guillemot.

Plate CCCXLV. Male.

Bill stout, black; feet dusky, tinged with red; general colour of plumage greyish-black on the upper parts; sides of the head and throat tinged with brown; lower fore part of neck, the breast, abdomen, edges of wings and tips of secondaries white; sides streaked with greyish-black. In winter the sides of the head and neck, the fore part of the latter, with the rest of the lower parts white, the sides streaked with greyish-black, and a line of the same behind the eye.

Male, 18-1/2, 30.

Occasionally procured in Maine. Not very rare off the coast of Nova Scotia. Breeds from Hudson's Bay to the Arctic Seas.

Uria Brunnichii, Bonap. Syn. p. 424.