Part 165

Uria Brunnichii, Brunnich's Guillemot, Swains. & Rich. F. Bor. Amer. v. ii. p. 477.

Large-billed Guillemot, Nutt. Man. v. ii. p. 529.

Large-billed Guillemot, Uria Brunnichii, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. iii. p. 336.

481. 4. Uria Troile, Linn. Foolish Guillemot. Murre.

Plate CCXVIII. Male and Female.

Bill rather stout, black; feet black; general colour of upper parts greyish-black, sides of the head and throat tinged with brown; lower fore neck, breast, abdomen, edges of wings, and tips of secondaries white; sides streaked with greyish-black; a line of white encircling the eye, and extending upwards of an inch behind it, but in some individuals wanting. In winter, the sides of the head and neck, the fore part of the latter, with the lower parts, white.

Male, 17-1/2, 30.

More or less abundant during winter on the coast of Massachusetts and Maine, rarely as far south as New York. Breeds in vast multitudes on the Rocky Islands of the Gulf of St Lawrence, Newfoundland, and Labrador. Occasionally found in Hudson's Bay.

Uria Troile, Bonap. Syn. p. 424.

Uria Troile, Foolish Guillemot, Swains. & Rich. F. Bor. Amer. v. ii. p. 477.

Foolish Guillemot or Murre, Nutt. Man. v. ii. p. 526.

Foolish Guillemot, Uria Troile, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. iii. p. 142.

482. 5. Uria Grylle, Linn. Black Guillemot.

Plate CCXIX. Adult in summer and winter, and Young.

Bill shorter than the head, rather slender, black; feet vermilion, tinged with carmine; general colour of plumage deep black, on the upper parts tinged with green, on the lower with brown; a patch on each wing, including the secondary coverts and some of the small feathers white, of which colour also are the axillars and lower wing-coverts. In winter the general colour of the plumage white; the sides of the head, the neck all round, the lower parts, and the rump being of that colour, more or less shaded with grey; upper part of head obscurely mottled with greyish-black; back and scapulars black, each feather tipped with greyish-white, those of the latter more broadly; wings and tails brownish-black, the former with a conspicuous white patch as in summer. Young at first covered with soft, thick, brownish-black down.

Adult, 13-7/8, 21-1/2.

Accidental as far south, on the eastern coast, as New York; not rare from thence eastward, during winter. Breeds from the Bay of Fundy along all the rocky shores, to Labrador, and the highest latitudes, where considerable numbers even spend the winter.

Uria Grylle, Bonap. Syn. p. 423.

Uria Grylle, Black Guillemot, Nutt. Man. v. ii. p. 523.

Black Guillemot, Uria Grylle, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. iii. p. 148; v. v. p. 627.

483. 4. Uria Townsendii, Aud. Slender-billed Guillemot.

Plate CCCCXXX. Male and Female.

Bill shorter than the head, straight, slender, much compressed, acute, black; feet yellow, claws black; plumage very soft, close, blended, as in the other species; wings small, very narrow, convex, falcate; first quill longest; secondaries incurved, obliquely rounded; tail extremely short, narrow, rounded, of twelve weak, rounded feathers. Upper parts brownish-black, the feathers of the back terminally margined with light grey; lower parts, cheeks, a transverse band on the nape, both eyelids, and a longitudinal band on each side, formed by some of the scapulars, white, some dusky streaks on the hind part of the sides, and the lower wing-coverts greyish-brown, some of them whitish. Young in autumn with the upper parts brownish-black, the feathers terminally margined with brown; the occipital band merely indicated by some lighter feathers, and the scapular band brownish or chestnut-red; lower parts of a curious mottled appearance, the feathers being brownish-grey at the end, but in the rest of their extent white, that colour appearing more or less on all the parts, and shewing a patch on the hind part of the sides.

Adult, 10; wing 5-2/12. Young, in autumn, 9-3/4; wing 5-1/12.

Abundant on the north-west coast of America, not far from the Columbia River.

Slender-billed Guillemot, Uria Townsendii, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. v. p. 251.

FAMILY XLV. COLYMBINÆ. DIVERS AND GREBES.

Bill of the length of the head, straight, rather stout, much compressed, pointed; upper mandible with the dorsal line declinate, almost straight, or towards the end convex; nasal groove rather long, feathered at the base. Nostrils basal, linear, direct, pervious. Feet stout, short, placed extremely far behind; tarsus extremely compressed; toes four, the first very small, and lobed; the anterior united by webs, which in some are lobed. Plumage dense, short, glossy, generally silky beneath. Wings small, very narrow, acute. Tail very short, sometimes extremely small, and forming a slight tuft. Tongue slender, trigonal, tapering; œsophagus very wide in its whole length, or narrowed in the anterior part with the proventriculus wide; stomach generally large, muscular, with a dense rugous epithelium; intestine rather long and wide; as are the cœca; cloaca globular.