282 NEW-YORK FAUNA BIRDS. 



GENUS MORMON. Illiger. 



Bill shorter than the head, very much compressed, as high as the head at the base, trans- 

 versely and obliquely grooved on the sides, covered at the base by a wrinkled callous 

 membrane : both mandibles much curved and notched. Nostrils margined, linear, narrow, 

 almost entirely closed by a naked membrane. Nails much curyed, acute. Tail of sixteen 

 feathers. 



THE ARCTIC PUFFIN. 



Mormon arcticus. 



PLATE CXXXVIII. FIG. 301 (Young). 

 (STATE COLLECTION.) 



Alca arctica, Lin. p. 211. Puffin, Pennant, Arct. Zoology, Vol. 2, p. 511. 



Mormon arcticu*. Illiger, Prod. p. 283. Bonaparte, Ann. Lye. N. Y. Vol. 2, p. 430. Nuttall, Man. Om, 



Vol. 2, p. 542. Audubon, Birds of Am. Vol. 7, p. 238, pi. 454. Giraud, Birds of Long 



island, p. 373. 



Characteristics. Black; beneath white. A broad black collar round the neck. Bill red, 

 much compressed : both mandibles with at least three lateral grooves 

 before the nostrils ; lower mandible but little curved. Young, yellowish 

 dusky, smooth. Length, 12" 0. 



Description. Half of the bill adjoining the head, leaden blue ; the remaining part red : 

 upper mandible with four furrows; the lower with three. Irides hazel; orbits red. A 

 triangular callous protuberance above the eye ; an oblong one beneath. Top of the head and 

 all above black, passing round the neck in a broad collar. Sides of the head and all the under 

 parts pure white. Chin greyish or white. Legs and feet orange. From a fresh specimen 

 shot December 12, on Long island: Bill, measured from above, 1*5 long, notched near the 

 tip. Indistinct traces of the lateral grooves ; the first in front of the nostrils most prominent : 

 depth of the bill at base - 9 : lower mandible with a conspicuous angle, obliquely truncated 

 at the tip : commissure sinuous. Tarsus 1 ' 2, not as long as the middle or outer toe. Tail 

 short, slightly rounded. 



Color. Eyes dark hazel. Bill horn-color in front, darker towards the base. Inside of the 

 mouth orange : no wrinkles at the corners of the mouth. Tarsus light greenish before, dark 

 brown or blackish behind. Toes flesh-colored : webs light orange. Front and summit of 

 the head blackish brown, composed of feathers forming an imperfect hood. A deeper hue of 

 black commences on the middle of the neck, forms a collar around it, and covers all above. 

 A disk of clear ash on each side of the head, including the eyes and the chin beneath, and 



