236 



LONG-WINQED SWIMMERS — LONGIPENNES. 



Hab. The var. Smithsonianus, North America in general, more especially the Atlantic coast, 

 where extending from Labrador to Cuba ; breeding from Eastern ]\Iaine northward ; frequent 

 throughout the interior, on the larger inland waters, and occasional on the Pacific coast. True 

 L. artjentatus, chiefly Pala^arctic, but occasional, or casual, in Eastern North America, though 

 apparently the predominant, if not exclusive, form in the region of Cumberland Sound. 



Sp. Char. Adult, in summer: Mantle pale pearl-blue (a shade darker than in £. glaucescens), 

 the secondaries and tertiuls passing terminally into white. Outer primary black, more slaty basally, 

 the tip white, and a large white spot across the inner, and sometimes the outer, web ; next quill 



black, tipped with white, and 

 usually without any white except 

 the apical spot ; third, fourth, and 

 fifth quills similar, but the basal 

 half or more light pearl-gray (this 

 extending farther on the inner 

 web), the line of demarcation 

 sharply defined ; sixth quill light 

 pearl-gray, broadly tipped with 

 white, this preceded by a bi'oad 

 subterminal space of black, widest 

 on the outer web ; seventh quill 

 similar, but the black much 

 more restricted, and confined to 

 the outer web ; remaining pri- 

 maries pale pearl-gray, passing 

 gradually into white at ends. Re- 

 mainder of the plumage snow- 

 white. Bill deep chrome or 

 wax-yellow, with a large spot of 

 bright red near the end of the 

 mandible ; eyelids bright yel- 

 low ; iris silvery white or pale 

 yellow ; legs and feet flesh-color, 

 claws brownish black. Adult, in winter : Similar, but head and neck, except underneath, streaked 

 with dusky grayish. Bill pale grayish yellow, deepest on anterior half of maxilla, and inclining 

 to flesh-color on basal portion of mandible, except along upper edge ; angle of mandible with a 

 large spot of dull orange-red, becoming dusky toward gonys ; iris dull light yellow ; eyelids dusky 

 yellowish ; legs and feet very pale grayish flesh-color. (Fresh colors of a specimen killed at Wash- 

 ington, D. C, Nov. 11, 1880.) Yori7ig, first jAumage : Prevailing color brownish ash, nearly uni- 

 fcn-m below, the head and neck streaked with white ; upper parts variegated by borders to the 

 feathers and irregular spots of pale grayish buff" ; primary coverts, remiges, and rectrices blackish 

 dusky. Bill dusky black, more brownish basally; iris brown; legs and feet purplish flesh-color 

 in life, brownish in the dried skin. Donmy young : Grayish white, tlie lower parts (except throat) 

 immaculate ; head marked with irregular spots of black, indefinitely distributed ; back, wings, and 

 rump clouded with dusky grayish. Bill black, the end yellowish ; feet brownish.^ 



The fresh colors of the European bird (British specimens) are given as follows by Macgillivray 

 ("Hist. Brit. B." V. 546, 551, 552): Adult male, in winter: "The bill is pure yellow, the lower 

 mandible with an orange-red patch toward the end ; the edges of the eyelids yellow ; the iris pale 

 yellow ; the feet flesh-colored ; the claws brownish black." Young, in first winter : " The bill is 

 bluish black, the base of the lower mandible flesh-colored ; the iris brown ; the feet purplish flesh- 

 colored." After next moult : " The bill is dull yellow, with a dusky patch on each mandible, and a 

 little red on the lower ; the iris yellow ; the feet flesh-colored." 



Wing, 16.25-17.50 (average, 17.15) inches ; culmen, 1.95-2.50 (2.24) ; depth of bill through 

 angle, .70-.85 (.80) ; tarsus, 2.30-2.80 (2.57) ; middle toe, 1.85-2.25 (2.10). (Twelve adults.) 



1 ' ' Bill brownish black, paler at the base of the lower mandible. Edges of eyelids greenish gray ; iris 

 hazel. Feet purplish flesh-color ; claws brownish black " (Audubon). 



