530 THE DIVING BIRDS — PYGOPODES. 



region. Plumage otherwise as in summer, but pileuui darker or blackisli brown. Eyelids brown- 

 ish "rav, feet pale reddish. Young : Similar in plumage to the winter adult, but bill very different, 

 being much narrower, the cuhnen not at all arched, and the terminal portion of both maxilla and 

 mandible destitute of any truce of transverse grooves. Downy young: Uniform fuliginous-black 



or dusky, the abdomen abruptly white. 



Total length, about 13.00 inches ; extent, 

 24.50 ; wing, 7.00-7.25 ; culmen (chord), 2.00- 

 2.25; gonys, 1.60-1.70; depth of maxiUa at 

 base, 1.15-1.25 ; of mandible, .70-.S0 ; tarsus, 

 1.15-1.25 ; middle toe, 1.55-1.65. 





jr ,:;^^^K" ^' This species is common to the Kortli- 



~ -^^^^^^c^ ern Pacific Ocean, and is found along 



„ > V . - ^ ^^^^ the Alaskan coast and on nearly all 



||%v|^pf^j^^ the islands in Behring's Sea. It also 



' occurs on the eastern shore of Asia, 



Downy young. , , • i r. p ^ t , i i 



and was taken m the Sea oi Ocliotsk by 



the naturalists connected with the Rogers Exploring Expedition. 



Mr. Bannister mentions this species as being common on Whale Island, north of 

 St. Michael's. This island is steep and rocky, and landing on it except in very favor- 

 able weather is difUcult. Upon the only occasion on Avhich it was visited no nests 

 were discovered, though he is confident that Loth this species and the Tufted Puffin 

 breed there, young birds scarcely able to fly having been captured. The birds nest in 

 the deep and narrow interstices of the rocks, entirely out of reach ; and even if the nest 

 is within the reach of a man's arm, it Avould be hazardous to attempt to rob it, except 

 in the absence of the parent bird, whose powerful bill is capable of inflicting a very 

 severe wound. An Eskimo boy in Mr. Bannister's service, not having a pocket, was 

 so careless as to put a nearly grown young Pufhn of this species for security under 

 his upper garment, and was severely lacerated by the bird. 



Mr. Dall also speaks of this bird as being extremely abundant on the rocky islands 

 near St. Michael's. It was also observed by him at Plover Bay, Coal Harbor, Unga 

 Island, and Aliaska. It has been obtained at Kotzebae Sound, and was procured 

 abundantly at Sitka and Kadiak by Mr. Bischoff. 



Mr. Dall also states, in his Notes on the Avifauna of the Aleutian Islands froua 

 Unalashka eastward, that the F. corniculata is quite rare on those islands. It is, 

 however, very common in the Shuniagin Islands, Avbere it appears to entirely take 

 the place of the Lu7ida cirrhatd. It is resident there throughout the year, and breeds 

 in holes and crevices in the cliffs of Round Island, Coal Harbor, and Unga. The eggs 

 of this species were obtained there ; and though the parent bird, which was caught 

 on the nest, managed to escape, they were well identified. The eggs which were then 

 taken were single, one in each nest, and were of a mottled rusty color with dark 

 spots, though he had expected to have found them white. These eggs, as it now 

 appears, must have been discolored by the soil on the rock on which they were laid, 

 as the color of the egg when fresh is Avhite. 



To this Mr. Dall adds, in his Notes on the Birds of the Islands west of Unalashka, 

 that he there found it resident and abundant from Attn to the Shumagins, and Avith 

 habits similar to tliose of the L. cirrhata. 



Mr. H. W. Elliott found this species common in the Prybilof Islands, and states 

 in reference to it, that the eye never fails to be arrested by this odd-looking bird, 

 with its great shovel-like, lemon-yellow and red bill, as it sits squatted in glum silence 

 on the rocky cliff-perches, regarding approach Avith an air of stolid wonder, seemingly 



