536 WEB-FOOTED BIRDS. 



CRESTED PHALERIS. 



(Phaleris cristatella, TeiMM. PI. Color. 200 [adult]. Bonap. Synops. 

 p. 426. (in a note). Alca cristatella, Pallas, Spicil. Zool. fasc. v. 

 p. 18. tab. 3. Lath, and A. pijgmcea, Ibid. A. cristatella, Vieill. 

 Gal. Ois. pi. 297. (adult). Crested, or Flat-Billed Auk, Lath. Sy- 

 nops. iii. pi. 95. fig. 4. [the head]. Penk. Arct. Zool. ii. No. 434. 

 Black Stariki, Hist. Kamtschat.) 



Sp. Charact. — Blackish, beneath lighter, the rump ash-colored; 

 a frontal tuft of C or 8 feathers curling over the bill ; sides of the 

 head ornamented with long slender white feathers ; ridge of the 

 bill scarcely compressed, lower mandible with a groove each side 

 from the throat. — The young black, beneath paler ; the head with- 

 out tuft ; the bill black. 



This species, discovered by Steller, inhabits the seas and 

 islands betwixt Japan and the north-eastern coast of Asia, 

 especially Kamtschatka, and were seen in multitudes about 

 Bird Island, between Asia and America, and no doubt visit 

 the contiguous western shores of America. They roost and 

 nest in burrows and fissures of rocks on shore, near the sea, 

 and are at such times so tame as to allow of being taken by 

 hand. 



The Crested Auk is about 12 inches long. The bill resembles 

 that of the Puffin, but the upper mandible is more hooked at the 

 tip : at the angle of the mouth hangs a callous flap, the color of that and 

 the bill crimson, the tip yellow. On the front an upright crest of 

 long feathers curving forwards. Beneath the eyes a line of white, 

 and behind them a streak composed of 4 or 5 slender white feathers. 

 Above black, hoary on the rump, some ferruginous brown spots on 

 the back. Beneath dusky brown. The wings extend to the base of 

 the tail, which is black ; the outermost feather but one ferruginous 

 at tip, the outer marked with indistinct dots of white. Legs livid ; 

 the webs dusky. 



Note. The Alca antiqua of Latham, and Pennant, Arct. Zool. 

 No. 430, is apparently a third North American, and Asiatic species, 



