170 PEOCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



A very large one cauglit May IG gave the following record: Length, 

 32.50; wing, 21.50; bill, 4.31; upper and under tail coverte white; cris- 

 sum with some white ; iris umber or golden brown. 



69. DioMEDA BRACHYURA Temm. 



(33:51 ale. 1474) 4 heads. Alexaudrovsk, Cook's Inlet, July 4, 1880. 

 (3301) ad. 9 • Cook's lulet, June 29, 1880. 

 (3333) sternum of 3301. 



The specimen here mentioned was shot by Capt. E. P. Herendeen near 

 the mouth of the inlet, not far from Fort Alexander. The species was 

 abundant. This example was moulting ; some of the primaries are rudi- 

 mentary. It has been extremely difficult to kill these birds because they 

 never come near the vessel nor allow it to approach them closely. Un- 

 like D. nigripes, it is extremely shy. 



Measurements from the recently-killed bird: Extent, 88; wing, 21; 

 tail, 6.75 ; head, 3.75 ; bill, 5.19 ; tarsus, 3.87 ; middle toe and claw, 5.12. 

 Bill flesh color, with a faint purplish tinge; hook light horn color; 

 iris dark brown. 



The Kodiak native name for this gony is Kay-mahryeerk'. 



In about north latitude 51 degrees we begun to lose sight of D. nigripes, 

 and i>. hrachyura took its place. From latitude 52 degrees north the 

 latter species increased in numbers. We found it at various points 

 around the Gulf of Alaska, but the mouth of Cook's Inlet, and the vicinity 

 of the Barren Islands, seemed to be its favorite summer resort. Natives 

 of the trading village Alexandrovsk frequently spear this bird from their 

 bidarkas. I picked up four skins of this species from a pile of refuse at 

 this village. 



We saw !>. hrachyura in Unimak Pass July 25, and in Bering Sea, off 

 Makusbin, on the following day. A single individual was seen August 

 10 about 40 miles to the westward of the entrance to Plover Bay. An- 

 other individual was seen September 18 to the northward of St. Law- 

 rence Island. On the 22d of September we saw a few of these birds in 

 the vicinity of St. Mathew Island. On the 5th of October we saw a few 

 individuals, in beautiful plumage, while under sail from Chernoffsky, 

 along the west coast of Unalashka, to Iliuliuk. 



70. DiOMEDEA MELANOPHRYS Temm. 



On the 3 1st of October a single Biomedea was seen on the Pacific not 

 far from the following position : North latitude 40° 30', west longitude 

 142° 23'. Observing that it differed greatly from the common D. nigripes, 

 I made these notes concerning it: Head, neck, lower parts, and rump 

 white ; the under surface of the wings, too, shows considerable light 

 color ; elsewhere the bird is dark gray like n i gripes ; in size it is slightly 

 less than the nigripes around it; the dark part of the wing of this bird 

 is very different from the black of D. hrachyura so far as observed; the 



