20 HISTORY OF THE 



pearl gray, passing gradually into white at ends. Remainder 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 yellow; iris silvery white or pale 

 yellow; legs and feet flesh color, claws brownish black. Adult, in winter: Sim- 

 ilar, 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 Washington, D. C, November 11th, 1880.) 

 Young, first plumage: Prevailing color brownish ash, nearly uniform below, the 

 head and neck streaked with white; upper parts variegated by borders to the 

 feathers and irregular spots of pale grayish buft'; primary coverts, reniiges 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. Downy 

 young: Grayish white, the 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 ends yellowish; feet brownish." 



stretch of 

 Length. "wing. IVing. Tail. Tarsus. Bill. 



Male 25.50 .59.00 17.25 7..50 2.55 2.50 



Female... 23.00 57.00 16.00 6.50 2.40 2.10 



The birds ride the water buoyantly, but do not dive, only im- 

 mersing the head and neck. In their food habits omnivorous, 

 greedy eaters; scavengers of the beach, and in the harbors to 

 be seen boldly alighting upon the masts, and flying about the 

 vessels; picking up the refuse matter as it is cast overboard, 

 and often following the steamers from thirty to forty miles from 

 the land, and occasionally much farther. They are ever upon 

 the alert, with a quick eye that notices every falling object, or 

 disturbance of the water; and as they herald with screams the 

 appearance of the herring, or other small fishes that often swim 

 in schools at the surface of the water, they prove an unerring 

 pilot to the fishermen, who hastily follow with their lines and 

 nets; for they know that beneath, and following the valuable 

 catch in sight, are the larger fishes that are so intent upon tak- 

 ing the little ones in out of the wet as largely to forget their 

 cunning, and thus make their capture an easy one. 



The birds are abundant on the Atlantic coast, decreasing in 

 numbers west, and I think rare on the Pacific coast. I have 

 collected three winters along that coast, and during the time did 

 not meet with a single bird. 



