26 ORNITHOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS. 



nearly at all seasons, probably the largest material of this rare bird at 

 the command of any ornithologist, and were made on the fresh birds 

 before and during skinning, so that the results may be regarded as 

 conclusive upon several points. They may be summed up briefly as 

 under. 



When the young leaves the egg, in the latter part of June, it is cov- 

 ered by a dense down, dark fuliginous above, lighter and more grayish 

 on the abdomen. Such a specimen, No. 92977. only a few days old, 

 was obtained, together with its father. No. 92973, both takeu on the 

 nest, on June 28, 1883. Another downy young (No. 92970) was col- 

 lected July 12; it is half-fledged, the new plumage, on the whole, like 

 that of the adults, being only a little lighter underneath, nearly pure 

 white on the abdomen, but, before long, this light, or rather pure, color 

 darkens, as in the young of Lunda cin-hata, and a young (No. 92974) 

 killed only six days later, but fully fledged and without any trace of 

 down left, is undistinguishable from the old ones as far as the general 

 coloration of the plumage is concerned ; the loral tuft, with its malar 

 and superciliary branches, and the postocular stripe are indicated by 

 light grayish feathers. The young bird I shot at Dikij Mys, Bering 

 Island, on August 22, 1882, is identical with the last one, both being 

 perfect counterparts of the type of Dr. Coues's Simorhynchus cassini. 

 If any doubt should still linger concerning the identity of the latter 

 with ^. pygmceus, an inspection of my series will remove it from the 

 most skeptical mind. 



In this plumage the young remain until about the end of December, 

 for No. 92962, shot on the 3d of January, is nearly identical with the 

 last-mentioned young bird, with the exception of the bill, which is more 

 vividly colored, and the general aspect of the i)lumage, which seems 

 fresher and of a more slate-colored hue, owing to the fact that the 

 feathers are new, many being still iu their sheaths. But on the same 

 date I obtained five other specimens which show all the intermediate 

 grades between this and the fully developed plumage with the long 

 and rich crests, as exhibited by No. 929G0, which was shot five days 

 previous, and by No. 929G1, collected on the 30th of December. The 

 wing feathers are yet in pretty good condition, and are not moulted 

 now. Alongside with the development of the new contour-feathers and 

 the ornamental ijlumes goes the increasing intensity and purity of the 

 colors of the bill, the nasal shield of which, however, is still dusky. 

 During the following months the bill assumes still more vivid colors, 



