86 ORNITHOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS. 



There are but few authentic records of the occurrence of this species 

 in the eastern parts of xlsia. Middendorff quotes it from Taimyr and 

 Eadde from the delta of the Upper Angara, but later travelers have 

 not found it there. Swinhoe did not obtain it in China, nor has it been 

 found in Japan, the Amur-i)rovince, the Kuriles, the shores of the 

 Okotsk Sea, or Kamtschatka. Mr. Xelson, however, (Cruise Corwin, p. 

 109) noted it on the northeastern Siberian coast of the Arctic Ocean and 

 Nordenskjold collected a specimen there, at Pitlekaj, July 5, 1879. The 

 species has been found on several of the Aleutian Islands belonging to 

 America. 



The specimen collected by me measures : 



(? ad., U. S. Nat. AIus. No. 92901 ; L. Siejneger No. 2129. Bering Island, June 5, 

 1883.— Total length 371""". Tail beyond wings, 8°'"^ Wing, 280™"'. Tail-feathers, 

 IBGni™. Culmeu, 32™in. Tarsus, IT""™. Middle toe with claw, 22™"\ Iris dark 

 brown. Bill carmine, til) slightly dusky. Feet vermilion, tinged with carmine. 



Family STEECOEAEIID^. 



25. Stercorarius parasiticus (Lin.) 



1758. — Larus parasiticus Lin., Syst. Nat., 10 cd., I, p. 136 {nee Less, qui lougicaudus). — 

 Stercorarius p. Dall &Bannist., Tr. Chicag. Acad., 1, 1869, p. 303. — COUES, 

 in Elliott's Affairs Alaska, p. 196 (1875). — Elliott, Monogr. Seal Isl., p. 132 

 (1882).— Turner, Auk, 1885, p. 158.— LesMs p. Dall., Avif. Aleut. 

 Isl, west Una!., p. 9 (1874).— Taczan., Bull. Soc. Zool. France, 1876, p. 

 262.— Id., ibid., 1883, p. Ml.— Id., Orn. Faun. Vost. Sibir., p. 64 (1877). 



1773. — larus crepidatus Banks in Hawkesw. , Voy. II (p. 15). — Stercorarius c. (?) Blakist. 

 & Pryek, Tr. As. Soc. Jap. X, 1882, p.. 105.— Bean, Pr. U. S. Nat. Mus., 

 1882, p. 169.— Nelson, Cruise Corwin, p. 110 (1883). — Blakist., Amend. 

 List B. Jap., p. 35, (1884). — Seeb.. Ibis, 1884, p. 32. 



1826. — Catarractes j>flras(7a Pall., Zoogr. Eoss. As. II, p. 310. — Lestris p. Middend., 

 Sibir. Eeis., II, 2 (p. 241) (1853).— Swinh., P. Z. S., 1863, p. 328. 



On the Commander Islands the dark form is the most common. A 

 few only with white lower surface were seen, and one secured. This 

 species is found mostly on Bering Island where it breeds on the great 

 tundra, or rather swamp, near the village. In 1883 the first ones made 

 their appearance on the 4th of May. In the autumn they seem to feed 

 to a great extent on the berries of Enqwtrum nigrum, and their excreta 

 at that time are colored dark blue. The natives call them by the 

 Russian name " Rashojnilc." 



