ALCIDJE — ALCIN^ : MURRELETS. 811 



1.15, inner do. 0.85; chord of cuhnen 0.50, gape 1.00, gonys 0.20; height or width of bill 

 at base 0.35. N. Atlantic, both coasts. In winter S. to the Middle States or beyond. 

 Overtaken by storms at this season this little bird is not seldom blown inland. It is very 

 abundant at its breeding grounds in the far north, being one of the most boreal of birds. 

 Kgs: single, 1.60 X 1-10, pale greenish-bluo. 

 343. SYXTHLIBORHA3I'PHUS. (Gr. avvdXi^a), sunthlibo, I compress; pdfji(f)os, hramphos. 

 beak.) Nipper-nosed Murrelets. Of moderate size and stout form ; general aspect of 

 Alle ; with or without a crest. Bill somewhat as in Brachyrhamjjhus, but stouter and 

 deeper for its length; greatly compressed throughout, its depth at base about half as much as 

 length of culmen; culmen moderately conve.K, gonys ascending. Nostrils sub- basal, broadly 

 oval or nearly circular; nasal fossae small and shallow, feathered to nostrils. Feathers to 

 about opposite points on culmen and keel, thence retreating rapidly backwards. Secondaries 

 very short, as in Brachyrhamphus, the longest not reaching much more than half way from 

 carpal joint to the point of the closed wing. (This style of wing is characteristic of the 

 murrelets, which " paddle " the air in a peculiar way.) Tail short, nearly square, with broadly 

 rounded feathers. Tarsi much compressed, like the bill; transversely scutellate in front and 

 on the side, reticulate behind; about as long as middle toe without claw. With the general 

 character of Brachyrhamphus, this genus differs in the deeper, stouter bill, and much com- 

 pressed scutellate tarsi ; it includes two very stylish species of the N. Pacific, very different 

 from each other. 



Analysis of Species. 



Head closely feathered; depth of bill more than half its length ; white of sides of crown not advancing 

 before eyes antiquus 864 



Head crested; depth of bill about half its length; white of sides of crown advancing nearly to bill 



umizusume 865 



864. S. auti'quus. (Lat. antiquus, ancient; i. e. gray-headed. Fig. 549.) Black-throated 

 Murrelet. Adult in breeding dress : Bill whitish or yellowish, its base and ridge black. 

 Feet whitish or yellowish, the tarsus behind and both surfaces of webs, black. Head all around, 

 and throat, black, pure above, sooty on chin and throat. A 

 .conspicuous white stripe from over each eye to sides of nape, 

 where connected by some white feathers with its fellow, and 

 spreading on the sides and back of neck into a set of sharp 

 white streaks ; trace of white on each eyelid. Upper parts dark 

 plumbeous, blackening on tail; upper surface of wing the same, 

 the edging of the wing all along from the elbow, and the ex- 

 posed parts of the primaries, blackish; secondaries like the cov- Fig. 549. — Black-throated Mur- 

 erts, or rather darker; basal portion of inner webs and shafts relet, nat. size. 

 of primaries whitish; under surfiice of wing white, mottled with dusky just along the edges. 

 Sides of body under the wings velvety-black; these black feathers lengthening behind, and 

 overlying the Hanks, which are seen to be white on raising them. Anteriorly this black extends 

 in front of the wings and continues <m to the nape of the neck, where it mixes with the white 

 streaks above said. The sooty-black of the throat is continuous with that of the sides of the 

 head as far as the auriculars, beyond which it narrows to a point on the throat, being separated 

 from the black of the nape by a large white area, an extension to the auriculars of the white 

 which is the color of the whole under parts, except as said. Length 9.50-10.50 ; extent 16.75- 

 18.25 ; wing 5.50; tail 1.60 ; tarsus 1.00 ; middle toe and claw 1.25, outer do. 1.15, inner do. 

 1.00 ; bill along culmen 0.00, gape 1.20, gonys 0.40; depth at base 0.30, width 0.20. Young 

 or winter: Upper parts darker, the plumbeous being obscured by dusky, especially on the wing- 

 and tail-coverts and rump. Forehead, crown, nape, sooty-black, not relieved by white streaks. 

 or only with traces of the latter ; eyelids sometimes largely white. No black on tliroat, only 



