AL CIDJE —AL CIX.E : M URRES. 



817 



aud handle back of eye in the furrow of the pUimage. In winter : White of under parts reachinj^ 

 to the bill, on sides of head to level of the commissure, farther around on sides of neck, leaving 

 only a narrow isthmus of dark color; the two colors shading without distinct Une of demarca- 

 tion ; usually a spur of dark color in the furrow behind eye. Young, tirst winter, like the 

 adults at that season ; biU shorter and weaker, and, like the feet, in part light-colored. Fledg- 

 lings dusky brownish, with white breast and belly, aud whitish about head and neck. Length 

 17.00; extent 30.00; wing 8.00; tail 2.25; tarsus 1.40; middle toe and claw 2.10; outer do. 



875. 



876. 



Fig. 556. — Common Guillemot, or Murre, nearly 

 nat. size. (From Elliot.) 



2.00: inner do. 1.70; bill along culmen 1.75; 

 gape 2.50; gonys 1.15; depth at base 0.55; 

 width 0.80. European and American coasts 

 and islands of the N. Atlantic, to or beyond 80° 

 N. ; on the Amer. side breeding from Nova 

 Scotia northward ; in winter to the Middle States. 

 Myriads of murres congregate to breed on rocky 

 islands, incubating their single eggs as closely together as they can find standing-room on the 

 shelves of the cliffs ; their ranks serried on ledge after ledge, and clouds of birds whirling 

 through the air. The eggs, so numerous as to have commercial value, are notorious for their 

 variability in coloration. The size is great for that of the bird, averaging 3.25 X 2.00, run- 

 ning unusually from 3.00 to 3.50, with half as much variation in breadth. The ground color 



ranges from creamy to pure white, then through 

 earthy, grayish, bluish, or greenish -white to 

 sea-green and every darker shade of green. The 

 markings of the creamy and white varieties are 

 genei-ally spots and blotches of iliflFerent shades 

 of brown, pretty uniformly dispersed, and eggs 

 of this type resemble those of the razor-bill, 

 but may usually be distinguished by larger size 

 Fm. 557.- Coinmoti Guillemot, nat. size. (in length) and more pyriform shape. The 



green eggs are endlc.'^sly varied, in i)attern of the markings, but are normally more streaked in 

 sharp angular zigzag lines, inextricably confused, reminding one f»f Chinese literature. 

 Li. t. califor'nica. (Fig. 558.) Californiax Guillemot. Like the last. Bill averaging 

 somewhat longer, about 1.90; culmen, commissure, and gonys nearly straight ; upper mandible 

 somewhat dilated toward the base along the cutting edges, and less feathered ; gonydeal angle 

 prominent. The bill ccmsequently approaches that of the next species, in width and depth, but 

 iixaggerates the length and straightness of that of the last species. Pacific coast of N. Am., 

 breeding from islands in Behring's sea to California. 



li. ar'ra. (Russian name, arrie. Fig. 559.) Thick-billed Guillemot. Arrie. Like the 

 foregoing in plumage aud its changes. Form very robust. Bill short, stout, wide, deep ; culmen 

 curved throughout; commissure decurved at end ; gonys if anything concave in outline, the angle 

 very protuberant ; cutting edges of tlie upper mandible dilated and denuded toward the base, 



52 



