60 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF 



out on the sides of the hind-neck to almost as great an extent as is witnessed 

 in the most highly plumaged specimens of anliquus ; again they may stop 

 abruptly on the occiput, or at least on the nape. The comparative amounts 

 of dusky and plumbeous on the upper parts is various, as is also the intensity 

 of either of these hues. Thus a specimen, (No. — Phila. Acad., from Japan,) 

 has tlie upper parts including the wing coverts bluish ashy, or bluisli plumbe- 

 ous, light enough to form a marked contrast with the band of nearly black 

 which crosses the nuchal region, and descends on either side under the wings. 

 In this specimen, also, the bill is blackish, although it is evidently an adult bird, 

 having a crest an inch long. There is sometimes much white on the eyelids, 

 sometimes none. The outline of the white on the sides of the hind head and of 

 the neck varies; the younger the bird, the more the white encroaches on these 

 parts. 



It is not ascertained positively that the crest which so stronglj^ characterizes 

 perfect specimens of this species as a constant feature, that is, obtained at a 

 certain age, and ever afterwards worn. Very possibly, it is onlj^ assumed 

 during the breeding season ; and falls off afterwards, so that perfectl}^ adult 

 winter specimens may be without it. It is at all events not to be enumerated 

 among the infallible diagnostic points of the species. 



Compared with S. anliquus, the species is at once distinguished, when in adult 

 breeding plumage, by the presence of a crest, and the different extent of the 

 white stripes and streaks upon the head, nape and neck. (Consult debcriptions 

 above given.) These diflfereuces aside, it is a larger bird, on an average, 

 though some specimens do not exceed in size some examples of antlquus. The 

 bill is slenderer, though not necessarily longer, more acute at the tip, com- 

 paratively not so deep at the base, and rather less compressed, the culmen, 

 rictus and gonys straighter. The identification of very young birds, however, 

 is sometimes attended with difficulty ; and some specimens in the present col- 

 lections cannot, in fact, be satisfactorily determined. This state of affairs, 

 however, is by no means unparalleled in other cases of perfectly distinct spe- 

 cies ; and by no means militates against the belief in the specified distinction 

 of the two birds now under consideration. The adults cannot by any possi- 

 bility be mistaken for each other. 



This species is well represented in all its variety, by numerous specimens in 

 the collections of the Philadelphia Academy and the Smithsonian Institution ; 

 though not contained, as far as heard from, in any other American cabinets. 

 It is of frequent occurrence on the coasts of the North Pacific, and appears to 

 be particularly abundant in the vicinity of Japan, whence most of the speci- 

 mens described or recorded have been obtained. Its occurrence on the coast 

 of the United States is open to question. Several specimens of S. antiquus fat 

 least of the bird described in this jiaper under this name) are in our collec- 

 tions from Washington Territory, labelled " Brachyrhamphus Tcmminckii,'' 

 and these appear to represent the species whose habits, etc., are alluded to by 

 Drs. Cooper and Sucklej^, volume twelve, part ii, of the Pacific Railroad Re- 

 ports, (Nat. Hist. Wash. Terr. p. 287, above cited) under the name of Brachy- 

 rhainphus Teviminckii. But the description there given is that of the true 

 Te/iniiinckii, having been copied from Mr. Cassin's article on the " Birds of 

 North America." 



The name which heads this article has priority over " Temminckii " of 

 Prof. Brandt, and is therefore to be adopted, though its barbarous character is, 

 assuredly, a matter of regret. It varies iu orthography with different writers. 



BRACHYRHAMPHUS, Brandt. 

 Colymhus, Gmelin, S. N. i, l^SS ; in part ; not of authors. 

 Uria, Latham, Ind. Orn. ii, 1790; in part ; not of authors. 

 Cepphits, Pallas, Zool. R. A. ii, 1811, in part. 

 Brachyrhamphus, Brandt, Bull. Acad. St. Petersburg, ii, 1837. Type Colymbus 



marmoratus, Gm. 

 Apobapton, Brandt, 1. c. Same type. 

 Anobapion, Bonaparte, Comptes Rendus, xlii, 1856. Same type. 



[Jan. 



