NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 24^ 



northern hemisphere of the numerous Penguins, {Aptenodytes) of the southern, 

 I made diligent inquiry of every one who might be expected to have any know- 

 ledge of it. I was the more anxious to obtaia some account of it from the fact 

 of its being supposed to be nearly if not quite extinct ; its introduction into 

 the fauna of North America resting on very insufficient data. Though none of 

 the natives of Labrador whom I interrognted had any knowledge of it, the 

 fishermen knew immediate'y to what I referred when I spoke of " Penguins " — 

 as they are called — and all with singular unanimity agreed in designating the 

 Funks, an island oflF the south-east coast of Newfoundland as the only place 

 where the birds were to be found. Yet I could never find a person who had 

 actually seen one of the birds ; they had only heard of them as Penguins. But 

 the fact of their all agreeing as to the precise locality where the birds were to 

 be found, seemed to me worthy of attention. 



UTAMANIA Leach. 



Gen. Ch. — Size moderate. General form stout, heavy, strong, compact ; head 

 moderate, neck short and thick, body heavy. Wings moderate ; tail short; feet 

 short and strong. Bill lengthened, about equal to the head, densely feathered 

 for half its length, the feathers on the upper mandible extending much be- 

 yond the middle of the commissure, and nearly as far as those on the lower ; very 

 strong, much compressed, with several transverse grooves which are curved in 

 the upper mandible. Upper mandible much deeper than the lower, with a 

 moderately prominent basal ridge at base of the horny portion ; the culmen re- 

 gularly arched, tip considerably hooked and bent over the lower. Commissure 

 very long, quite straight to near the tip where it is suddenly decurved. Gonys 

 about straight. Nostrils linear, not pervious, moderately long, very narrow, 

 situated just above the commissure on the feathered portion of the bill, immedi- 

 ately posterior to the lower corner of the basal ridge. Wings fully developed, 

 admi'ting of flight, reaching beyond the base of the tail; primaries stiff, strong, 

 somewhat fulcate, first longest. Tail short, pointed, rather stiffened, the 

 feathers acuminate, central pair tapering and elongated. Legs short, stout and 

 strong; tibia bare for a short space above the joint; tarsus shorter than the 

 middle toe. Toes three, anterior, entirely united by a membrane. Claws all 

 short, stout, blunt. 



Colors. — Neck and upper parts brownish black; beneath white. A conspic- 

 uous white line from the eye to the summit of the basal ridge. 



The essential characters of this genus lie in the wings, which are fully de- 

 veloped an 1 admit of flight. By this alone it would be entitled to full generic 

 rank, distinct from Alca with the type A. impennis L., were there no other char- 

 acters involved. But one species, the U. iorda Leach, is known, which is 

 found abundantly in the more northern portions of both hemispheres, and is 

 the most characteristic bird of those regions. 



Utamania torda Leach. — Razor-billed Auk. " Tinker." 



Alca torda. And., Birds Amer. vii. 247 ; pi. 466. 

 Alca (^Utamania) tarda, Cassin, Gen. Rep. 901. 



This, the most characteristic bird of marine arctic fauna, is remarkably abun- 

 dant throughout the extent of Labrador. While in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, 

 before reaching that country, numbers were every day seen flying rather low 

 over the water, generally in single file, and sometimes passing very close 

 around the vessel. At Esquimaux Bay, the most northern point visited, they 

 were perhaps more numerous than elsewhere, breeding plentifully among the 

 many thousands of Puffins there collected. I was credibly informed that they 

 formerly bred in so great numbers on Backelew Island, off the coast of New- 

 foundland, that they received the name of " Backelew Birds ;" an appellation I 

 occasionally still heard applied to them, though they have entirely deserted the 



1861.] 



