81 



al or sexual character of the horn (page 905, Birds of N. A.)* would probably 

 not have been expressed, had the writer enjoyed the opportunity of examining 

 such an extcn.-*ive series as have been at command in the preparation of the 

 present monograph. 



This species was first named Alca monoceratn by Pallas in 1811. Prince Bo- 

 naparte called it '' Phaleris occidentalis " in 1827; which name has been 

 usually adopted, Pallas' description being overlooked or disregarded. Brandt 

 appears to have accidentally misiiuoted Bonaparte's name in calling the bird 

 '• Cerorhina orientalis, Bp.'' Eschscholtz called it " Uhimerina cornuta " in 

 1829. These are the only synonyms which tiie writer has been able to collate, 

 except, of course, those resulting from the reference of the bird to diverse 

 genera, as has been already noted. 



^XGllXTORmimX, Bonaparte. 

 Saffihatorrhina, Bonaparte, P. Z. S. Lond. 1851, p. 202. Type S. Latka77u, Bp. 



" Bill twice as long as high, upper mandible straight at the base, covered 

 with a very large cere, incurved at the tip ; lower mandible ascending imme- 

 diately beyond the middle, forming an obtuse angle ; nostrils linear, margi- 

 nal." — Bp. 1. c. 



The above is a translation of the diagnosis of a genus framed by Bonaparte 

 for the reception of a bird he calls S. Lathami. It apparently differs from 

 Ceratorhyncha in the contour of the bill, the presence of a soft cere saddled on 

 the l)ase of the upper mandible in the place of a horn, and, it may be pre- 

 sumed, in the absence of the peculiar accessory corneous element at the man- 

 dibular synphysis, as no mention is made of such a character. The type and 

 apparently only Icnown specimen is in the British Museum. 



The possession of a soft flat cere in place of an upright horn, and the want 

 of the accessory mandibular piece are precisely the features which characterize 

 Cerorhina Suchleyi Cassin ; and in fact are about the only ones by which the 

 latter can satisfactorily be distinguished, specifically, from C. monocernta. It 

 therefore seems a procedure of obvious propriety to refer Sucldeyi to the pre- 

 sent genus. At the same time Suchleyi can by no possibility be confounded 

 with Lathami ; nor is the latter by any means a young C. monocerata, as some 

 authors have ventured to hint, and others have boldly assumed. An inspec- 

 tion of the figures accompanying the present memoir ought to set all doubts at 

 rest. 



Species — (2.) 



" Length 16 inches ; wing 7*50 ; bill 2 long, 1 high, five-eighths 



wide at the base" 1. Lathami. 



Length 14'50; wing 6-50; bill along culmen 1-30, depth at 



base -GO, width at base four-eighths 2. Suchleyi. 



Sagmatorrhina Lathami, Bonaparte. 



'! ? ? Alca labradoria, Gnielin, S. N. i, pt. ii, 1788, p. 550. Very doubtful. 

 Rather referable to Fratercula arctica, which see. 



Sagmatorrhina labradoria, Cassin, Baird's B. N. A. 1858, p. 904. 



Sagmatorrhina Lathami, Bonaparte, P. Z. S. London, 1851, p. 202, pi. 44. 



" Largest among its allies ; blackish, beneath pallid fuliginous : bill and 

 feet red ; cere and webs black. Length 16 inches ; bill 2 inches long, 1 inch 

 high, five -eighths wide at the base, three-eighths in the middle ; wing 7j 

 inches ; tail 3j ; tarsi 1;^; longest toe 2 and 3-eightiis inches. 

 Hab. — '' North-west Coast of America. 



* Spec. No. 10098, there enumerated, seems to have called forth the remark above allu- 

 ded to. This specimen, howevei-, is believed to be the adult of H. Suclcleyi, of which only 

 the young bird was at that time recognized. 



