Capt. Sabine's Memoir on the Birds of Greenland, <^c. 537 



in his Fauna Groelandica ; but the bird itself does not appear to 

 have fallen under liis notiee : he was aware, however, that it could 

 not be n fcncd to his Tringa Lohata. This species is only known 

 to British naturalists in its winter state. 



13. Alca Alle. Little Auk. 



A. AUc. Gmel. i. 554. Lalh. Lid. Oni. ii. 795. Br'un. no. 106. Fahr. 84. Faun. Siiee. 



50. Mull. no. 142 Little Auk. Lath. Si/u. v. 327- Arcl. Zool. ii. 512. Mont. 



Diet. & Supp. Br. Zool. ii. 158. Wil. Am. Orn. ix. 94.— Una Alle. Temm. 6l 1. 



This species was abundant in Baffin's Bay and Davis's Straits; 

 and in latitude 76" was so numerous in the channels of Avater 

 separating fields of ice, that many hundreds were killed daily, 

 and the ship's company supplied with them. The Avhole of the 

 birds in the breeding season (the sexes being alike) had the under 

 part of the neck an uniform sooty black, terminating abruptly 

 and in an even line against the white of the belly; the young 

 birds, which we saw in all stages from the egg, as soon as they 

 Avere feathered were marked exactly as the mature birds : but in 

 the third week of September, when we were on our passage down 

 the American coast, every specimen, whether old or young, was 

 observed to be in change ; and in the course of a few days the en- 

 tire feathers of the throat and cheeks and of the under part of the 

 neck had become white; this latter state has been erroneously 

 considered by some authors as that of the immature bird. It has 

 been correctly described however by Fabricius as tlie winter 

 plumage. Montagu arrived at the same cunclusion in his Sup- 

 plement. We saw neither of the varieties which Fabricius remarks 

 that he had heard of; namely, a red-breasted variety, and one 

 wholly white. 



14. Ubia 



