492 THE DIVING BIRDS — PYGOPODES. 



Cepphus grylle. 



THE BLACK GUILLEMOT. 



Aka grylle., Linn. Syst. Nat. ed. 10, I. 1758, 130. 



Uria grylle, Bkunn. Oni. Bor. 1704, 28. — Faber, Isis, 1827, 035. — Macg. Hist. Brit. B. V. 1852, 



331. — Degl. & Gerbe, Orn. Eur. II. 1S67, 603. 

 Colynibus grylle, Linn. S. N. ed. 12, I. 1766, 220. 

 Cepphus grylle, BllEHM, Handb. Vog. DeutsehL 1831, 9S7. — Naum. Naturg. Vbg. Deutschl. XII. 



1844, 461. — Newton, Ibis, 1S65. 519. 

 Vria grylloidcs, Buunn. Orn. Bor. 1704, 28 (= changing plumage). 

 Uriu baUhica, BitiJNN. 1. c. (= immature or winter plumage). 

 Uria leucoptcra, Vieill. Nouv. Diet. XIV. 1S17, 35. 

 Vria arcHca, Bkeiim, Lelirb. Eur. Vug. 1824, 9S8. 

 Cepphus faeroeensis, Brehm, Handb. 1831, 990. 

 Uria grosnlandica, Giiay, List Gen. B. 1840, 98. 



Hab. Coasts of Northern and Northwestern Europe, from the White Sea to Finland and the 

 Danish islands in the Baltic ; Hebrides, St. Kilda, Shetland Islands, Orkneys, Faroes, and Iceland ; 

 in North America, found in summer from Eastport, Me. (specimen in National Museum), to 

 Newfoundland, and probably Southern Labrador ; also in Southern Greenland. 



Si'. Char. Adult, in summer : Similar to ft Mandtii, but greater wing-coverts with at least the 

 basal half black, this seldom quite concealed by the overlying row of coverts, and often showing 

 distinctly as a narrow band. Winter plumage : Similar to corresponding stage of ft Mandtii, but 

 plumage much darker, the back, scapulars, and rump being black barred with white, only the 

 extreme lower part of the rump being uniform white ; white of lower parts more distinctly clouded 

 or barred with grayish dusky, and pileum with dusky prevailing. Wing-coverts with basal half, 

 or more, abruptly dusky, and secondaries and primary coverts without white terminal spots. 

 Young, first plumage: Similar to the winter plumage, but white wing-coverts distinctly tipped 

 with brownish black. Downy young : Uniform sooty blackish, lighter and grayer below (hardly, 

 or not at all, distinguishable from corresponding stage of ft Mandtii). 



Wing, 6.00-6.80 inches ; oilmen, 1.20-1.30 ; gonys, .50-.60; depth of bill through middle of 

 nostril, .40-.45 ; tarsus, 1.20-1.35 ; middle toe, without claw, 1.30-1.40. (Six summer adults.) 

 Bill deep black ; interior of mouth, with legs and feet, intense vermilion-red (in life) ; iris dark 

 brown. 



This species may be readily distinguished in any stage, except the downy young, from ft Mandtii 

 by the characters given above. A fine adult from Eastport, Me., collected by Professor Baird, 

 July 1, 1872 (No. 62381, U. S. Nat. Mus.), agrees minutely with Scandinavian examples. 



In this species, as well as in ft Mandtii and ft columba, there is a remarkable difference in the 

 intensity of the black, according to the length of time which has elapsed since the specimen was 

 prepared. Examples of the present species killed in April, 1884, are now (July 2, 1884) deep 

 coal-black beneath, there being scarcely any difference in color between the upper and lower parts. 

 On the other hand, skins several years old are without exception decidedly fuliginous, with the 

 lower parts very appreciably browner than the upper. The difference is indeed very striking 

 when recently prepared and older specimens are placed side by side. The downy young differ in 

 the same manner, freshly prepared birds being decidedly slaty, while those which have been 

 prepared several years are smoky brown. 



Like all the members of this very remarkable family, the Black Guillemot is an 

 inhabitant of the open sea, never frequenting or resorting to the land except for 

 purposes of reproduction ; keeping off from the shore, even in midwinter, and seek- 

 ing safety in the open ocean from the fury of tempestuous wintry weather, rather 

 than in sheltered buys that are ice-hound and inaccessible at that season. On the 

 European coast it breeds from the northern part of Great Britain to the Arctic 

 Ocean. 



Along the coast of Eastern Maine ami in the Bay of Fundy an inconsiderable 



