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livid ; its tip, the knee joint, and feet blackish ; tarsi blotched with 

 yellow; wings longer than the lateral tail-feathers ; bill having a 

 straight commissure to past the nostrils, where it is curved in both 

 mandibles ; edges of the upper mandible obsoletely notched ; tail 

 rounded, exclusive of the middle pair of feathers, which are nearly 

 an inch wide at the base, and taper gradually to within three inches 

 of their tip — thence they are narrowly linear, or slightly tapering, 

 the extreme tip becoming suddenly acute — they project half a foot 

 beyond the others; tarsi slender, protected anteriorly by crescen- 

 tic scutelli, reticulated behind with minute conical and rather acute 

 scales; length of central tail feathers 12 inches. — Fauna Boreali 

 Americana, fa ge 431. 



The only adult specimen in my possession is a female shot at 

 Oyster Bay South. The plumage agrees with the description given 

 of the male, but has of the tail feathers about three inches shorter. 

 Length of female twenty inches, wing twelve and a half. 



Young, with the head and neck all around pale yellowish-brown, 

 streaked with dusky ; lower parts grayish-white, closely barred with 

 dark brown ; under tail coverts barred with brownish-red and black ; 

 upper tail coverts black, broadly tipped, and some of the feathers 

 spotted with brownish-red ; fore part of back, scapulars, and wing 

 coverts tipped with pale yellowish-brown ; wings and tail black ; 

 tail feathers broad and rounded, the middle pair pointed, and pro- 

 jecting beyond the rest about half an inch ; shafts of the quills and 

 tail feathers white, their terminal portion black. The legs, posterior 

 part of webs and toes dull yellow, anterior parts black. Length of 

 female in my possession, 20 inches, wing 12^, 



A specimen of this Jager, which proved to be a young male, was 

 shot in the month of October, 1842, on Gowannus Bay. It was ob- 

 served flying about near the surface of the water, as if in pursuit of 

 fish, of which, on dissection, however, no parts were found — its 

 stomach being filled with tallow. 



On the coast of Long Island the Arctic Jager is not common — 

 though of more frequent occurrence than L. Pomarinus. It inhabits 

 during summer the high latitudes, where it breeds — and according 

 to Mr. Audubon, ranges during winter off the coast as far as the 

 Gulf of Mexico. 



