﻿ACADEMY 
  OF 
  SCIENCES. 
  277 
  

  

  No. 
  2. 
  (291.) 
  $ 
  Iris 
  olive 
  brown 
  ; 
  base 
  of 
  mandible 
  dull 
  ashy 
  blue, 
  with 
  a 
  

   narrow 
  orange 
  border 
  to 
  the 
  naked 
  membrane, 
  which 
  was 
  much 
  more 
  invaded 
  

   by 
  scattering 
  feathers 
  than 
  the 
  other, 
  and 
  dull 
  colored. 
  Tufts 
  ill-defined, 
  or 
  

   none. 
  

  

  28. 
  Graculus 
  Bairdii, 
  Gruber. 
  Lesser 
  Cormorant. 
  

  

  This 
  bird, 
  which 
  resembles 
  what 
  has 
  been 
  supposed 
  to 
  be 
  a 
  variety 
  of 
  vio- 
  

   laceus, 
  Gray, 
  is 
  also 
  a 
  resident 
  of 
  the 
  Aleutian 
  chain. 
  Specimens 
  from 
  Kyska, 
  

   July 
  8th, 
  P 
  had 
  a 
  brown 
  iris, 
  and 
  the 
  naked 
  membrane 
  somewhat 
  carunculated, 
  

   and 
  of 
  a 
  coral 
  red, 
  mandible 
  nearly 
  black. 
  Others 
  from 
  Amchitka, 
  July 
  26th, 
  

   had 
  a 
  dark 
  green 
  iris, 
  and 
  a 
  similarly 
  colored 
  gular 
  sac. 
  One 
  obtained 
  in 
  1872, 
  

   at 
  Uualashka, 
  had 
  a 
  dark, 
  nearly 
  black, 
  iris, 
  with 
  the 
  gular 
  sac 
  flesh 
  color, 
  pass- 
  

   ing 
  into 
  ashy 
  gray 
  above. 
  All 
  appear 
  to 
  possess 
  small 
  white 
  feathers 
  scattered 
  

   through 
  the 
  plumage 
  in 
  the 
  breeding 
  season, 
  but 
  I 
  am 
  not 
  sure 
  that 
  the 
  white 
  

   thigh 
  patches 
  are 
  always 
  of 
  this 
  character. 
  There 
  appears 
  to 
  be 
  some 
  variation 
  

   also 
  in 
  the 
  shade 
  of 
  green 
  of 
  the 
  plumage 
  ; 
  in 
  some 
  specimens 
  it 
  is 
  much 
  more 
  

   rusty 
  than 
  in 
  others. 
  I 
  am 
  informed 
  by 
  traders 
  who 
  visit 
  Copper 
  and 
  Bering 
  

   Islands, 
  that 
  there 
  are 
  several 
  varieties 
  of 
  cormorants 
  and 
  small 
  auks 
  found 
  

   there, 
  which 
  they 
  have 
  not 
  seen 
  in 
  the 
  Aleutian 
  chain. 
  Some 
  of 
  these 
  may 
  be 
  

   included, 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  some 
  from 
  the 
  Kurile 
  Islands, 
  in 
  the 
  old 
  descriptions, 
  with 
  

   an 
  erroneous 
  Aleutian 
  habitat 
  assigned 
  to 
  them. 
  

  

  29. 
  Diomedea 
  brachijura, 
  Cas. 
  Mottled 
  Albatross. 
  

  

  Abundant 
  off 
  shore 
  throughout 
  the 
  Aleutian 
  Islands, 
  where 
  it 
  takes 
  the 
  

   place 
  of 
  D. 
  nigripes, 
  which 
  seldom 
  ventures 
  north 
  of 
  lat, 
  50° 
  north. 
  It 
  prob- 
  

   ably 
  breeds 
  in 
  the 
  islands, 
  as 
  we 
  saw 
  the 
  mutilated 
  carcass 
  of 
  a 
  very 
  young 
  one, 
  

   in 
  August, 
  at 
  Atka. 
  Its 
  bones 
  were 
  tolerably 
  abundant 
  in 
  the 
  Aleutian 
  

   " 
  Kitchen 
  midden," 
  or 
  ancient 
  shell 
  heaps. 
  It 
  is 
  much 
  larger 
  than 
  D. 
  nigripes, 
  

   and 
  never 
  follows 
  a 
  vessel, 
  as 
  is 
  the 
  custom 
  of 
  that 
  species. 
  Apparently 
  a 
  res- 
  

   ident 
  from 
  Attu 
  eastward, 
  as 
  we 
  saw 
  a 
  dead 
  specimen 
  on 
  the 
  beach, 
  in 
  the 
  

   winter 
  of 
  1871-2, 
  in 
  Unalashka. 
  

  

  30. 
  Diomedea 
  nigripes, 
  And. 
  {633"). 
  Gony. 
  

  

  Full 
  notes 
  have 
  been 
  given 
  on 
  this 
  species 
  in 
  previous 
  catalogues, 
  and 
  our 
  ob- 
  

   servations 
  during 
  the 
  past 
  season 
  confirm, 
  without 
  adding 
  anything 
  to 
  our 
  in- 
  

   formation 
  already 
  published. 
  It 
  has 
  always 
  been 
  a 
  question 
  where 
  this 
  species 
  

   breeds, 
  and 
  I 
  am 
  glad 
  to 
  be 
  able 
  to 
  state, 
  on 
  the 
  authority 
  of 
  Captain 
  Geo. 
  

   Holder, 
  that 
  it 
  nests 
  on 
  the 
  coral 
  island 
  of 
  Gaspar 
  Rico, 
  near 
  the 
  equator, 
  in 
  

   the 
  winter 
  season. 
  This 
  gentleman, 
  who 
  is 
  an 
  intelligent 
  and 
  trustworthy 
  ob- 
  

   server, 
  informs 
  me 
  that 
  on 
  a 
  voyage 
  in 
  search 
  of 
  new 
  guano 
  islands, 
  he 
  touched 
  

   at 
  Gaspar 
  Rico, 
  and 
  found 
  this 
  bird, 
  together 
  with 
  a 
  species 
  of 
  petrel, 
  and 
  a 
  

   tern, 
  breeding 
  abundantly 
  in 
  a 
  low 
  scrubby 
  growth 
  of 
  bushes, 
  which 
  are 
  the 
  

   only 
  representatives 
  of 
  trees 
  on 
  that 
  island. 
  His 
  impression 
  was 
  that 
  it 
  laid 
  

   but 
  one 
  moderately 
  sized, 
  white 
  egg, 
  in 
  a 
  depression 
  in 
  the 
  soil, 
  around 
  

   which 
  a 
  little 
  sea-weed 
  or 
  dry 
  herbage 
  was 
  gathered. 
  It 
  is 
  not 
  known 
  to 
  breed 
  

   anywhere 
  on 
  the 
  northwest 
  coast 
  of 
  America, 
  or 
  the 
  northern 
  Pacific 
  islands. 
  

  

  