138 C. H. Merriam Birds of Connecticut. 



Family, ALCID^E. 



289. Utamania torda (Linne) Leach. Razor-billed Auk. 

 A rare winter visitor in the Sound. 



290. Merglllus alle (Linne) Vieillot. Sea Dove ; Dovekie. 



A rare winter visitor on our coast. Prof. G. Brown Goode pub- 

 lished the first authentic record of the capture of this species within 

 the limits of the State. He states that, at Middletown, during a 

 severe northeast storm, about the middle of November, 1871, "two 

 individuals were captured in full winter plumage, and plump, though 

 with empty stomachs. Their occurrence thirty miles inland is some- 

 what remarkable. Allen records the capture of a single specimen at 

 Greenfield, Mass., on the Connecticut, and Linsley places the species 

 among the birds of Connecticut on the strength of one captured near 

 Martha's Vineyard,"* Mass. Several others were secured at Middle- 

 town, by W. W. Coe and J. H. Sage, during this same storm during 

 which Mr. Goode's were taken, and Mr. Sage has still another, cap- 

 tured there November 25th, 1874, in a gale. One was taken at Say- 

 brook at the same time. Dr. Wood, of East Windsor Hill, showed 

 me a specimen of this species, shot near Portland, Conn., November 

 10th, 1849. Two other individuals were killed on a pond at Walling- 

 ford, Conn., in September, 1874, by Wm. F. Lane, Esq. It is occa- 

 sionally taken as far south as Egg Harbor, New Jersey.f 



291. Lomvia troile (Linne) Brandt. Foolish Guillemot ; Murre. 



A rare winter visitant in the Sound, though common enough out- 

 side. Captain Brooks took one near Faulkner's Island, Conn., " about 

 eight years ago." 



NOTE. The Great Auk (A lea impennis Linne), supposed now to 

 be extinct, was formerly, without doubt, a winter visitor to our coast. 

 Aside from the three species of Alcidce given above, as occurring 

 within our limits, several others have been found still farther south 

 and may be looked for in winter off Stonington, Conn., and perhaps 

 even in the Sound. These are : Fratercula Arctica, Uria grytte, and 

 Lomvia arra. 



* Am. Nat., vol. vi, No. 1, p. 49, Jan. 1872. 



f Birds of Bast Penn. and New Jersey. By Wm. P. Turnbull, p. 48, 1869. 



