208 ALASKA. 



birds, some old ones having the light and more pointed 

 beak." 



We do not hesitate now to follow Professors Schlegel and 

 Brandt in uniting the duhla and tetracula with the cristatclla of 

 Pallas. We were never satisfied of the distinction of the 

 former, and in our Monograph expressed the strongest doubts 

 of its validity as a species. The other, however, we fully be- 

 lieved, until recently, to be a good species. 



624. Siniorliyiicliiis peisilliis, (Pall.) Coues. — Least, or Knob-UUedf 



Auk. " Chooch-kie." 

 ? ? Alca pygnma, Gmelix. Syst. Nat., i, SJiS, {V7QQ.)—{Nonne 



potius =. Alca camtschatica, Lepecii., jiw.; h. e. = S. cassini, 



Nob. ?) 

 FhaJeris pygmcm, Braxdt. Bull. Sc. Acad. St. Petersb., ii, 347, 



(1837.) (Escl. syn. A. pygmwa, Gm.) 

 Tylorhampltus pygnuea, Bp. Comtes Eeudns, xlii, 774, (1806.) 



(^Uria pHsUla, Pall.) 

 Symorliynchus pygma'us, ScnL. Miis. Pays-Bas, ix, 23, (1887.) 

 Uria pu8illa, Pall. Zoog. R. A., ii, 373, pi. 70,(1811.) (ExcL 



syn.) 

 Phaleris pusilla, Cass. Proc. Pbila. Acail., 324, (1862.) 

 Phaleris (Ciceronia) pusilla, Cass. B. N. A., 909, (1858.) 

 Simorhynchus pusillns, CouES. Pr. Phila. Acad., (1868.) — Brandt. 



Bull. Sc. Acad. St. Petersb., vii, 230, (1869.)— CoUES. Key N. 



A. B., 343, figs. 227,228, (1872.) 



Phaleris corniculata, Eschsch. Zool. Atl., 4, pi. 16, ( .) 



Phaleris microceros, Brandt. Bull. Sc. Acad. St. Petersb., ii, 



346, (1837.) 

 Phaleris (Ciceronia) microceros, Cass. B. N. A., 908, (1858.) 

 Ciceronia microceros, Reiciiexbach. 



Simorhyncliits microceros, Coues. Proc. Phila. Acad., (1868.) 

 Phaleris nodirostra, Bp. Corap. & Geog. List, 66, (1838.) 

 Ciceronia nodirostris, Bp. Couiptes Reudus, xlii, 774, (1856.) 



There is now no reasonable doubt of the identity of the 

 names above quoted, excepting Alca injgmcm, which remains 

 unidentified. It may have been this species, but most probably 

 it was the young of 8. cayntschaiicus, in the same state as the 

 young bird we recently called S. cassini. The strong doubt we 

 expressed in our Monograph respecting the distinction between 

 the microceros or nodirostris of authors and the piisiUa of Pallas, 

 has been confirmed. 



" This little bird is the most characteristic of the water-fowl 

 frequenting the Prybilov Islands, to which it repairs every 

 summer by millions to breed, with its allies, S. cristatella, (ca- 

 nooskie,) and the Phaleris psittacula. 



" It is comically indifferent to the pioximity of man, and can 



