582 THE BIEDS OF HELIGOLAND 



still more frequently during the winter months, especially on the 

 first advent of cold weather. Old birds in this plumage, with the 

 head and neck covered with white, loose (zerschlisseri), elongated 

 feathers, have a very pretty appearance. 



The Black Guillemot breeds on Newfoundland, on the coasts of 

 Labrador, South Greenland, Iceland, the Faroes, and the western 

 and northern coasts of Ireland and Scotland ; also on the coasts of 

 Scandinavia, and as far as the White Sea. 



388. Spit zber gen Guillemot [ARKTISCHE LUMME]. 

 URIA MANDTI, Licht. 



In an example of a Black Guillemot shot here during the 

 summer, and preserved in my collection, the whole of the freshly- 

 moulted plumage is of the same colour as in the preceding species, 

 with the sole exception of the wings, in which the moult has only 

 advanced to that portion of the large white patch which is next to 

 the forearm. The feathers on this part are, however, not white, 

 but of a uniform black, so that if the change of feathers had pro- 

 ceeded in the same manner to its completion, the whole outer side 

 of the wing would have acquired a uniformly black colour. The 

 example in question is a one-year-old bird, in which the tail-feathers 

 are much worn and faded ; some of the old white feathers of the 

 wing have pale brown tips, and at their roots are not black, but of 

 a very pale ash-grey. The specimen is a remarkably small one, 

 with a very slender bill. At present I must leave it undecided 

 whether this example is to be classed with Uria mandti, which 

 breeds in Greenland, Spitz bergen, the Arctic coasts of Asia and 

 North America, or with some other related species. 



Auk Alca. Unless, as has been frequently done, one includes 

 the Guillemots in this genus, the number of species comprised in 

 it is a very small one. Leaving out of consideration the Great Auk 

 (Alca impennis), now, by all accounts, apparently extinct, Europe 

 only possesses three species, and these occur in Heligoland. 



