188 HISTORY OF THE 



narrower terminal one of dull ochraceous; beneath, very pale drab or dull light 

 buff, the abdomen whitish, and the jugulum more grayish. Bill grayish yellow. 

 dark brown along the ridge of the upper mandible, and blackish toward the tips 

 of both; iris brown; feet light grayish blue." 



Stretch of 

 Length. wing. Wing. Tail. Tarsus. Bill. 



Male 15.00 26.50 8.40 3.20 2.30 3.00 



Female... 15.50 27.00 8.55 3.40 2.30 3.30 



Iris dark brown; bill black, with 1 under mandible pale reddish 

 brown at base; legs, feet and claws slaty black. 



This species has a remarkable range, extending from Green- 

 land through both continents and to the Falkland Islands. It 

 has not been observed on the west side of the Rocky Mountains 

 south of northern Alaska, but is a regular migrant east of the 

 mountains to the Atlantic. It does not appear to differ in its 

 habits from the Marble. The following, from "North Ameri- 

 can Water Birds," Yol. I, p. 263, is the only description that I 

 can find of their nests and eggs: 



"Mr. MacFarlane found this species breeding in the vicinity 

 of Fort Anderson, on the- 9th of June. The nest was on the 

 ground; was composed of a few decayed leaves lying in a small 

 hole scooped in the earth, and contained four eggs. Other 

 nests were found and birds obtained on the lower Anderson 

 River. They were mere depressions in the ground, lined with 

 withered leaves. 



"Three of the eggs, collected by Mr. MacFarlane, are in the 

 Smithsonian collection. In two of these the ground is of a 

 deep raw umber color, or an olivaceous drab. There are no 

 well-defined spots, but the apex of the larger end is deeply 

 stained with a dark burnt umber color. A few very distinct 

 spots of a paler shade of this tint are visible over the general 

 surface of the eggs. The other egg has a ground color of a 

 paler umber drab, and the markings are quite distinct. These 

 are small irregular blotches, longitudinal in their direction, and 

 of a deep burnt umber tint. The apex of the larger end is 

 covered with a broad patch, in which all the markings, of a very 

 dark umber, almost black, run into each other. These eggs are 

 pyriform in shape, and measure: 2.15x1.41, 2.12x1.39 and 

 2.22x1.40." 



