BIRDS OF NEW YORK 



107 



This holarctic species is more northern in distribution than the preceding, and rarely wanders 

 farther south than Maine or Massachusetts. It breeds on Hudson bay, and Mr Fleming and others 

 believe that the guillemots which are rarely taken on Lake Ontario are of this species. The late 

 David Bruce has labelled a pair of Cepphi in the Mechanics Institute Collection in Rochester "Lake 

 Ontario," but his notes do not indicate that he actually took them on Lake Ontario. He does state 

 however that he has found their remains on the lake shore in the spring drift. 



Una troile (Linnaeus) 

 Murre 



Distinctive marks. Similar in color to Brttnnich murre but in breeding 

 plumage the top of head and hind neck smoky brown ; depth of bill at angle less 

 than one third the culmen. Sec figure. 



The Common murre is confined to the north Atlantic, and migrates as far 

 as southern New England in winter, but among the scores of murres from New 

 York which I have examined no specimen of troile can be found. DeKay, 

 Giraud and Lawrence record this species from New York, as many later ob- 

 •servers have done, but the records probably refer to young lomvia. It is a 

 strange fact that no specimen of troile from New York can be secured but 

 the conclusion must be that it does not migrate as far south as 1 o m v i a, or 

 that our specimens of lomvia are from Hudson bay and the Arctic ocean. 



U.Lomvia,Ad. 

 Bills of murres i nat. 



Uria lomvia (Linnaeus) 

 Brunnich Murre 



Plate 3 



A 1 c a lomvia Linnaeus. Syst. Nat. Ed. 10. 1758. i : 130 

 Uria lomvia A. O. U. Check List. Ed. 2. 1895. No. 31 



it'ria, Gr. oipia, some diving bird; lom'via, Faroese name 



Description. In winter: Upper parts, wings and tail black; tips of 

 secondaries and under parts white; throat and sides of the neck mixed with 

 grayish white. Breeding plumage: Head and neck sooty black, the front 

 of the neck browner. Length 16.5-16.8 inches; extent 30-31; wing 8.4; 

 bill 1.25; depth of bill .48; tarsus 1.3; middle toe and claw 1.7. Young 

 birds have smaller bills. 



This species, known also as the Thick-billed guillemot, is the commonest 

 member of the Auk family on the waters of New York State, and seems to 

 be growing commoner in recent years, especially in the interior of the State, 

 where it has been almost a regular winter visitant on the larger lakes for 

 several years. Most of the specimens taken in the interior have been 

 emaciated and evidently unable to obtain food, but some were able to 

 survive till spring, and possibly would have returned to their breeding 



