

ALCID.E — THK AUKS — I'llIA. 



483 



KxaiiijiU's of tliis spocics ohtiiinod by Dr. ]{ry;int on (Jannct llovk, in the CSult' of 

 St. Lawn-iicf, liavti a ground of cri'ani-color, and this inarking.s aro black. They 

 nu'usurc o.-.j inrhcs in h'ngtli, and from L'.OO to li.Ou in breadtli. 



Uria troile californica. 



TH£ CALIFOBNIAN GUILLEMOT. 



Crifi Irnik, Ni;u-|i. riicilic l!,l!. li.p. VI 'v. lS,-)7, no (not ('n/i/mhus /i-oil,; Linn.). 



frill JlriliiHuhii, Hkkkm. 11). X. 18.59, Bird.., 7.") (not of Saiuxi;, 1818). 



(•ill urn Ides cali/onticii.i, UiiYANr, Pr. Host..!! Soc. ]8(il, 11, (!«>. :!, 5 ( FaniUon IsliuuU, const of Call- 



foiliiii). 

 Liimriti ciili/oniic'i, ('(UTKs, I'r. Ac. N'lit. Si-i. I'liilail. 18ii2, 7!>, li^'. 10. 

 Lmria troile, viir. aili/urniru, Corivs, Key, 1872, 3Ki ; Klliott's Alaska, 187.'i, 210. 

 Linnvia troile culifnrniai, KiixiW. I'r. U. S. Xiit. Miis. Vol. 3, 1880, 212 ; Xoni. N. Am. 15. 1881, no. 



763 rt. — CofKs, 2il Clii-ck List, 1882, no. 875. 



Il.vn. riicific coii.-it of Nortli America, hrcwlinj,' from California (Farallones) north to tliu 

 Pryliiluf Islands, and across Ak'ntiaii ciiain to Ivanitschatkii. 



Si*. Chak. Similar in colors, in all .stages", to typical troih; Init avt-ragiiig larger in all its 

 nioa.surcnu'nts, exccjit the length of the tarsus, which i.s .slightly shorter ; all the outlines of tliu 

 l>ill usu.illy les.s curved than in troile. 



Total length, aliout Ki.OO inches; e.\tent, 27.01); wing, 7.85-8.80 (average, 8.30) ; culmen, !.(!()- 

 -'.O.') (I.8()) ; gonys, l.ir)-1.40 (1.27) ; ilejith of lull through angle, .o.j-.fii (.57); tarsus, l.-T.-I.tlO 

 (I..50) ; miditle toe, l.(i5-l.!)() (1.74).' 



The characters adduced hy authors for distinguishing this race from true troile of tlii' North 

 Atlantic we fnid exceedingly variable, and ])ructically entirely inciuistant, the individual variation 

 in the contour of the hill being very gre.it, a.s may be seen by the nieasinements given above. All 

 the diuiunsiuns, however, are almost constantly and decidedly larger. 



This appears to be the I'aoifie representative of U. troile, and is, so far as America 

 is eonceriu'd, confined to the I'acifie coast, from Southern California to Alaska. Mr. 

 Dall states that it was obtained, with its eggs, both at Sitka ami at Kadiak. Ho 

 afterward found it at Unalashka, in company with Simorhijnrhus crlitnti'lliis, but 

 much less comnuni than that sjiccies. In his Notes on the IJirds of the Aleutian 

 Islands west of Uiuilashka he speaks of this sjutcies as being abundant, and apparently 

 a resident all through the islands. It is less common ami more shy than the Ci'/i/i/nis 

 ntlnmha, but, unlike tlmt species, congregating in immense flocks a few miles otf shore. 

 He has never met with the rnlumlm in large flocks — never nnn'c than two or three 

 inilividnals together. 



Dr. Cooper, when at Monterey in May, ISCiL', noticed these birds in the open bay. 

 Their presence there at that seivson seenu'd strange, and rendered it j)robable that 

 they were breeding in the vicinity. Dr. Cooper also remarks that the chief local- 

 ity — indeed the only one known to him — to which this species restn'ts during the 

 breeding-season is the Farallones. There these birds swarm, clustering like bees on 

 every ledge and slope of the ragged peaks which constitute these islands, and deposit- 

 ing their eggs on the bare rock. Each bird, if undisturbed, lays but a single egg, 

 which it incubates in a standing position. It is able to walk tolerably well when 

 standing nearly erect. 



The abundance jvnd the large size of the eggs of this species have made them a 

 valuable aidcle of import to San Francisco. The Farallones, twenty-five miles from 

 the month of the bay of San Francisco, are admirably situated for furnishing this 



liiil 



' Avcnige ineasurenicnt.s of thirteen adults. 



