508 



THE DIVING BUtD.S — PYGOl'ODES. 



Downy i/immj. 



similar lu-icular fcathi'w ciosscs ilic auiiciilar ivyioii, limii Li'lijn,! tliii luwur eycjlitl. Lowur iiarts 

 cliiclly wliilu, tlic lucast ami sides inoio (ir luss spotted with daik slate, this fieiiuently loniiiii},' a 

 ilisliiRt ami miiiiteiTuiited collar across the jiij,'iiluiii, usually in ahrupt aud marked contrast to tlie 

 white of the throat ; chin and malar region idunibeous, this usually ladin;,' gradually into the 

 wliile heluw it. Jiill (hirk reddish ; iris white ; lej,'s and feet dusky in' the dried skin. Athdl, in 

 iriuin- (= Urin iiKxillii, I'ai.i.as): Bill smaller, more comi)ressed, and destitute of the tulierde at 

 the base of the culnien ; lower i>arl.s, includin.i,' the sides of the neck, continuously white, tlie chin 

 plumbeous, as in the summer plnmaj^e ; white ornamental feathers of the forehead, etc., usually 

 less developeil, or, in younger specimen.s, altogether wanting. Yuiuuj, fust pliiiiuKjc .- Similar to 



the winter adult, but bill still smaller, no 

 trace of the ornamental ]ihmies abmil the 

 head, and white sca]iular patches larger and 

 more distinct. Doinnj ijoniuj .• I'nif(n'ni sooty 

 slate, paler and more giayisli on the lower 

 parts. 



Wing, 3.50-1.(10 inches ; culmen, ..V)- 

 .10 ; depth of Ijill (in summer adult), alioul 

 .30, in winter adult and young, ali(jut .20 ; 

 tarsus, .05 ; middle toe, .80. 



A series of nearly seventy specimens ob- 

 tained on the breeding-grounds in June and 

 July on St. I'aul's and St. (Jeorge's Islands, 

 Alaska, by Mr. II. W. IClliott, atfords ami.le 

 material for studying the iudividual varia- 

 tions of this species, which, as shown by 

 this immense .series, is very consideralde. The principal variation consists in the degree to which 

 the white of the lower jiarts is broken by daik siiotting. In none is the white perfectly continu- 

 ous, as in the winter plumage, although in a few it is very nearly so ; there lieing in all more or 

 less dark spoiling across the jugiiluni and along the sides. The most highly pliimaged s])ecinu'ns 

 have a broad and uninterrupted collar of dark slaty across the jugulum, abruptly dctined against 

 the immaculate white of the throat, but Ijelow broken uj) into coarse s|)ots, which continue along 

 the entire side.s, and often over the bieast and alidomen also ; in none, however, is there more 

 than an ai)pi-oacli to iv segregjilion of the spots on the breast, and the lower parts are probably 

 never uniformly dark, exce|)t the jugular collar. There is also much variation in the distinctness 

 aud extent of the wiiile scapular area.s, the majority of specimens having these well delined, while 

 in some they are nearly olisolete. In one e.\am[ile (Xo. ():i()24), in which the upi)er parts are ii 

 particularly deep and glossy black, there is no trace of them ; this sjiecimeii being also wholly 

 destitute of the ornamental filaments of the head, and having the knob on the bill very slightly 

 developed. 



]\[r. H. W. Elliott met with this species — tlie Least, or Knob-billed, Auk — on the 

 I'rybilof Islands. He speaks of it as the most eliaracteristie of tiu' waterfowl fre- 

 quenting these islands, to which it repairs every summer by millions to breed with 

 its iiW'wn, Simorhi/iic/ius cristafcflus (Canooskie) and the Ci/r{orr/ii/iichus psittiirn/us. 

 It is said to be cnmieally indifferent to the ])r()ximity of man, and ean be api)roaehed 

 almost within arm's length before taking Higlit. sitting upright, and eying one with 

 an air of great wisdom combined with profound astonishment. Usually about the 1st 

 or 4tii of May every year the Choochkic — as this bird is called — makes its tir.st 

 appearance around the islands, for the season, in small tiocks of a few hundreds or 

 tliousauds, hovering over, ami now aud then aligliting, niion the water, s}iorting, one 

 with another, in apparent high glee, aud making an incessant low chattering souiul. 

 By the 1st to the {)th of June they have arrived in great luimbers, and then begin to 

 lay. They frequent the loose stony reefs and bowlder-bars on St. I'aul's, together 

 with the cliffs on both islands, and an area of over live square miles of basaltic shingle 



