ALCID.l': — Till': AUKS - PHALERIS. 



509 



Dii St. (Joorgo's. On the lust isluiid tlicy liovcr in tlic grciitost munlx'r. Thorc aro 

 iiiillioiis of tluMii. Tlicy iiiakf no ni'sts, but lay a siuglis egg i-ach, far down below 

 among loose rocks, or they deposit it deep within the creviees or chinks in the faces 

 of the cliffs. Although, owing to their immense numbers, they seem to be in a state 

 of great c(mfnsion, yet they i)air olF, under the rocks, uixin the spot selected for 

 incubation, making during this interesting period a singular grunting or croaking 

 sound, more like a " devil's ii(hlle"' than anything he ever heard outsule of city limits. 

 A walk over their breeding-grounds at this season is exceedingly interesting and 

 amusing, as the noise of huuilreds of these little birds directly under foot gives rise 

 to an endless variation of soiuid as it comes up from the stony holes and caverns 

 below, while the birds come and go, in and out, with l)ewilderiug rapidity, comically 

 blinking and fluttering. The nude l)ir(ls, and many of the females, regidarly le;ivc 

 the breeding-gnuiuds in tlii' moriung, and go off to .sea, where they feed on small 

 water-shrimps and sea-Heas (.liiiji/iijuu/ii), returning to their nests and sitting partners 

 in the evening. 



The Chooehkie lays a single pure white egg, exceedingly variable in size and shape, 

 usually oblong oval, with the smaller end sonu'what pointed. Several specinuuis 

 almost spherical were obtained, and otiiers drawn out into an elongated ellipse; but 

 the oblong-oval with the pointed smaller end is tlie prevailing type. The egg is very 

 large, compared with the size and weight of the parent; average length, Hut inches; 

 width, 1.12. The general aspect is nuich like that of a I'igeon's egg, excejjtiug the 

 roughness of the shell. 



The chick is covered with a thick uniform dark grayish black down, which is 

 speedily succeeded by feathers, all darker tlian those of the i)arent are six nu)nths 

 later, at the tinu- it takes its flight from the islaiul for the year. The parents feed 

 their young by disgorging, and when the young birds leave they are as large and 

 heavy as tlu! old ones. ^Ir. Elliott is strongly iiudined to the opinion that the male 

 bird feeds the female when incubating, but was not able to verify this supposition by 

 observation, as the birds are always hidden from sight at that tiuu'. 



Mr. Dall states that he obtaiiu'd specimens of this bird from the peninsula of 

 Aliaska, where it was abundant; from i'lover l?ay, in Eastern Siberia, where he col- 

 lected it in jjcrson, and where the specinu'us were found to have the bill wider and 

 deeper than usual ; and also from St. (feorge, one oi the Trybilof Islands. 



Eggs of this species from St. I'aul's Island, Jiehring Sea — procured by Mr. II. W. 

 Elliott — are of a pure chalky white color, one end more tapering than the other. 

 They measure about l.Go inches in length by 1.13 iu breadth. 



1:1 

 I I 



Gkxis PHALERIS, Temmixck. 



Pfiakri.i, Tkmm. >[iui. Oiii. 1S20, p. cxii (typo, AIca piigmnn, Omki,.). 



CiiAK. Similar to Simorhtjnclnci, but liill simple, without accessory clcriibioiis picoc.'j at any 

 .swison. Ili'iid ornamented hj' .sevenil series of lengthened ornainentid (ihuneiitotis feathers. 



The single species belonging to this genus re.-emliles both Simnrliipirhiiii and Ciccronin, being, 

 in fact, .somewhat intermediate. It nnisl lie considered geiieric;(lly cHstiiict, however, unless all 

 three are merged into one geims — a proposition wiiicii we cannot indorse. 



