The Zoologist— May, 1870. 2129 



some authors have ventured to hint, and others have boldly as- 

 sumed. 



Sagmalorrhina irtiAa»^^, Bonaparte. — "Largest among its allies; 

 blackish, beneath pallid fuliginous ; bill and feet red ; cere and webs 

 black. Length 16 inches ; bill 2 inches long, 1 inch high, five-eighths 

 wide at the base, three-eighths in the middle ; wing 7^ inches ; tail 3j ; 

 tarsi \\ ; longest toe 2 and 3-eighlhs inches." 



Habitat: " North-west Coast of America." 



"This species is the largest of the subfamily, which is well known 

 to contain the dwarfs of the water birds : it is one-third larger than 

 Ceratorrhina monocerata, of which it has precisely the colouring, 

 wanting only (at least in the state we have it) the little white feathers 

 above the eye and at the corners of the mouth. The proportions of 

 the wings, tail, feet and toes are the same ; the bill and toes must have 

 been reddish ; the cere and membranes black. Like the Ceratorrhina, 

 it seems to be confined to the north-western Arctic region of America ; 

 and we are led to believe it does not extend to the Siberian shores, 

 from the circumstance of its not having been noticed by Russian 

 naturalists." 



The preceding is Bonaparte's notice of the species, containing all 

 that is known about it by American ornithologists. The writer takes 

 pleasure in acknowledging his indebtedness to Dr. P. L. Sclater, of 

 London, for a figure, drawn from the type specimen in the British 

 Museum. Dr. Sclater says very positively that the bird is a perfectly 

 valid genus and species. Independently of the difference between 

 the cere and the horn, the shape of the bills of C. monocerata and 

 S. Lathami are quite diverse. The dimensions of the latter are much 

 larger than those of the former. 



Sagmatorrhina Suckleyi (Cass.) Cones. — Habitat : American and 

 Asiatic Coasts of the Pacific. Spec, in Mus. Smiths. Inst. — Young 

 (type of the species, Pnget Sound;) adult, breeding plumage (San 

 Diego, Cal.) Adult (Hakodadi, Japan.) 



Adult! breeding plumage ! (No. 31,908, Mus. Smiths., female, San 

 Diego, Cal. Feb. 3, 1862, J. G. Cooper). " Iris white ; bill black and 

 orange; feet pale yellow, black below" (label.) Bill now obscure 

 yellow, the culmen and basal membrane blackish. Feet dull 

 whitish ; tarsi behind and feet below blackish ; claws black. 

 Colours of the plumage almost precisely as in the adult mono- 

 cerata; white feathers on sides of head exactly the same. Breast 



SECOND SERIES VOL. V. 2 A 



