ALCID^ — THE AUKS 



407 



Comparative proportions. 

 Linigth of the bill to tlie nostrils, 

 Length of wing, 

 Length of tarsus. 

 Length of middle toe, with claw. 

 Length of the claw, 

 Length of the rectrices, 

 (Pai.las, 1. c, translation.) 



According to Von Schrenck ("Reis. Amurl." L LSfiO, p. 407), there is some variation in the 

 amount of the white on the head, especially aioiiud the base of the l)ill, wliere in some specimens 

 there is scarcely any trace whatever of this color. Tlie single example in the National Museum 

 collection (a bead from Japan, collected by Dr. W. Stimpson) agrees exactly with Pallas's descrip- 

 tion, as above, in having the feathers all round the base of the bill distinctly white. The measure- 

 ments of this specimen are as follows : Culmen, 1.70 ; commissure, 2.10 ; gonys, .80 ; side of 

 mandilile to malar apex, 1.55 ; depth at base, .50 ; width, .38. This head is of a dull grayish-fuligi- 

 nou.s, darker on the pileum and lower part of neck, and becoming dull white at the base of the bill 

 all round), as well as around the eyes, and thence backward, as an ill-defined streak, along the 

 upper edge of the auriculars. The under side of the head, as well as the greater extent of the 

 lateral portions, is dull smoky grayish, this color fading rather graditally into the white, which is 

 abruptly defined only above the ej'es, where the dusky color of the crown forms a marked contrast. 



I can find no mention of the living presence of this species either on any por- 

 tion of the American coast or in the Aleutian Islands ; nor is there any evidence 

 that it has a claim to be retained in the avi-fauna of North America. Its habits — 

 in regard to which I have no notes — are probably nearly identical with those of 

 C. grrjlle and C. columba. This bird is not uncommon in the summer in Yezo, Japan 

 (Swinhoe, ''Ibis," 1875). 



Cepphus Motzfeldi. 



MOTZFELD'S GUILLEMOT. 



Una Motzfeldi, Benickex, Isis, Aug. 1824, 889. 



Cepi^hus Motzfeldi, Stkjn. Pr. U. S. Nat. Mus. 1884. 



Uria unicolor, Fabeu, Isis, Sept. 1824, 981.— Brehm, Isis, 1826, 988; Handb. Viig. Deutschl. 



1831, 985. — ScHLEG. Rev. Crit. 1844, 106. — Bp. Compt. Rend. XLII. 1856, 774 ; Cat. Parzud. 



1856, 12. 

 Gnjlle carbo, Bp. Cat. Met. Ucc. Eur. 1842, 82 (not of Pall. 1826). 

 " Uria carbo (Brit. Mus. ex Iceland)," Newt. Ibis, 1865, 518 (part). 

 Alcagrylle, Schleg. Mus. P.-B. Urinat. 1867, 20 (part). 

 .Uria ijrylle, Kuml. Bull. LT. S. Nat. Mus. No. 15, p. 104 (part). 



Hab. High North Atlantic (west shores of Cumberland Sound, Greenland, and Iceland^. 



Sp. Char. Similar to C carho, but without any white or light grayish about the head. Adult : 

 Entire plumage uniform sooty black or dark sooty brown, the abdomen somewhat more grayish. 

 " Bill black, very compressed, \vith very prominent gonydeal protuberance, bent tip, and feathered 

 as far as above the nostrils" (Benicken, /. c, translation). Total length, 16 inches 9 lines (Ham- 

 burg measure) ; culmen, 1 inch 9 lines ; bill from angle of mouth, 2 inches 3 lines ; from nostril, 

 1 inch ; tarsus, 1 inch 6 Hues. Feet yellowish brown (in dried skin), the webs whitish. 



This bird, which evidently is a distinct, but little known, species, was fii-st de.scribed by 

 Benicken from a specimen received by him in 1820 from Grecidand. A month afterwanl the same 

 specimen was re-described by Faber as Uria unicolor, under tlie supposition that it had not yet 

 received a name. To his description he adds the information that the owner of the binl-rookery on 

 Draugce, Iceland, had occasionally observed a jiair of uniformly dusky Guillemots breeding on the 

 rocks at that place. A specimen similar to Benicken's type was received at the Leyden Museum 

 from Greenland, and is mentioned by Schlegel in his " Revue critique," as cited above. A thinl 



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