io6 STELLER'S JOURNAL 



black-and-white pied diver, never before seen ;239 not to speak of 

 other wonderful and hitherto unknown birds. As for the rest, 

 the wind was so favorable that we lost sight of the mainland and 

 islands towards two o'clock in the afternoon. However, the 

 many whales which we met, one of which rose straight up- 

 right in the water for more than half its length, gave us never- 

 theless to understand that a storm w^as at hand. 



On September 7 the wind and the weather were as on the day 

 before. Toward twelve o'clock noon we were already over 

 twenty miles away from the last island. In the afternoon the 

 wind increased in force, and the rising sea compelled us to shorten 

 sail. It stormed very hard all night through, so that we ran with 

 the spanker only. Under these conditions, the late autumnal 

 season and the great distance from Avacha, the courage of our 

 sailors and officers dropped all of a sudden. The unwholesome 

 water lessened the number of healthy men from day to day, 

 and very many were heard to complain of hitherto unwonted 

 disorders. For that reason some began to be doubtful about 

 getting home and to discuss the question of whether we ought 



Kiska, Aleutian Islands, to Lower California. Dall found a nest with 

 eggs on Range Island, between Popof and Unga Islands ii6o}4° W.) on 

 June 23, 1872 {Proc. Califoryiia Acad, of Sci., Vol. 5, 1873-74, P- 28). 

 The true redshanks, Tolanus totayius (Linnaeus) and Totauus fuscus 

 (Linnaeus), are west palearctic in their distribution and are not found in 

 eastern Siberia or Alaska. Pallas (Zoogr. rosso-asiat., Vol. 2, 1826, p. 

 187) referred Steller's observation to the latter species, but erroneously. 

 (S) 



239 The beautiful black-and-white diver which Steller had never seen 

 before may well have been the Synlhliboramphus anliqiius (Gmelin), the 

 starik of the Russians (see the journal at footnote 285, where, as well as 

 here, this bird is referred to as a "Taucher" in the German text). The 

 generic term Mergus used in the MS recalls Pallas' quotation (Zoogr. 

 rosso-asiat., Vol. 2, 1826, p. 237) of Steller's description of the bird: 

 "Mergulus marinus niger, ventre albo, plumis angustis albis auritus." 

 It should be noted that in this diagnosis the bird is also described as 

 black-and-white, and seen at a distance it may well have given this im- 

 pression. Steller apparently did not secure any specimens. This species 

 breeds from Kodiak westwards. (S) 



