460 Q. E. Yerrill — Some Birds and Eggs collected at 



Our skin from Kerguelen does not agree exactly with any descrip- 

 tion or JSgure I have seen, so that, for convenience, I propose to 

 designate this variety as E. chrysocome var. atrifrons, the main 

 difference between this bird and the one described by Brandt* and 

 most authors, and which is apparently the true chrysocome^ being 

 that the pale yellow superciliary line does 7iot begin at the nostril or 

 base of the bill, but at a point some distance (0*7 in.) back from 

 where the feathering ceases behind the nostril (or 1'85 in. from tip 

 of upper mandible, the exposed culmen being 1-57 in.). In the 

 figures of Sharpe, and Sclater and Salvin, the yellow (brighter in the 

 latter figure than in our specimen), runs down close to the nostril 

 and is so described by most authors who speak of this point at all, 

 though in describing a specimen ("No. 59242, Mus. Smiths. Inst.") 

 from the Falklands, under E. chrysocome, Dr. Coues says, " A narrow 

 pale yellow line runs from near the base of the culmen over the eye " 

 (1. c.) He further states that this specimen was acquired under the 

 name of " End. nigrivestis Gould," but that it " shows nothing what- 

 ever different from ordinary chrysocome^ Sharpe describes his 

 saltator as having the yellow plumes " very long and drooping and 

 conterminous with an inner black crest." In our bird the longest 

 yellow feathers measure 2*55, or 0*60 longer than the longest black 

 ones, and are decidedly curly. 



Pelzeln's figure of the adult bird agrees better with ours than any 

 other I have seen, the only difference being in the yellow beginning 

 a little nearer the bill than in ours, in the dark color of the back and 

 throat, which is grayer and not so black as in our bird, and in the 

 absence of a thin line of grayish white on the anterior edge of the 

 flipper ; this is shown much too plainly in Stejneger's figure to fit our 

 bird, and there is also too much white on the posterior edge. In this 

 figure too, there are a number of small, light spots on the dark back, 

 which do not show in our specimen, but this is probably due to an 

 attempt on the part of the artist to show the fine blue penciling on 

 the feathers ; otherwise this figure also agrees very well with our 

 bird. In our specimen the back is much the same color as in our 

 specimens of the last species, showing the same blue lines on the 

 center of the feathers, but, if anything, it has a slightly bluer and 

 more silky appearance, and the throat is much darker, nearly as dark 

 as the back. The specimen from Gough Island being, unfortunately, 

 only a skeleton, does not permit me to compare the plumage of birds 



*". . . extrinsecus sulphurea anguste in rostri basi incipiens postice dependens." 

 (Brandt, 1. c.) 



