POMARINE JAEGER. 645 



made of sticka and built in the forks of* the blanches. The trees (which weie all dead) 

 were mostly oaks, and covered with excrement. I fonnd from two to four eggs or young 

 to a nest. The young were queer little creatures — looked and felt like India rubber. 

 The old birds flew around in clouds, and made their croaking notes, indicatiye of their 

 displeasure at my presence. Some of the trees had ten or twelve nests on them. As 

 the timber has rotted and blown down, the birds have become less and less numerous.' 



" The above circumstances occurred during the month of June, 1867, since when, as 

 Mr. Dnry states, these birds have rapidly decreased in mimbers. The many specimens 

 examined by him were, without exception, var. floridanus. 



" My own observation of the species in Ohio is limited to a single specimen fonnd float- 

 ing in the Reservoir late in October, 1874, when its comrades had probably migrated. 

 It has also been tolerably well identified on both Miamis during the nugrations." 



ORDER LONGIPENNES. LONG-WINaBD 

 SWIMMERS. 



FAMILY LARID^. GULLS, TERNS, ETC. 



Nostrils not tubular, lateral, perforate. Bill with continuous covering, or only broken 

 by a sort of cere, hooked or straight to the end. Hallux small and elevated but always 

 present. 



Sub-family LBSTBiDiN.ffl. Jaeger or Skua Gulls. 



Covering of bill discontinuous, the upper mandible being saddled with a large horny 

 " cere" beneath which the nostrilsopen (unique among water birds) ; bill epignathons. 

 Tail nearly square, but the middle pair of feathers long-exserted. Feet strong, tarsi 

 Bcntellate in front, rough behind ; toes full-webbed. 



Genus STERCORARIUS. Brisson. 

 With characters of the sub-family. 



Steecobabius pomatoehintjs (Temm.) Vieillot. 



Pomarine Jaeger. 



Lestris pomari/nus, Temminck, Man , 1815, 514. 



Steroorarius pomarinus, Vieillot, Nouv. Diet. d'Hist., Nat., xxxii, 1819, lt>8. 



Stercorarius pomatorhinuB, Newton, Ibis, 1865, 509. 



Middle tail feathers finally projecting about four inches, iroad to the tip. Length, about 

 20 inches ; wing, 14 ; bill, l^-lt I tarsus about 2. Adult : — Back, wings, tail, crissum 

 and lower belly brownish-black ; below from bill to belly, and neck all round, pure 

 white, excepting acuminate feathers of sides of neck, which are pale yellow; quills 

 whitish basally, their shafts largely white ; tarsi above blue, below, with the toes and 



Geacultjs caebo (L.) Gray. 



CJominoii C/Onxiorant; Shag. 



Qraoulua carlo, Whbaton, Ohio Agrio. Rep. for 1860, 1861, 480. 

 This species was erroneously given by me, as above. It is probably strictly maritime. 

 35 



