208 ALASKA. 



birds, some old ones Laving the light and more pointed 

 beak." 



We do not hesitate now to follow Professors Schlegel and 

 Brandt in uniting the dubia and tetracula with the cristatella of 

 Pallas. We were never satisfied of the distinction of the 

 former, and in our Monograph expressed the strongest doubts 

 of its validity as a species. The other, however, we fully be- 

 lieved, until recently, to be a good species. 



624. Simorliynclius pusilliis, (Pall.) Coues.— ieasf, or Knob-Mled, 



Aulc. " Chooch-kie." 

 .? ? Alca pygmcea, Gmelix. Syst. Nat., i, 555, (1788.)— (Nonne 



jaotius^. Alca camtschaUca, Lbpech., juv. ; h. e. = S. casaini, 



Nob. ?) 

 Fhaleris pygmcea, Brandt. Bull. So. Acad. St. Petersb., ii, 347, 



(1837.) (EkcI. sya. A. pygmwa, Gm.) 

 Tylorhamphus pygmwa, Bp. Comtes Eendns, xlii, 774, (1806.) 



{=JJria puailla, Pall.) 

 Symorhynchus 2}ygm(Bus, ScnL. Mus. Pays-Bas, ix, 23, (1867.) 

 Una pusilla, Pall. Zoog. E. A., ii, 373, pi. 70, (1811.) (Excl. 



syn.) 

 Plialms puailla, Cass. Proo. Phila. Acad., 324, (1862.) 

 Plialeris {Ciceronia) pusilla, Cass. B. N. A., 909, (1858.) 

 Simorhynohus pusillua,C0T3^s. Pr. Phila. Acad., (1868.) — Brandt. 



Bull. Sc. Acad. St. Petersb., vii, 230, (1869.)— CouES. Key N. 



A. B., 343, figs. 227,228, (1872.) 



Fhaleris cornieiilata, Eschsch. Zool. Atl., 4, pi. 16, ( .) 



Fhaleris microceros, Brandt. Bull. Sc. Acad. St. Petersb., ii, 



346, (1837.) 

 Fhaleris (Ciceronia) microceros, Cass. B. N. A., 908, (1858.) 

 Ciceronia microceros, Eeichexbach. 



Simorhynchus microceros, Codes. Proc. Phila. Acad., (1868.) 

 Fhaleris nodirostra, Bp. Comp. & Geog. List, 66, (1838.) 

 Ciceronia nodir'ostris, Bp. Comptes Eendus, xlil, 774, (1856.) 



There is now no reasonable doubt of the identity of the 

 names above quoted, excepting Alca pijgmma, which remains 

 unidentified. It may have been this species, but most probably 

 it was the young of 8. camtschaticus, in the same state as the 

 young bird we recently called 8. cassini. The strong doubt we 

 expressed in our Monograph respecting the distinction between 

 the microceros or nodirostris of authors and the pusilla of Pallas, 

 has been confirmed. 



"This little bird is the most characteristic of the water-fowl 

 frequenting the Prybilov Islands, to which it repairs every 

 summer by millions to breed, with its allies, 8. cristatella, (ca- 

 nooskie,) and the Fhaleris psittacula, 



" It is comically indifferent to the proximity of man, and can 



