DOVEKIE 329 



the Pomarine, is also the largest ; it is not very much 

 smaller than a Herring Gull ; the next commonest is the 

 Parasitic Jaeger. The two species resemble each other so 

 closely in their various plumages that it is almost impos- 

 sible to distinguish them except by their size when they 

 appear together. The Long-tailed Jaeger is rare ; in adult 

 plumage its long tail-feathers will distinguish it. The other 

 species often have the central pair of tail-feathers consider- 

 ably longer than the rest. 



DIVING BIRDS: ORDER PYGOPODES 

 AUKS, MURRES, AND PUFFINS: FAMILY ALCID^ 



Pour or five members of the family which includes the 

 Auks, Murres, and Puffins, may be seen chiefly in winter 

 off the coast of New England, and rarely off Long Island. 

 Most of the Auks, Murres, and Puffins breed to the north- 

 ward even of the Maine coast. A few Black Guillemots or 

 Sea Pigeons breed along the northern coast of Maine, and 

 are, therefore, regularly met with even in summer along 

 that shore. A considerable colony of Puffins breed at the 

 Machias Seal Island and a few pair on Matinicus Rock, 

 but Brttnnioh's Murre and the Razor-billed Auk are found 

 off the New England coast only in winter ; and though a 

 number of them migrate southward at that season to Mas- 

 sachusetts or Long Island, they frequent even then the 

 rocky outer shores and are not often seen from the land. 

 They all spend their time in the water, obtaining their food 

 by diving. The Dovekie is an irregular winter visitant as 

 far south as the New Jersey coast. 



Dovekie. Alle alle 



8.00 



Ad. in winter and Im. — Upper parts black; under parts white; 

 back here and there marked with white ; bill short, black. 



