42 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



one nest, found on the 20th of July, there were two already 

 fairly developed young ones ; in the other nest there was a dead 

 young one which had hardly hatched. The young- birds sat on 

 bare stones without any nest under them. With regard to the 

 relation of U. mandti to U. grylle, in so far as it is considered a 

 distinct species, or at least a variety, Dr. Finsch has given us a 

 full as well as clearly-defined explanation. The examination of 

 rich material has led us to the same conclusion — namely, that 

 U. mandtii is not to be looked upon as a distinct species or 

 variety. The following birds were at our disposal : — Twelve 

 examples from Jan Mayen ; two from North Europe ; one from 

 England; a typical example from Spitzbergen, in the Berlin 

 Museum ; a specimen from Spitzbergen, purchased in Leipzig ; 

 one from Novaya Zemlya, from the voyage of Count Wilczek ; 

 two from Greenland, from Prof. Gieseke ; two from Greenland, 

 from Prof. Bernhardt ; and one purchased specimen, also from 

 Greenland. Neither the dimensions of the bill and legs, nor 

 the extent of the white on the primaries, and colour of the 

 bases of the secondary coverts offer constant distinctions. 

 With regard to the tips of the secondaries, which form a white 

 stripe, the view expressed by Malmgren, that this mark is 

 characteristic of birds of the second year, appears to be correct. 

 We had an opportunity of examining some amongst the speci- 

 mens brought from Jan Mayen, in which the band relied upon is 

 only partly developed — i. e. t it was disappearing. A male shot 

 the 4th of June, having quite unspotted wing- spots, had white 

 tips on only four secondaries, which were wanting in all the 

 others. In a specimen in winter plumage, shot on December 14th, 

 in which dark tips on the wing- spots formed almost regular 

 stripes, the front secondaries were ornamented with white tips ; 

 the rest were quite dark. Two birds, male and female, shot on 

 the 6th and 12th of December, had exactly the same colouring 

 as the former, only the wing-spots were unspotted and the 

 secondaries were entirely black. A male killed on April 21st 

 had dark spots on the wing-spots and black secondaries unspotted 

 at the ends. This one is in an interesting transition stage, 

 almost the whole upper surface of the region of the throat being 

 black, with broader or narrower edgings ; on the back there are 

 a considerable number of new black feathers. [In * The Ibis,' 

 1865 (p. 518), Prof. Newton indicates "an unfailing means" of 



