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KNOBBED-BILLED PHALERIS. 



Phaleris nodirostris, Bonap. 



PLATE CCCCLXVIIL— Adult. 



This bird, which at first sight bears a considerable resemblance to the 

 Little Guillemot, Mergulus Jllle, I have also represented from a specimen 

 belonging to the Zoological Society of London. The following description, 

 however, is taken from one in my own possession. The species is said to 

 occur on the north-west coast. 



Knobbed-billed Phaleeis, Phaleris nodirostris, Bonap., Aud. Orn. Biog., vol. v. p. 101. 



Adult, 6, wing, 4. 



North-west coast of America. 



Adult. 



Bill shorter than the head, stout, quadrangular at the base; upper mandible 

 with a roundish, compressed, decurvate knob on its ridge, between the 

 nostrils, beyond which the outline is deflected and convex, the sides sloping, 

 the edges sharp and overlapping, with a sinus behind the small rather obtuse 

 tip; nostrils linear-oblong, operculate, basal, near the margin; lower mandible 

 with the angle rather long, the dorsal ascending and slightly convex, the 

 sides sloping outwards and flat, the edges directed outwards, thin, the tip 

 acute, with a slight sinus behind. 



Body full and compact; neck short and thick; head rather large, ovate. 

 Feet short, stout, placed far behind; tibia bare for two-twelfths of an inch; 

 tarsus very short, compressed, covered anteriorly with oblique scutella; 

 hind toe wanting; anterior toes united by emarginate webs; the inner toe 

 considerably shorter than the outer, which is nearly as long as the middle. 

 Claws rather small, moderately arched, compressed, rather acute. 



Plumage dense, blended, glossy above. Wings of moderate length, 

 narrow, pointed; primaries tapering, the first longest, the rest rapidly 

 graduated; secondaries rounded. Tail very short, rounded, of fourteen 

 feathers. 



Bill orange-red, with its base, including the knob, greyish-blue; feet 

 dusky-grey, claws brownish-black. The general colour of the upper parts 



