THE LARGE-BILLED GUILLEMOT. 265 



short, anteriorly scutellate, laterally reticulate; hind toe wanting; anterior 

 toes scutellate, of moderate length, connected by emarginate webs, the inner 

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

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



Plumage dense, blended, rather glossy on the upper parts. Wings of 

 moderate length, narrow, pointed; primaries tapering, the first longest, the 

 rest rapidly graduated, secondaries rounded. Tail very short, even, of 

 sixteen elastic feathers. 



Bill orange-yellow; feet greyish-yellow. The general colour of the upper 

 parts is black, as are the cheeks, the upper part of the fore neck and its 

 sides; the lower parts white. Two decurved white bands on the sides of 

 the head, one commencing over the eye, the other at the angle of the mouth, 

 both being formed by elongated, linear, acuminate feathers. The shafts of 

 the wing-feathers are reddish-brown above, white beneath. 



Length to end of tail 15|- inches, to end of claws 16f; bill along the ridge 

 Iff, not including the outline of the knob, which is yf high, along the edge 

 of lower mandible 1-j-f, breadth of upper mandible below the knob, 2 f; wing 

 from flexure 6|f; tarsus Iff; inner toe 1 T 2 2, its claw f^; middle toe 1^, its 

 claw f|; outer toe 1 T S ¥ , its claw -j^. 



THE LARGE-BILLED GUILLEMOT. 



Uria Brunnichii, Sabine. 

 PLATE CCCCLXXII.— Adult Male. 



I have never observed this bird on any part of the coast of our Middle 

 Districts, and, although I was told that it not unfrequently occurred about 

 the Bay of Boston, I failed in my endeavours to procure it there. The 

 specimen from which my figure was made was sent to me in ice, along with 

 several other rare birds, from Eastport in Maine. I received it quite fresh 

 and in excellent plumage, on the 18th of February, 1833. It had been shot 

 along with several other individuals of the same species while searching for 

 food in the waters of Pasmaquody Bay, which were then covered with 

 broken ice. Its flight was described by Mr. Curtis, who sent it to me, as 



Vol. VII. 38 



