NATATORES. 479 



pitch-black. Middle and greater coverts, inner bases of the quill- feathers, and all the under 

 wing coverts, white. Bill black ; inside of the mouth and the feet bright scarlet. 



Form. — Bill compressed ; its culmen rounded ; extreme tip of the upper mandible 

 slightly drooping, not notched ; that of the lower mandible excavated or sloping ; commissure 

 straight. Nostrils short, narrow, basal slits near the commissure. Outer and middle toes of 

 equal length ; inner one considerably shorter. No hind toe. 



Winter plumage. — Head, neck, whole under plumage, scapulars, rump, mirror of the 

 wings, and tips of the dorsal plumage, white. A crescentic patch before the eye, the border 

 of the wing, the primary coverts, all the quills, the tail, and tips of the scapulars, black. 

 When the dorsal plumage is ruffled, the black bases of the plumage appear. Some birds 

 killed in March showed a few black edgings on the belly. In the spring and beginning of 

 the summer the plumage is variously mottled, the summer dress being complete at different 

 periods in different individuals, but rarely before the beginning of July. A female killed on 

 the 28th of that month had still a number of white feathers scattered over the back and 

 belly. 



Dimensions. 



Inch. Lin. Inch. Lin. Inch. Lin. 



Length of bill above . .1 1^ Length of middle nail . 4 



,, of bill to rictus .18 „ of inner toe . 11 



„ of tarsus . .12 „ of its nail . .0 3^ 



„ of middle toe . 1 3J 



— R. 



Length, total . 



13 







„ to tip of the nails 



15 



6 



„ of tail 



2 







„ of wing . 



6 



4 



[238.] 4. Uria alle. (Temm.) Little Guillemot. 



Genus, Uria, Brisson. 



Small black and white Diver. Edwards, pi. 91. 



Little Auk (Alca alle). Penn. Arct. Zool., ii., p. 512, No. 429. Wils., ix., p. 94, pi. 74, f. 5. 



Alca alle (Little Auk). Sab. Greenl. Birds, p. 537, No. 13. 



Guillemot nain (Uria alle). Temm., ii., p. 928. 



Uria alle (Little Auk). Sab. Suppl. Parry's First Voy., p. ccx., No. 32. 



Uria (Mergulus) alle. Bonap. Syn., No. 375. 



This neat little Guillemot, termed by the seamen " Greenland Dove," is an 

 inhabitant of the Arctic Seas in summer, and migrates in winter to the coasts 

 of the United States. 



DESCRIPTION 



Of a specimen killed in August, near Melville Island, lat. 75°- 



Colour. — Top of the head, dorsal plumage, tail, wings, and the sides under them, velvet- 

 black. Under surface of the head, throat, upper part of the breast, and thighs, pitch-black ; 

 rest of the under plumage, the tips of the secondaries, and lateral edges of the scapulars, 

 white ; that colour joining the black of the breast in an even line. Bill black. Legs 

 brownish. In winter the front of the neck is whitish, the change taking place towards the 

 end of September. 



