Barrows.] 162 [April 4 



convex, usually from the very base. Point of upper mandible fairly 

 meeting that of the lower, but the line of commissure is so much and 

 so suddenly bent downwards as to make the bill appear almost 

 hooked. There are usually three or four furrows in the upper man- 

 dible which are much curved, and have their convex sides toward the 

 point of bill. The same number (or one less) usually occurs on the 

 lower mandible, but they are almost, or absolutely straight. The 

 basal of these furrows is generally white, and shows in strong 

 contrast to the black of the rest of the bill. Feet as usual ; tail of 

 twelve feathers ; wings long, pointed and fully developed. Color in 

 summer almost precisely as in the preceding genus, but there is a 

 very narrow white line extending from the base of the culmen to the 

 eye. In winter, and in the young, the same changes of plumage take 

 place as in Lomvia, though the white line on the face seldom disap- 

 pears entirely. The bill of the immature bird is totally different 

 from that of the adult, as will elsewhere be shown. Length 18 in. 

 Wing 7-8 in. Tail 3^ in., with the central feathers 1\ in. longer 

 than the lateral ones. Six specimens. 



Coll. La Fresnaye, No. 8124, Society's Coll., No. 9198 ; summer 

 plumage; Arctic Sea. 



Coll. La Fresnaye, No. 8125, Society's Coll., No. 9199; summer 

 plumage ; N. Europe. 



Coll. La Fresnaye, No. 8126, Society's Coll., No. 9200; winter 

 plumage ; N. America. 



Coll. La Fresnaye, No. 8127, Society's Coll., No. 9201; winter 

 plumage ; N. Europe. 



Coll. La Fresnaye, No. 8128, Society's Coll., No. 9202; young; 

 N. Europe. 



Coll. La Fresnaye, No. 8129, Society's Coll., No. 9203; young; 

 North Sea. 



REMARKS ON THE ARRANGEMENT AND CLASSIFICATION OF THE 

 MEMBERS OF THIS FAMILY. 



Several modern ornithologists, notably Brandt, Cassin, Gray and 

 Coues, have attempted to divide the family Ale idee into two or more 

 sub-families. Brandt was the first to propose such a division, and 

 he made two sub-families, placing the species in the one or the other 

 according as they had feathered or unfeathered nostrils. Cassin's 

 classification was a modification of this arrangement ; while Coues 

 and Gray, taking the general characters of the whole bill for their 



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