GUILLEMOT— AUKS-PUFFINS-DOVES-PIGEON-WAGTAIL. 



163 



Black-throated Guillemot. (Synthliborha?>iphus antiquus.) 

 Fig. ii. 



Guillemots are another group of birds that pass most of their 

 time upon the ocean ; visiting land very seldom, except when the 

 time of incubation arrives. When on land their walk resembles 

 dancing. They do not fear man, as he seldom visits their wild 

 resorts ; but should a Falcon or an Eagle make its appearance 

 thousands of them at once take wing, and hastily retreat to some 

 place of safety. The countless pairs of which the vast assembly 

 of these birds consist, exhibit the utmost constancy and attachment, 

 and may be seen, before the eggs are laid, keeping constantly to- 

 gether, caressing each other with their beaks, and evincing the 

 greatest affection. 



Figure 2, on plate LXXV., is a representation of the Common 

 or Foolish Guillemot (Uria troile), and on page 115 appears an 

 account, to which the reader is referred for a more detailed refer- 

 ence of the habits of these species. 



The Thick-billed, or Brunnick's Guillemot, is a resident of the 

 North Atlantic, Arctic, and Pacific coasts, south to New Jersey 

 and California. 



The Sooty Guillemot is a resident of the North Pacific. 



The Pigeon Guillemot is also a resident of the North Pacific 

 Ocean. 



Kittlitz's Guillemot, or Murrelet, is said to be a resident of the 

 Noith Pacific Ocean. 



Temminck's Guillemot is an extensive and numerous inhabitant 

 of the whole of the Pacific coast to Cape St. Lucas. 



The Black-throated Guillemot is a handsome bird of the North 

 Pacific. 



Whiskered Auk. (Simorhynchus camtscliaticus.') 



Fig. 12. 



Crested Auk. (Simorkynchus cristaUllus.) 

 Fig. 1.3. 



Parrot, or Parroquet Auk. (Phalaris psittacula.) 

 Fig. 14. 



Horn-billed Auk. (Ceralorhyna monocerata.') 

 Fig- '5- 



Little Auk: Sea Dove, or Dovekie. (Mergulus alle.) 

 Fig. 18. 



Auks, in their habits and modes of life, closely resemble the 

 Guillemots represented on this plate. 



The Whiskered Auk, the Crested Auk, and the Parrot, or Par- 

 roquet Auk, are inhabitants of the North Pacific Ocean. 



The Horn-billed Auk is met with on the Pacific Ocean, in Cali- 

 fornia. 



The Little Auk is met with, in great numbers, along the coast 

 of the North Atlantic, and in winter as far south as New Jersey 

 and to Florida. 



Large-billed Puffin. {Fratercula arcticus,\zx. glacialis^ 

 Fig. 16. 



This Puffin is a resident of the Arctic Coast and is a variety of 

 the common Puffin, Sea Parrot, or Couiterneb {Fratercula arcti- 

 cus), Plate LXXV., fig. 4, page 115, Its habits are similar. 



Figure 17 represents the Horned Puffin (Fratercula com/cu/ata), 

 which is also similar in its habits and is met with on the same 



ocean. 



PLATE CIX. 



Red-billed Pigeon or Dove. (Colutnba Jlavlrostris^) 



Fig. 1. 



This handsome Dove is a resident of the Lower Rio Grande 

 River, and is also found on and near the Gulf coast of Mexico and 

 Central America. They are said to be secluded in their habits and 

 to have a veiy rapid flight. 



White-Winged Dove. (Mclopeieia leueoptera.) 



Fig. 2. 



The distribution of this species is quite extensive through South- 

 western United States, Lower California, Arizona, New Mexico 

 and Texas, south through Mexico to Central America, Cuba and 

 Jamaica. Its food consists principally of grain and seeds, and it 

 is also fond of ripe fruit. At the approach of a person they are at 

 first quite wild, but with a little care they soon become tame. Its 

 eggs are white, of equal size at either end, an oval in shape, and 

 measure 1. 25 inches by .92. 



Band-tailed Pigeon. (Columba fasciata.) 

 Fig- 3- 



The residence of this pigeon is in the Rocky Mountains, thence 

 to the Pacific Ocean and southward to South America. 



Dr. George Suckley, whose opportunities of investigation were 

 excellent, has left the following record : " The Band-tailed Pigeon 

 is a very common bird in Washington Territory, especially west 

 of the Cascade Mountains ; I saw but one flock, containing five 

 individuals, east of those mountains. In 1856 the first birds of 

 this species that arrived in the spring made their appearance about 

 May 15, which is the customary time every year for their arrival. 

 One or two individuals are first seen, and within two or three days 

 thereafter the main body of the migration follows. A small num- 

 ber remain throughout the summer and breed ; the rest retire fur- 

 ther north. Those that remain generally make their nests in thick 

 fir-forests, near water. They subsist during the summer on wild 

 cherries and other berries, and later in the season, since the coun- 

 try has become settled, upon grain. About the first week in Sep- 

 tember large flocks congregate in stubble-fields in the vicinity of 

 Fort Steilacoom, and for two or three weeks thereafter their num- 

 bers are daily augmented by arrivals from the north. Some flocks 

 of these Pigeons, that I saw in September, must have contained at 

 least one thousand individuals. I am told that in the cultivated 

 districts on the Cowlitz River, at the same season, they are in still 

 greater numbers. By the 5th of October, of the year 1856, all had 

 suddenly disappeared, with the exception of a few stragglers, gen- 

 erally young birds. In flying, the (locks, I think, are not quite so 

 compactly crowded as those of the Passenger Pigeon. During the 

 summer, while breeding, their cooing can be heard a long distance. 

 The name of this bird in the Nisqually language is ' hubboh,' a 



good imitation of its calls In autumn these birds are 



in excellent order for the table ; indeed, I prefer them to the Wild 

 Pigeon of the Atlantic States." 



Yellow Wagtail. (Budylcs Java.) 

 Fig. 4. 

 This is an extensive and well-know u European species, which 



