796 A PRACTICAL HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS. 



Distribution. — British Isles. — Extinct. Recorded in 0. Hebrides 

 as far back as 1684, but became rare early 1800. Only British taken 

 specimens known are (1) Papa Westray (Orkneys) (the breeding- 

 place was the Holm of Papa Westray, see Ibis 1898, p. 587) obtained 

 by Bullock 1813, now in Brit. Mus. ; (2) St. Kilda (0. Hebrides) 

 captured alive and received by Fleming, Aug. 1821 or 2 ; (3) Water- 

 ford coast May, 1834, captured alive and now in Trin. Coll. Mus., 

 Dublin. Strong evidence of one captured Stack-an-Armin (St. 

 Kilda) about 1840, and fair evidence of one captured Fame Isles a 

 few years previous to 1769. Remains have been found Orkneys, 

 Caithness, Oronsay (Argyll), Durham, Antrim, Donegal, Clare, and 

 Wat erf or d. 



Distribution. — Abroad. — Formerly breeding round Newfoundland, 

 and particularly on Funk Island, Iceland (Grimsey, Eldey, Geir- 

 fuglasker), Fseroes, and possibly in east Greenland ; in winter at 

 least south to Ireland and Denmark, and to Carolina and Florida. 

 Extinct since 1844. Eighty skins and seventy -five eggs are known 

 to be in existence (E. Bidwell). 



Genus URIA Briss. 



Uria Brisson, Orn. i, p. 52 (1760 — Type according to Brisson, Orn., vi, 

 p. 70, " uria " = U. aalge). 



Bill as long as head, little laterally compressed, straight, 

 pointed, feathered to at least end of nostril, which is slit -like. Tail 

 short, rounded, 12-14 rectrices. Tarsus a little shorter than middle 

 toe with claw. 4 species and several subspecies, 3 in British waters. 



1 f Large white patch on wings U. grylle, p. 802 



\ No large white patches on wings .... 2 

 f Bill slenderer, feathering not quite to middle, entirely 



black U. aalge, p. 796 



. Bill stronger, feathering to middle, whitish yellow streak 



[_ on edge of upper mandible U. lornvia, p. 800 



>-\ 



URIA AALGE. 



467. Uria aalge aalge (Pontopp.).— THE NORTHERN GUILLE- 

 MOT. 



Colymbus Aalge Pontoppidan, Danske Atlas, 1, PI. XXVI, and p. 621 

 (1763 — Iceland and obviously also Denmark : " som og falder in Iceland, 

 og der har det Navn." Terra typica Iceland). 



Colymbus minor Gmelin, Syst. Nat., 1, 2, p. 585 (1789— Coasts of Great 

 Britain, Ex Pennant, Brit. Zool., Birds, 11, p. 437, PI. 83 : non-breeding 

 birds described as darker than breeding ones, the name therefore not 

 applicable to the southern form.) 



Description. — Adult male and female. Winter and summer and 

 first winter. — Like Southern Guillemot but whole upper-parts con- 

 siderably blacker and in summer plumage chocolate colour of throat 

 and head deeper, in winter black tips to feathers of lower-throat 



