500 
l jRIA GRYLLE. 
GENUS IV, URIA. THE GUILLEMOTS. 
Gen. Cn. Bill, rather slender , usually shorter than head , pointed at tip , and not much compressed. The bill is not 
ridged and only slightly curved at tip of upper mandible. There are two species within our limits. 
URIA GRYLLE. 
Black Guillemot. 
Uria grylle Brun., Orn. Bor; 1764, ‘28, 
DESCRIPTION. 
Sp. Ch. Form, robust. Size, small. Color. Adult. Sooty-black throughout, with patch on wing, which is rarely 
crossed by a black band, under wing coverts,, and axillaries, white. Iris, brown; bill, black; feet, coral-red. 
Winter adult. Wings and tail as in summer; remainder of plumage, white, more or less mottled with black above and 
in a collar around neck. Young, quite similar but darker above and with white of wing and beneath mottled with dusky. 
Nestlings are covered with a sooty-black down. * 
OBSERVATIONS. 
Known by the small size and dark colors in summer; white mottlings above in winter. Occurs in summer from Maine, 
northward, wintering from Grand Menan, southward. 
DIMENSIONS. 
Average measurements of specimens. Length, 12*50; stretch, 23*50; wing. 5*25; tail, U95; bill, 1*35; tarsus, 1*25. Long¬ 
est specimen, 13 00; greatest extent of wing, 24*00; longest wing, 6*35; tail, 2*00; bill, 1*40; tarsus, 1 30. Shortest speci¬ 
men, 12*00; smallest extent of wing, 23*00; shortest wing, 5*50; tail, 1*90; bill, 1*30; tarsus, 1*20. 
DESCRIPTION OF NESTS AND EGGS. 
Eggs, placed in holes of cliffs, three or four in number, oval in form, white, creamy, or greenish in color, spotted and 
blotched with very dark-brown and umber. Dimensions from 1*55x2*25 to 1*65x2*40. 
HABITS. 
I found the Little Black Guillemots very common on Grand Menan, nesting in fis¬ 
sures of the high cliffs on the northern end of the island. Here the eggs were fresh as late 
as the thirteenth of July, but this was owing to the fact that the birds had been robbed, 
for I found young, as well as fresh eggs, the last week in June, on the Magdalens; yet it 
is safe to say, that these birds, even if not molested, lay from the middle of June until the 
•first week in July. The eggs are deposited on the naked rock or earth and are constantly 
covered by the male or female. When the entrances of their holes are approached, the 
birds scramble out and take wing, then they will fly distractedly about, uttering a mourn¬ 
ful whistle, besides which they emit a chuckling note. The Black Guillemots sit lightly 
on the water and, like the larger species, dive with ease, remaining under the surface for 
a. great length of time. They have the habit, shared with many aquatic birds, of dipping 
the bill into the water when excited. They migrate southward in November. 
URIA TROILE. 
Murre. 
Uria troile Lath., Ind. Orn. n; 1790, 796. 
DESCRIPTION. 
Sp. Ch. Form, rather slender. Size, large. Color. Adult. Head and neck all around, upper parts, and sides, 
sooty-brown. Tips of secondaries, and under parts, white. Iris and feet, brown; bill, black. 
In winter , and Young. Similar, but beneath, white to bill, with throat occasionally dusky. Nestlings. Black 
throughout, sprinkled with yellowish-white. 
OBSERVATIONS. 
Known by the large size and pure white beneath. Distributed in summer from Gulf of St. Lawrence, northward. 
Winters from Maine to Florida. 
DIMENSIONS 
Average measurements of specimens. Length, 17*50; stretch, 29*50; wing, 7*25; tail, 2*25; bill, 1*60; tarsus, 1*45. 
Longest- specimen, 18*00; greatest extent of wing, 30*00; longest wing, 8.*00; tail, 2 50; bill, 1*75; tarsus, 1*55. Shortest 
specimen, 17*00; smallest extent of wing, 29*00; shortest wing, 7*50, tail, 2 00; bill, 1*65; tarsus, 1*40. 
