BIRDS—COLYMBIDAE—COLYMBUS PACIFICUS. 
889 
Sp. Ch.— Adult. Head and hind neck bluish grey, darker on the front and sides of the head ; upper plumage glossy black, 
tinged with green ; on the upper part of the back are two bands of transverse white bars, running longitudinally, formed by the 
tips of the feathers ; the scapulars, with the exception of the outer, are similarly marked with transverse rows of large white 
spots, quadrangular in form; wing coverts black, marked with round white spots near the end ; quill feathers blackish brown, 
with the outer margin grey, and paler on the inner webs; tail blackish brown; the fore port of the neck is purplish black for an 
extent of about six inches, terminating in an angle at the lower end ; the upper part of this dark marking is crossed by a narrow 
band of white linear feathers ; sides of the neck blackish brown, longitudinally streaked with linear white feathers, on tho lower 
part of the neck is a broad space similarly marked ; under plumage pure white, with the exception of a dusky longitudinal band 
on the sides under the wings; bill black; iris deep bright red; tarsi and feet greyish blue externally, pale flesh color on the 
inside ; claws dusky, yellowish at the base. 
Length, about 23 inches ; wing, J2£; tail, 2f; bill, 2£; tarsus, 3 1-12; height of bill at base, f. 
The plumage of the young, according to Mr. Audubon, is as follows: 
“ The bill is light bluish grey, dusky along the ridge ; the iris brown ; the feet more dusky. The upper part of the head and 
the hind neck are dark greyish brown; the sides of the head dark greyish white, minutely streaked with brown. The upper 
parts have a reticulated or scaly appearance, the feathers being brownish black, with broad bluish grey margins ; the rump dull 
brownish grey. The primaries and their coverts are brownish black; the secondaries and tail feathers dusky, margined with 
grey. The fore part of the neck is greyish white, minutely and faintly dotted with brown, its sides below streaked with the 
same ; the lower parts, including the under surface of the wing, pure white ; the sides of the body and rump, with part of tho 
lower-tail coverts, dusky, edged with bluish grey.” 
Hah .—According to Audubon, “ the young range throughout the interior and along the coast as far as Texas, in autumn and 
winter ; Columbia river. Breeds in high latitudes ” 
Specimens from Europe in the museum of the Phil. Academy. 
I have never been so fortunate as to meet with an American specimen of this bird. 
Mr. Audubon states that the young are quite abundant, hut that in its adult state it is seldom 
obtained within the limits of the United States. 
Richardson says, it is common on the shores of Hudson’s Bay, hut is rarely seen in the 
interior. 
The locality of Columbia river, given by Audubon for this species, he states, was taken from 
Townsend’s list of birds observed on the Columbia river. This appears to he an error, as I 
have examined his list given in the Proc. of the Phil. Acad. ; also the one in his narrative, hut 
do not find it enumerated. 
COLYMBUS PACIFICUS, Lawrence. 
The Pacific Diver. 
Sp. Ch. — Young. Head above and bind part of neck dark bluish grey; back, wing coverts, and scapulars blackish brown, 
margined with greyish white, most conspicuous on tho latter; primaries black: secondaries dark brown, with the ends of their 
inner webs margined with white ; under lining of wings and axillars white; tail blackish brown, tipped with white; under plumage 
white ; sides dark brown, the feathers with grey edgings ; a dusky band on the lower part of the abdomen, at the base of the 
tail; lower tail coverts white, with brownish ends; the upper mandible is dark brown above, sides yellowish at the base for 
half its length, bluish white at the end; under mandible, with the basal half, yellow, the remaining half bluish white; tarsi and 
feet are externally reddish brown, (in the dried specimens,) yellowish internally; claws yellow, with dusky margins. 
Length of one specimen, (No. 9924,) 25 inches ; wing, 11^ ; tail, 2 ; bill, ; tarsus, 2f. 
No. 9921, measures in length, 24 inches; wing, 10^ ; tail, 2; bill, 2 ; tarsus, 2£ ; outer toe, 3J. 
Hab .—Coast of California; Puget’s Sound. 
The two specimens in the collection are from the Pacific coast, and it is with some hesitation 
I have ventured to describe them as new. They are near allies, and may possibly be the young 
of u G. arcticus ” hut they appear much smaller, and do not differ materially in size from “ G. 
septentrionalis the hill is hut little larger than that of the latter species, hut is differently 
shaped, more of the form of that of u G. arcticus;’' it is, however, comparatively slender. Upon 
Sept. 23, 1858. 
112 b 
