Ontario Bird Notes. — Gavia arctica. Black-throated Loon.—A
female was taken on May 22, 1899, off Mimico (a suburb of Toronto), in
Lake Ontario. The bird is in immature plumage, slightly abraded; the
only previous record for Toronto is that of a pair sent to the Paris Exhibi¬
tion of 1867. Co “~'

Auk, XVII, April, 1900, p', t?6-

Birds of Toronto, Ontario.

By James K.Fleming.

Pt.I, Water Birds.

Hypothetical List.

Auk, XXIII, Oct., 1906, p.452

Hypothetical List.

1. Gavia arctica. Black-throated Loon. — I recorded 3 a speci¬
men in error; it proves to be a very small Loon, in winter plumage A
pair are mentioned in Prof. Hincks’s list of birds sent to Paris. 4

3 Auk, XVII, 1900. 176.

4 ‘Catalogue of Birds Known to Inhabit Western Canada. By the Rev. W. Hincks,
F. L. S., &c.’ Journal of the Board of Arts and Manufactures for Upper Canada,
VII, 1867, 9-12 (also reprinted as a separate). This list was prepared in view of
sending a collection of birds to the Paris Exhibition of 1867; it contains two hundred
and seventy-one species, of which twenty-nine were not obtainable. By ‘Western
Canada’ is meant Ontario, but the birds sent were with few exceptions taken at
Toronto.

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*

Urinator arcticus. Black-throated Loon. —This is the first positive
record of this species on Long Island, and also in New York State, and is
! probably one of the very few specimens that have been taken in the
United States. Mr. J. P. Giraud, Jr., does not give it in his ‘Birds of
Long Island,’ published in 1844, although Mr. George N. Lawrence
includes it in his list published in 1866, notwithstanding there is not a
specimen in his collection, now in the American Museum of Natural
History in New York City. In Volume X of the ‘Pacific Railroad
Reports,’ published in 1858, Mr. Lawrence, who wrote the history of a
portion of the water birds, says, “I have never been so fortunate as to
meet with an American specimen of this bird.” In the ‘North American
Birds,’ by Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway it is considered “very rare, and
not even positively known to occur in the United States.” (Water Birds,
Vol. II, p. 453.) The only United States record of which I know is of
one shot in Sandusky Bay in 1880 (vide Wheaton’s ‘Birds of Ohio,’ p.
565). It is with great pleasure, therefore, that I am able, through the
kindness of M. J. Earley, Esq., of this city, to record the capture of a
full-plumaged adult male. I append his letter.

New York, May 16, 1893.

Dear Sir:

The bird which I sent to Mr. Wallace, taxidermist, to be
mounted, and which you inform me is a Black-throated Diver, was killed
by Gus Merritt, of City Island, on Saturday morning, April 29, between
Sands Point lighthouse and Execution lighthouse. He was one of a
party of young men who left City Island in the middle of the night to lie
in line for Ducks between Sands-Point lighthouse and Execution light¬
house. At daylight on Saturday morning the bird flew from the east,

' and was killed by him as it passed over his boat. I received it from Mr.
Merritt a few days afterwards and sent it to Mr. Wallace where you saw it.

Yours, vei-y truly,

M. J. Earley.

The specimen while yet in the flesh was brought to the attention of Mr.
L. S. Foster by Mr. Wallace, who, after he had skinned it, gave me the
| body for sexing. I found the sexual organs very fully developed and the
bird very fat. Most of the skeleton has been preserved, and is nowin
the osteolqgical collection of the American Museum of Natural History.

Au._

July, 1893 p 265-66.

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Birds within Ten Miles of ’Point
de Monts, Can, Gomeau & Merrian.

I 4°- Colymbus septentrionalis. Red-throated Diver.— Common,
breeding with the last, but not arriving so early, usually coming in May.

Bull N.O.O, 7, Oct, 1882, p.241

Birds of N.E. coast of Labrador

by Henry B- Bigelow.

2. Urinator lumme. Red-throated Loon; Wabby. — Nests in small
ponds inland. Appears on the coast after the young are able to fly, when
it is rather common, particularly in September. One which I examined
had the stomach filled with caplin.

Auk, XIX, Jan., 1902, P- ^

Birds of Toronto, Ontario.

By Janes H.Fleming.

Pt.I, Water Birds.

Auk, XXIII, Oct., I90S, p.44I.

5. Gavia lumme. Red-throated Loon. — Regular migrant, not
uncommon; adults in breeding plumage, April 28 to June 3 ; earliest
record a male in winter plumage, March 14 , 1899 ; in fall from October 6
to November 30 . There are no winter records.

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E. MaBS. 1886

An adult £ Red -throated Diver in full spring plum¬
age was shot at Cohasset Narrows by Vinal Edwards,
collector for this station, on July 2. The bird was not
a cripple in any way, as is often the case with Sea Fowl
which remain through the summer. On the following
day an adult Black-backed Gull was seen. Harry Gor¬
don White, Woods IIoll, Mass.

N

-TSxupsst s c ©a /*^ 7~

Birds of Bristol County,Maaa.

F.W. Andros.

rOunn.1, Bed-throated Loom

O.&O. XII. Sept*. 1887 p.13 1 ?

C$*sr-Lestyir' 4 /IA■

Our first prize was a fine specimen of the

Eed-throatedDiver, (Colymbus

,,7". ^i5T the Red (?) patch, taken Oct.
r I though the bird is very common

. thif eZ-t >«.* » Bhod. W»d
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plumage and believe it to be laie.

f}, %. ■

O. A O. iX. Dec. 1884. p./v 7

A Red-throated Loon on Chestnut Hill Reservoir, Boston, Mass.—

In the early afternoon of February 7, 1918, while I was observing the ducks
on Chestnut Hill reservoir, a bird came on the wing from the westward
which upon alighting on the water was seen to be a Red-throated Loon
('Gavia stellata). After taking its bearings for a few minutes, it began to
swim and dive in the ample area of open water about the intake, which
♦even during the very severe weather of the present winter has been of
considerable extent, affording a wintering place for Mergansers, Black
Ducks, a few Golden-eyes, and recently a Ruddy Duck. At the time the
sky was clouded, wind northeast, and the temperature about 24°. Two
days later Mr. Barron Brainerd with Mr. Talbot found this loon still
present. But when I visited the reservoir on the 11th, it was not there.
The area of open water had been diminished almost half by a formation
of thin ice around its borders and had become, perhaps, inadequate to the
loon’s sense of sufficiency. I am informed that Mr. Talbot noted the
absence of this loon on the 10th.

This was my first record of a Red-throated Loon on a pond, lake, or
reservoir. I find that Mr. William Brewster reports but one occurrence
in his ‘Birds of the Cambridge Region’ [1906], that of a young male shot
in Fresh Pond by Mr. Ruthven Deane on October 21, 1871. The species is
not uncommon in winter along the seacoast of New England, and in its
fall migration is rather common. Dr. C. H. Townsend in his ‘Birds of
Essex County’ [1905] states, “The Red-throated Diver is a lover of salt
water, very rarely, in Essex County, entering the fresh-water ponds and
rivers.” Dr. J. C. Philips in an article on ‘Ten Years of Observation on
the Migration of Anatidse at Wenham Lake, Massachusetts,’ (Auk, vol.
XXVIII, April, 1911, p. 197) says concerning the Red-throated Loon,
“Rare in the pond. The only specimen in my collection is a female
marked Wenham Lake, October, 1906.” Dr. Glover M. Allen in ‘Birds of
New Hampshire’ [1903] gives two records of individuals taken in the
interior of the State in the autumns of 1876 and 1886 respectively, and
states that “Mr. G. H. Thayer has noted, it as a rare autumn visitant to
Dublin Pond.” Mr. Thayer (Auk, Vol. XXI, October, 1904, p. 493)
gives a record of two seen in Dublin Pond “during a long and heavy north¬
easterly storm which ended on October 12 or 13, 1903.” Mr. Ora W.
Knight in his ‘Birds of Maine [1908] says, “Occasional specimens are
reported about the ponds and lakes in fall, or more rarely in spring.”
Messrs. Sage, Bishop and Bliss in ‘Birds of Connecticut’ [1913] state
concerning the species, “very rare inland,” and then give two autumn
records.

So it would appear that in New England the Red-throated Loon’s
appearances inland on bodies of fresh water have been rare, and that these
appearances have all been in the autumn, with the exception of Mr. Knight’s
testimony of occurrences in Maine under the expression “more rarely in
spring.” The Chestnut Hill reservoir occurrence in February, therefore,
seems to stand by itself as an incident not duplicated in New England, so
far as an examination of records show. — Horace W. Wright, Boston,

Mass ' /W-4,fl/VC XX*V/, 2r W-Zlp

Seeonnett Point, R.I.,
April 16-21. /fr/d

A few migrating every morning, flying at about the same
height above the water as the common Loon which they closely re¬
semble in general appearance. On the morning of the 21st we saw
a flock of eleven go by. They flew in a loose straggling body
within about thirty yards of one another, but all heading in the

same direction and evidently keeping on together. Mr. Mackay tell
me that he has seen this before, but it is by no means commoji,
the birds usually going singly. As far as I have observed the
common Loons are silent when migrating faufr the Red-throated Divers
usually utter a loud nagsal somewhat vibrating cry of one syllable
at frequent intervals. This resembles the syllable anc. It can
be heard at a long distance. We saw non® of these Divers in the

water during our stay.

ts ‘ «»> /brt* .

2 Colymbus septentrionalis (Linne). Red-throated Diver.-
After ineffectual efforts to trace supposed specimens of this species was
agreeably surprised to find a fine immature example m the collection of
Mr. Peter de Nottbeck, Esq., taken (near his residence) Novemherld,

*/ « 18 76, on the Hudson River, at Low Point, sixty-one miles from New Yoi .

_ Edgar A. Mearns, Highland Falls, N. Y.

Bull. N.O.O. 3, July, 1878, p, /V& •

Colymbus septentrionalis again on the Hudson. — In the Bul¬
letin for July, 1878, p. 146, is the mention of the capture of a specimen of
Colymbus septentrionalis at Low Point, on the Hudson River. I have
seen the bird in question, and will add the capture of a second specimen in
a locality not far from the first, in the autumn of 1878 (about the begin¬
ning of cold weather, I could not learn the exact date). It is now in the
possession of Mr. Wood, of Fishkill-on-Hudson, N. Y. Both specimens
look remarkably alike. —W. A. Stearns, Fishkill-on-Hudson, N. Y.

Bull* N.O.O. 5,Oct,, 1880, p. A V 2 .

Birds of the Adirondack Region.
C. H, Merrianu.

177. Colymbus septentrionalis, Linn. Red-throated Diver.
Occurs during the migrations. Have seen it at'Big Moose Lake in Octo¬
ber.

BuU.N.O.0, 0,Oot, 1881, P.235

Bird Notes from Long Island, N,Y.
William Dntoher.

1 . Urinator lumme. Red-throated Loon. Mr. Giraud says:

“Those procured in this vicinity are usually young birds—adults seldom
occurring.”*

Mr. Newbold T. Lawrence, when recording two adult specimens taken
on Long Island, says, “In this plumage it is rare.”)

Mr. J. C. Knoess, who for many years has practiced taxidermy atRiver-
head, Long Island, informs me that he has two very fine specimens of
this Loon in the adult plumage “with beautiful red throats.” Both were
procured on the Island, “and are the only ones in mature plumage I ever
saw on the Island.” The writer, while at Sag Harbor, in the spring of
1886 , saw in the shop of Messrs. Lucas and Buck, taxidermists, a specimen
which had been sent to them in the spring of 1885 . It was shot in Mecox
Bay, Suffolk Co., and was the first one they had ever seen in the adult
plumage. Mr. A. E. Sherrill, of East Hampton, Suffolk Co., shot a full
plumaged male May 8 , 1887 . It is now in my collection. He informs
me that this specimen was shot at Montauk Point, on the ocean, about a
mile off shore. It was alone. He adds, “I never saw one of these Loons
except in the spring, and few of them at that season of the year. I never
killed one just like it before, but have several times heard of their being
shot. They are known locally as Sheldrake Loon.” Mr. A. H. Helme,
of Miller’s Place, Suffolk Co., writes to me as follows: “While crossing
the Sound, May 11 , 1887 , from Bridgeport, Conn., to Port Jefferson, Long
Island, when about one mile from the Connecticut shore, I saw about
twenty-three Red-throated Divers. They were singly, or in pairs, or
three together. Those which came near enough to enable me to distin¬
guish the markings were in immature plumage.”

Auk, V, April, 1888. p.170 -/7 I ■

* The Birds of Long Island, 1844, p. 381.

f Notes on several rare birds taken on Long Island, N. Y. Forest and Stream Vol

x > P- 235 - ’ !Z

Oneida County, New York,

William L.Raljiii & Egbert Bags'

, a tniinp’ bird of this species was killed at Clinton,

°Oc"r:,T». bV . ».n of that place, *»■« had 1. —*d and

p „ t .„,d. ^ My| 18SO, p. i •

Birds Tioga CO, N>Y. Aldan Loring.

731. Red-throated Grebe. Common. Found
in pairs and singly; like the preceding species
it dives at the flash of a gun and also lives on
fish and they have the habit of eating their
own feathers.

QuisQu ST. lane. 1890. p-86

Birds of Oneida County, New York.

Egbert Bagg.

Urinator lumme.-One on exhibition at Sylvan Beach in 1891 was
killed at Durhamville several years previously. An additional record.

Auk XI. April. 1894 p. 164

/I

Albinism and Melanism in North
American Birds* Ruthven Deane,

One of the finest and most attractive examples is among the
Colymbidce , a snow-white specimen of C.septentrio?ialis, which was
shot in Salem Harbor, Mass., and is now in my possession.

Bull. N.O.Q. 1, April, 1876, p.23

An Ornithologist’s Summer in Labrador
M.AbbottFrazar.

Urinator lunnue , Red-throated Loon. Rather
' common and generally distributed along the
| coast. Breeds on the edges of the smaller
I ponds (often near pools of surface water only
| a few rods square), on the larger islands they
make no nest but simply lay their eggs in a
slight hollow on the bare ground, usually on
a slight rise not over one foot from the water's
edge. The space about the egg is perfectly
bare, the grass or other vegetation being tram¬
pled flat. Hence the spot is easily discovered,
and the bird if sitting can be seen for a consid¬
erable distance. Seven sets of eggs taken, each
contained two, which from all I heard or saw
is the greatest number ever laid.

O.& O. XII. Jan. 1887. p. 5.

Old Records c or Msws.fc RhOd 6 Id,

West Island, Seconnet Point, R. I., April 27, 1875. Shot one Red-
throated Loon (Gavia stellata), April 16, 1878. A good many flying on
migration; wind light northeast. Shot one on April 1, 1881; one on April
13 1884' three on April 14, 1886; one on April 15 and four on April 20,
1887 • one April 21, 1887, and April 16, 1892. A migrating movement east¬
ward; birds flying about sixty yards high; noted one flock of five one of
six, the others scattering, about twenty-six birds m all. April 1/, 1892,
saw eight flying on migration; wind light west.

Auk 28, Jan-1911,9, /20.

Old Records for Mass,& Rhede ;d.

February 21,1892. WeshotaLoon (Gavia immer) to-day from the Jetty,
which had scarcely any feathers on the wings; the bird could not possibly
have flown. I took it to be a case of moult.

Auk 28, Jau- 1911 , 9 * //f_

Old Records for Maas, h Rhod e Id.

April 14, 1886. Quite a flight of Loons (Gavia immer), on migration;
wind east, a gentle breeze. — George H. Mackay, Nantucket, Mass.

Auk 28, Jaa-1911,9, J %Q.

IS

jd^yyxQ-ct.' '&vL — .

y about twenty pair of Tufted
Puffip were breeding in the burrows which
were situated oil the banks that surrounded
some parts of the island. The burrows
extended into a depth of about four feet, |
at the end of which they deposit a single
egg on the bare earth. We only obtained
eight of their eggs, as our time on the
island was limited, and it generally takes '
from five to ten minutes to obtain one of
them. The burrows never run straight,
but nearly always curve just before the
nest (if such it can be called) is reached./

Ck/WAjJLa-vSL . fjZjjZ . . . f~\- , R.

Another bird, rather common, is the Tufted
1 ufhn ( Lunda cirrhotOj) , known on the island as
the Sea Parrot. They are probably the most
curious sea-bird on the coast. I was at a loss
| t0 see why they had such large and powerful
beaks until one day an enraged bird covering
an egg, took firm hold of my finger and then I
knew' that with its big grooved bill as a weapon
of defence, the bird was a dangerous adversary,
even for man. They lay one large egg in a bur¬
row or hole in the rock, in which are carelessly
, scattered coarse dry weeds. They have their
favorite breeding places or rookeries, where
numbers await the diligent collector; but he
must be a cool-headed climber, for many of the
eggs are laid in dangerous places and over three
hundred feet above the sea.

0 ^©. I* . /w. )= - / 3 /.

O+O .ALL . f>.HX

ii Afternoon, about St. Michaels, Al¬
aska, August 15,1878, E.W.Nelson

The report of the gun, re-echoing from the opposite bluffs,
seemed to dislodge a perfect shower of Puffins from their resting-
places about the entrances to their burrows. Each came whirring
down by me, some almost into my face, to get a nearer view of the
intruder; then, after a wide circuit, they returned and dropped
heavily into the water a short distance off. The Common Puffins
[Mormon cirrhcito ,) I found far less numerous than the Homed
Puffins (M. corniculata), but they were equally curious.

Bull. N.O.C, 5, Jan,, 1880, p.33

Osteological Notes upon Puffins and Ravens. —In examining some
skeletons of adult specimens of Lund a cirrhata , kindly loaned me by the
Smithsonian Institution, I find, occupying the usual site of the bone, hut
completely enveloped by the tarsal theca, a rudimentary accessory meta¬
tarsal, or the hallux metatarsal, which is freely articulated, but all evidence
of a basal phalanx of the toe is absent. Such a rudimentary element in

the skeleton of a bird is an interesting fact, and it sees its counterpart in
the rudimentary limbs in such a lizard as Ofthisaurus ventrcilis •

AvLi. V. mr./. jz'r

^f^cZe>icx^cA

Birds within Ten Miles of Point
de Monts, Can, Comeau & Merrier

143. Fratercula arctica. Puffin; Sea Parrot. —Not common as
far up as Point de Monts, but very abundant on the Mingan Islands, where
they breed by thousands.

Bull. N, O.O, 7, Oct, 1882, P, 241

Birds of Magdalen islands.

Dr. L.B.Biahop.

3 . Fratercula arctica. Puffin. — Breeds abundantly in twisting bur¬
rows on the top of Great Bird Rock, and in the crevices of the cliffs on
Bryon Island.

Auk, Tl. April, 1889. p. 145

Birds of N.E. coast of Labrador

by Henry B, Bigelow.

3. Fratercula arctica. Puffin; Sea Parrot. Abundant all along the
coast. Still breeds in comparative abundance on many of the outlying
islands. The young were fully fledged and in the water by the 25 th of
August. Though highly esteemed by the natives, we could not consider
them a delicacy. Drawings which I made of bills of young just fledged
show a great resemblance to those of Briinnich’s Murre and the common
Murre.

Auk, XIX, Jan., 1902, pj». ^5", ^

, Yu.. -

/y’oida, Auk, XIX, April., 1902, pj>J' 8 h&3\

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The Puffin ( Fratercula arctica arctica ) on Long Island, N. Y.

On April 30, 1915, a specimen of this species was found on the beach near
Montauk Point and was sent to me for identification. The body of the
bird was very much decayed and it may have perished several weeks before
it was found. This appears to be the third record for Long Island.— J. A.
Wttrf.r. Box 327, Palisades Park, N.J.

JUdt.XXKII, <Dc±. /<?/$- fr, if. ^57

Bird Notes from Long Island, N.Y.

William Dntcber.

2. Fratercula arctica. Puffin. —Mr. L. S. Foster, of New York City,
permits me to record a specimen of this species, now in his collection,
which was captured about December 15, 1882, at Centre Moriches, Suffolk
Co. Mr. Giraud says : “It but seldom occurs, and only in winter on the
coast of Long Island.”*

Auk, V, April, 1888. p.171

* Birds of Long Island, p. 374.

NOTES CONCERNING CERTAIN BIRDS OF
LONG ISLAND, N. Y.

BY WILLIAM C. BRAISLIN, M. D.

The following data for the most part relate to recent occurrences
of species more or less rare or uncommon on Long Island. One
species or hybrid (Helminthophila lawrencei) is here for the first
time recorded from Long Island. The note concerning another
species (Lanes minutus ) has to do with the occurrence of this
bird in North America, as well as on Long Island, for the second
time.

Fratercula arctica. A specimen of the Puffin was sent me
from Montauk by Mr. Arthur Miller, with a request that it might
■be identified and its name furnished. The sender stated that but
for its poor state of plumage, he should have kept the bird for
mounting, as it was to him an ornithological curiosity. It was
found on the beach, March 30 , 1902 . The state of plumage
which rendered it an imperfect specimen for mounting rather
added to its interest as a 1 skin,’ since it was due to moult. Its
flight feathers are lacking, the new quills, although sprouting,
being as yet rudimentary and entirely incapable of supporting it
in the air. The feathers of the breast are largely wanting, leaving
the skin well protected, however, by the abundant dark-colored
down. Its comparatively helpless condition was doubtless re¬
sponsible for its having been driven ashore, where it perished in
the surf An c, XX, Jan., 1903, p

Further Light on the Moult of the Bill in certain Mor-
monid.e.*— When M. Bureau announced his great discovery, that the
Puffin moults parts of its bill and eyelids, it was expected that he would
follow up the matter with an investigation of other birds of the same
family. This he has done in a highly satisfactory manner, with exactly
the results that were anticipated. His original paper, published in the
Bull. Soc. Zool. de France, 1877, we translated for the Nuttall Bulletin.
It is now republished, in connection with the paper below cited, the two
together forming under one cover a brochure which has just reached us
through the courtesy of the author. As we are just closing this number
of our Bulletin, we can only do this valuable paper the scanty justice of
stating its principal results.

1 . M. Bureau establishes for Fratercula and its allies a family Mormoni-
dce, distinct from Alcidce. He finds F. arclica divisible into three forms,
armoricana, islandica, and glacialis, the geographical distribution of which
corresponds to certain isothermals.

2 . F. corniculata moults the bill almost exactly as F. arctica does, the
only difference being that one pair of small pieces falls in the latter, but
not in the former.

3. Lunda cirrhala moults the bill in substantially the same pieces, lacking
only the horse-shoe shaped piece encircling the base of the upper mandible.
It has no moult of the eyelids. “ Sagmatorrhina ” is the young of this bird.

4. Chimerina cornuia (i. e. Ceratorhina monocerata) moults the horn and
another small piece. C. “ suckleyi ” is the young, and the adult in winter.

5. Ombria psittacula moults the nasal shield.

S. Simorhynchus cristalellus is the most like Fratercula arctica, as it
moults four pairs of pieces (all the red parts of both mandibles). S. “ dubius ”
is the adult in winter, after the moult. S. “ tetraculus ” is the young before
the red horny pieces are developed.

7. Simorhynchus camtschaticus remains undetermined as to the moult.
(It would appear to be most like that of Ombria psittacula.') S. cassini,
Coues,is the young of the species.

8 . Simorhynchus microceros moults the tubercle. S. pusillus (Pall.) is
the same bird.

M. Bureau’s determinations are thus without exception the same as
those made by the writer in the “ Key to North American Birds,” in 1872.

This highly important paper is illustrated with six colored plates, show¬
ing the points very clearly, and a map of the distribution of the races of
Fratercula arctica.

M. Bureau may be said to have entirely reformed our ideas of this in¬
teresting family.

A preliminary title-page of his brochure indicates that he may extend
his fruitful studies to the moult or other changes of the bill of birds in
general. We take the liberty of suggesting, as an inviting problem, the
remarkable seasonal changes of size and shape alleged to occur in the
bills of certain Fringillidce, notably the genus JEgiotlius.- — Elliott
Coues, Washington, D. C.

* Recherches sur la Mue du Bee des Oiseaux de la Famille des Mormonides
par le Docteur Louis Bureau. Extract du Bull, de la Soc. Zool. de France.
Paris, 1879. 8 vo. Pp. 68 , pll. vi, and a map.

BuaN.O.O. 5,April, 1880, p. /2T- /1$<

Recent Literature.

87

On the Moult of the Bill and Palpebral Ornaments in Fra-
tercula arctica.* — The remarkable changes which the bill and eyelids
of the Common Puffin undergo after the breeding season have been
hitherto unknown. The author’s exposition of the matter reveals a
phenomenon as yet unparalleled among birds. Temminck acknowl¬
edged (Man. Orn. 2d ed. ii, 932) his inability to describe the various con¬
ditions of this common bird, and the efforts of subsequent naturalists to
supply the required information have been unavailing. The Puffin is a
bird which must be studied alive. Discovering that two islands off Brit¬
tany, one in the Channel and the other at sea, harbored hundreds of these
birds during the breeding season, the author found the material for his
investigations.

In the spring, when the birds come to breed on these islands, they are
all alike in plumage and ornamentation : the cheeks are grayish-white ;
the bill is high and thick opposite the nostrils ; there is a boss or bead
( ourlet , a “ hem ”) along the base of the upper mandible ; the gonys is

* De la Mue du Bee et des Ornements Palpebraux du Macareux arctique,
Fratercula arctica (Lin.) Steph. apres la saison des amours. Par le Docteur
Louis Bureau. Extrait du Bulletin de la Societe zoologique de France, 1877.
8vo. Paris, 1878. pp. 1 - 21, pll. IV, Y.

The translator presents this remarkable T and most important paper nearly en¬
tire, though with the utmost condensation in language, to bring it Within
limits. As reviewer, he need only witness the care and fidelity with which Dr.
Bureau’s investigations were evidently conducted, and the clearness with which
the novel results are brought out. The paper is illustrated with several figures
on two plates, one of them colored and furnished with movable pieces gummed
on, on raising which both the process of the moult and its results are seen at a
glance. How much we learn — how little we know ! Here is a bird that
sheds part of its bill, and we only just now find it out, though the bird has
been “known” forages. The author’s happy experience should provoke new
inquiry into the various curious North Pacific species, some of which may yield
up similar secrets. “ Sagmatorrhina latkamif the “ Saddle-billed Auk ” was
made a new genus of, though now known to be nothing more or less than Lunda
cirrhata. The remarkable case of Ccratorliina “ suclcleyi,” — C. nonocerata,
now seems less singular, though we do not yet know the details ; perhaps the
“horn ” may be moulted. Ptychorhamphios aleuticus has a wrinkled membrane
at base of the bill, which may be something different at other times. Simo-
rliynchus cristctallus, as known to us in full dress, has a curious horny formation
at the angle of the mouth, wanting in the so-called S. “ diibius ” and S. “tetra-
culus .” Simorhynchus microceros has a curious knob or caruncle on the base of
the eulmen, not seen in the so-called S. “pusillus." M. Bureau’s discovery
puts the family in an entirely new light. Besides its special application, it has,
what the author might have signalized, an interesting bearing on the homology
of feathers with other epidermal productions; we may now speak of the
“ moulting ” of the horny covering of the beak, as well as of the feathers. —
Translator.

On tiib Moult of the Bill, or Parts of its Covering, in
certain Alcidas. — It is now about two years since attention was first
called to the deciduous nature of portions of the bill, and the palpebral
ornaments, in the Common Puffin ( Fratercula arclica), by Dr. Louis
Bureau, in a very interesting paper in the “ Bulletin de la Societe Zoolo-
gique de France” (1877, pp. 1-21, pll. iv, v), a translation of which,
with notes, by Dr. Elliott Coues, was given in this Bulletin for April,
1878 (pp. 87-91). Having in mind Dr. Bureau’s discovery, together
with Dr. Coues’s hint that “ new inquiry into the various curious North
Pacific species” might “yield up similar secrets,” I gave this matter
special attention during the past summer, while engaged in a study of
the North American Alcidce. The result of my investigations is the con¬
clusion that a similar change from the breeding to the winter condition
exists in the North Pacific species of Fratercula ( F. corniculata), in Lunda
cirrhata, Ceratorhina monocerata, the species of Simorhynchus (S. cristatellus
and 5. pygmaus ), and in Ciceronia microceros, but probably not in any
other of the North Pacific forms, except, perhaps, Phaleris psittacula and
Ptychorhamphus aleuticus. In Fratercula corniculata and Lunda cirrhata,
the change is very much the same as in F. arctica, only the basal rim of the
bill, and the nasal shield or saddle, being cast. In Ceratorhina the nasal
shield, together with the prominent vertical horn, are cast, the bird then
becoming C. “ suckleyi.” In Ciceronia microceros , a similar but much
smaller knob is moulted, when the bird becomes C. “pusilla.” The
change is most remarkable in Simorhynchus, in which, apparently, not
only the conspicuous rictal plate, and greatly enlarged basal portion of the
mandible, but also, apparently, the entire sheath of the hill, are moulted,
the species in this stage being S. “ telraculus " (Pall.). Unfortunately, I
have not been able to examine undoubted winter specimens of Phaleris
psittacula, but as the bill is exceedingly simple (there being no accessory
pieces) in this species, during the breeding season, it is quite possible,
though hardly probable, that no change takes place.

It is a somewhat singular, and perhaps important circumstance, that in
nearly every species in which this singular transformation of the bill takes
place there is little if any change in the plumage, the colors and orna¬
mental plumes of the breeding season being worn all the year round. On
the other hand, in Mergulus alle, and the species of Synthliborhamphus,
Brachyrhamplius, Uria, and Lomvia, the bill is simple and entirely devoid
of deciduous elements, while the seasonal change of plumage is very
marked. This, however, is also the case in Alca impennis and Utamania
torda , in which there is an apparently deciduous basal maxillary lamina.

Besides the doubtful case of Phaleris , we are not sure as to Ptycorham-
phus aleuticus. This has the bill more or less corrugated at the base, and
this corrugation is undoubtedly more conspicuous in summer than in
winter specimens. Both this species and Phaleris psittacula have an
unvarying plumage, and on this account we are disposed to refer them to
the group having a greater or less portion of the bill deciduous, without,
however, having any better reason for doing so. — Robert Ridgway,
Washington, D. C.

[Since the above was put in type, I find that in the announcement of
the discoveries in question I have been anticipated by Dr. Louis Bureau,
who treats of the subject in detail in a very important paper, entitled,
“Recherclies sur la Mue du Bee des Oiseaux de la Famille des Mor-
monides,” published in the “ Bulletin de la Societe Zoologique de France ”
(December, 1879, pp. 1-68). The species treated by Dr. Bureau are
Fratercula arctica (including “ des differentes formes que revet le Frater¬
cula arctica suivant les regions qu’il habite ”), F. corniculata , Lunda cir¬
rhata, “ Chimerina cornuta ” (= Ceratorhina monocerata ), “ Omhria ” psitta¬
cula, Simorhynchus cristatellus , and S. kamtschaticus. In Phaleris psittacula
it seems that the nasal shield (“ cuirasse nasale ”) alone is deciduous..—

R. R.] Bull, N.O.O. 5iApril, 1880, p. /ZC -/Z 7-

An Ornithologist’s Summer in Labrador
M. Abbott Frazar.

Fratercula arctica , Puffin. At the entrance of
Wolf Bay is Wolf island, which accommodates
the largest colony of Puffins I heard of on the
whole coast. The island coveres an area of
about two or three hundred acres and the
whole surface is covered with Puffin bur¬
rows. In many places they are so thick that
one cannot step without sinking the foot into
one and as likely as not come down onto the
back of the inmate, but it never seems to hnrt
them as they scramble out and away they go.

| These burrows look from the outside like a
I Woodchuck hole and are about the exact size,

| but they are seldom over four feet deep and
generally take an abrupt curve near the open¬
ing and run along usually near the surface of
the ground. Several that 1 opened curved in
such a way that the nest, which is an enlarged
cavity at the end of the burrow with a little
straw laid on the bottom, was exactly under
the entrance and only a thin crust of soil be¬
tween the two. My method of opening them
was to put in my arm above the elbow and
throw up the soil, then advance it again and
the second time generally made the nest acces¬
sible and almost invaribly the parent bird was
found sitting. About a dozen nests I examined
held two eggs and the balance of about a thou¬
sand, contained but one each; the greater part
of the eggs were a plain, dull white, others
were more or less thickly spotted with con¬
cealed chocolate markings deepening on some
into reddish-brown, and about a dozen speci¬
mens were covered with deep and distinct
brown spots and blotches, the spots varying
on many to distinct tracings such as is seen j
on Murre eggs.

During my stay at Wolf Bay and while the
Puffins were laying, we had a heavy three day’s !
storm, the day after which I visited the island j
and every burrow was flooded and in many of
them I could see the eggs floating around, J
showing they were somewhat incubated, and
yet I think it made no difference in tjie hatch¬
ing of the eggs, for afterwards there was
hardly a burrow without its young bird.
While the holes were drying out I noticed
a great many birds plucked green grass and
carried it in, presumedly, to raise the
out of the mire.

O.&O. XII. Jan.1887 .p.jZ- i.

eggs

B ULL . SOC. ZOOL.DE Prance ,1 879

FRATERCULA ARCTICA
Forme Annoricana

Forme Islandica

f Jslancie

y,s/andc-

' .

Terra - neiwe

ChncuicLj

f Sud-Oitesl dir. Crrre/ilan tl

Forme

%-9

Labrador

glacialis

&j‘oenlcuu2.

PL.I

L.BUREAU DEL.ET LITH ,

IMP.BECQUET PARIS

A Crested Auk on the Massachusetts Coast. — While on a recent collec¬
ting trip to Chatham, Mass., I was asked by Mr. A. W. Baker, an intelli¬
gent and trustworthy gunner and fisherman of that place, to give him the
name of a bird killed at Chatham during the winter of i 884 -’ 8 s, which he
described as being very much like the Little Auk or Dovekie in foun and
color, though a little larger, and having a tuft of narrow, pointed feathers
on the front of the head, curving upward and forward. From his minute
description of tne bird it was evidently one of the Little Crested Auks,
apparently Simorkynckus cristatellus — a. bird he had otherwise never seen
or heard of, but which he very accurately described. That the bird was
one ofthe Little Crested Auks there can be no doubt.

The occurrence of such a bird on the Massachusetts coast is of couise
entirely accidental and surprising. We have, however, the Tufted Puffin
(Lunda cirrhata) recorded from Greenland and the coast of Maine, the
Black-throated Guillemot ( Synthliborhamphus antiquus ) from Wisconsin
(cf. Sennett, Auk, I, p. 98 ), and the Paroquet Auk ( Cyclorrhynchus
psittaculus) from Sweden, showing that these Northwest Coast species of
Alcidie are more or less given to wandering to points far remote fiom theii
proper habitats. — J. A. Allen, American Museum of Natural History ,

New York City. Aak, 2, Oct. , 1885. p. 3

The Ancient Murrelet (Synthliboramphus antiquus ) in Ontario.—

The only two Ontario records of the Dovekie (Alle alle) prove, on examina¬
tion of the birds, to be Ancient Murrelets. The first was recorded by Mr.

J. H. Ames in ‘ The Auk 1902, p. 94, as follows: “ A Dovekie (Alle alle)
was shot Nov. 18, 1901, by H. Macdonald, a fisherman, two miles out in
the lake from Toronto, Ontario. Mr. John Maughan, a taxidermist, now
has it in his possession. I was present when he opened the stomach, which
was empty except for a few small fish bones. It was a female and evidently
a young bird, as there was no white on the secondaries and the back was
slaty instead of a black.” On turning up my Journal I find that I too had
noted the absence of white on the wings and the slaty-blue of the back,

I also noticed that the beak was very small and the bird itself large for a
Dovekie but had no suspicion of the real identity of the bird and repeated
the record in my ‘ Birds of Toronto ’ (Auk, 1906, p. 441). Recently
through the kindness of Mr. Maughan I have been able to compare his
bird with a series of Ancient Murrelets in my collection, the Toronto bird
is much like a female from Howkan, Alaska, April 12, 1897, but lacks the
long white feathers of the sides of the head and nape, the plumbeous rump
and upper tail feathers are obscured by dusky, the body feathers under the
wings plumbeous instead of black, the chin and throat sooty on only the
upper half, and the beak narrower and weaker.

Mr. Maughan’s data give the length as 10.25 in., spread 18.5in.; weight
4 oz., feet light bluish gray, webs darker.

The second bird was recorded by Mr. Everett P. Wheeler in ‘ Bird Lore ’,
1909, p. 174, as follows, “ November 15, 1908, I found on the Canadian
shore of Lake Erie, about seven miles from Buffalo, the body of a Dovekie
(Alle alle). The skin was identified by Mr. Savage and Dr. Cummings of
the Buffalo Academy of Science and is still in my possession. The specimen
was a male, entirely free from subcutaneous fat, and the crop was empty.”
Wishing to know what had become of this bird I wrote to Mr. James
Savage of Buffalo who very kindly put me in communication with Mr.
Wheeler and in September 1910, the latter presented me with what re¬
mained of the specimen explaining that it had been almost completely
destroyed by moths. Fortunately the wings are perfect enough to be
measured, there are a few feathers on the head, and the beak and feet are
uninjured, and the bird can be identified with certainty. There is one
other record of the Ancient Murrelet in the region of the Great Lakes, one
taken at Lake Koshkonong, Wisconsin, late in October, 1882, and recorded
by George B. Dennett (Auk, 1884, p. 98). Of the many accidental
migrants to the Great Lakes hardly another species has so restricted or
remote a range. The Ancient Murrelet is confined in summer to the North
Pacific; breeding in the Aleutians most to the Commander Islands and
Kamschatka thence south to the Kurile Islands, apparently not entering
Bering Sea proper. In winter it ranges south to Japan, and more rarely
from Alaska along the British Columbian coast, and south to California.

In view of the restricted range it is difficult to account for the presence of
the Murrelets on the Great Lakes, if the birds are young as they likely are,

Mr. A. C. Bent’s suggestion that they were stragglers to the Arctic Ocean
and becoming lost were carried through the Northwest Passage with the
ice that moves eastward with the prevailing current, is not improbable.
Against this is the fact as Mr. Bent points out, that the Arctic ice has
always proved an effective barrier to prevent the eastward wanderings of
Bering Sea forms, none of the Auklets or Murrelets having even near
relatives on the east coast of Arctic America. Once into Hudson’s Bay it is
not difficult for a sea bird to reach the Great Lakes.—J. H. Fleming,
Toronto, Out. * X ft .^JUf / ?/ 2. ft*. 3 %%

1890 .

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Black Guillemot (Gepphus grijlle). This small
Guillemot breeds very abundantly in certain
places on the bold western coast, laying their
eggs in all sorts of out of the way places which
offer shelter above high water mark. Not be¬
ing in particular quest of this species we spent
but a short time among them at a favored breed¬
ing ground, the western coast of Wood’s Is¬
land, where we found them June 11th, nesting
in countless numbers. This island is high and
wooded, and lies to the southeast of Grand

Manan proper, and is about half way between
the latter and the Three Islands. On the east¬
ern side the land slopes gradually down to the
pebbly beach, while the southern and western
shores are lined witli massive perpendicular
cliffs which rise in sheer ascent three to four
hundred feet from the surf-beaten base. For
grand and rugged coast scenery this spot is un-
; surpassed on Grand Manan. At the foot,
and from holes and cavities all the way up
these cliffs the Black Guillemots whirr away as
we pounded on the turf above. In a few mo-
I ments the water was alive with them; they
venture out but a short distance, disporting
and preening themselves, all the while keeping
up a plaintive clucking note. The eggs, two or
three in number, are placed on the bare rock,
or occasionally hollowed out in the dirt and
lined with chips of shale. The boulders and
rocks which lay in every sort of inexplicable
positions and postures, as if an earthquake had
shaken them from their original foundation,
offered excellent nooks and corners for the
shelter of the nests of C. gnjlle. The eggs are
sometimes inadvertantly laid too near the j
water’s edge and washed away by the incoming
tide. A small subterranean cave which we reach¬
ed after a tedious crawling over the sharp rocks
on hands and knees, contained several nests
which we found by candle light. They are ex¬
ceedingly skillful in hiding away their nests,
and one may poke about the cliffs for some
time ere he gets the “ hang ” of finding their
gggs. As it was, 1 failed to acquire this art,
and came away with little to show for the
trouble.^ & O. XII.Nov. 1887 p .Ilf-lffO \

Birds within Ten Miles of Point
de Monts, Can, Ooinsau &s Merriam

Uria grylle. Black Guillemot; Sea Pigeon. —A common
resident, breeding not only here, but even on the islands off the mouth of
the Saguenay, an hundred and fifty miles farther up the St. Lawrence.

Buli,N.Q.Q, 7,Oct, 1882, p,24

An Ornithologist’s Summer in Labrador
M. Abbott Frazar.

Gepphus grylle, Black Guillemot. Rather
common but nowhere numerous. According
to my experience this species is not at all
gregarious except when drawn together by
force of circumstances.

O.&Q. XII. Jan. 1887, P, 3

Birds, Haute Island, Bay of Fundy,

26,1887. W. L. Bishop, Kontville,hi. fc

Sea Pigeon, Uria grylle-, common.

O.&O. XII. Sept. 1887 p.14-5

Breeding Dates of Birds in Kings

County,N.S. WatsonL.Bishop.

Black Guillemot. July 3.

O.&O. XIII. Mar. 1888 p.45

Birds of Magdalen islands.

Dr. L.B.Bishop.

4- Cepphus grylle. Black Guillemot. —Breeds abundantly in scat¬
tered colonies on most of the islands of the group. None were seen on
the Bird Rocks.

Atxk, VI. April, 1889. p. 145

Birds of Toronto, Ontario.

By James H.Fleming.

Pt.I, Water Birds.

Auk, XXIII, Out., 1906, p.44I.

6 . Cepphus grylle. Black Guillemot. — One record, a female taken
December 19, 1895. It is possible that this bird is C. mandtii, as its
beak is small, and the plumage very white. The specimen is in a sealed
case and a closer examination is necessary.

Dwight, u miner i3 irde of
Prince Edward Island.

Cepphus grylle. Black Guillemot. — The ‘Sea Pigeons’ used to breed
in gieat numbers in the clifis at various points along the coast. I have no
doubt that they still do so in smaller numbers, although the only positive
evidence I have is the fact that I saw a dozen or more of the birds about a
cliff near New London on the north shore of the island, and-heard the
young ‘squealing’ in inaccessible crevices. This cliff, extending for
perhaps half a mile, is probably the highest on the island, and is almost
sheer to the water seventy or eighty feet below. No beach here intervenes
between its base and the waves which in times of storm beat so fiercely
against it that it is justly dreaded by mariners as one of the most danger¬
ous spots on the north shore of the island. Its crumbling face, to the very
brink of which the green fields above extend, affords ledges and seams
where the ‘Sea Pigeons’find secure nesting places, and are said to be
“plenty.” I devoted only one day to exploring this locality and did not
see many birds. They were in small parties or pairs, floating upon or
skimming over the water, or quietly sitting upon some ledge, the white
wing-patch conspicuous against the red background of rock as viewed
from a boat. Their black bodies were comparatively inconspicuous owing
to shadows. At Tignish a boy told me he had found a nest the previous
year in the low bluffs of the north shore, and I think they may breed in the
high cliffs southwest of North Cape, although I could not make thorough
seaich. I also saw a pair at East Point where again are high cliffs, sixty
feet or more in height.

Auk X, Jan, 1893. p. U~7~

Birds of N.E. coast of Labrador
by Henry B. Bigelow .

4 . Cepphus grylle. Black Guillemot; Pigeon. — The Black Guille¬
mots were, with one exception, the most numerous of all the sea fowl.
They still breed in great abundance on almost all the suitable islands, and
are killed in great numbers for food. I was unable to discover any trace
whatever of Mandt’s Guillemot, although Turner reports it “abundant”
on the east coast.

Auk, XIX, Jan., 1902, p.26.

1 Read before the Nuttall Ornithological Club, December 4, 1905. rAuk
172 2 Auk, Vol. IV, 1887, p. 13. LApril

3 Auk, Vol. VIII, 1891, p. 164, and Vol. XII, 1895, p. 89.

4 From Blomidon to Smoky. Boston, 1894.

NOTES ON THE BIRDS OF CAPE BRETON ISLAND. 1

BY CHARLES W. TOWNSEND, M. D.

The following notes on the birds of Cape Breton were made
during a visit to that island between the 17th of August and the
5th of September, 1905. This region has already been visited in
summer and its birds noted by Dr. J. Dwight, Jr., 2 F. H. Allen, 3
and the late Frank Bolles. 4 Dr. Dwight and Mr. Allen confined
their observations to the Bras d’Or region.

My own trip was by water to the island and through the Bras d’Or
Lakes, and on foot from South Gut near Baddeck, “down north”
as far as Neil’s Harbor; also by boat from Ingonish to Sydney,
and up the Myra River, with a drive through the eastern part of
the island.

Ninety-eight different species of birds were noted; a number of
which at this late date were of course migrants. The following
twenty-one species may be added to the lists above referred to.

Cepphus grylle. Black Guillemot. — Common along the
shore from Englishtown to Neil’s Harbor. Aj*-.

/y. a .

Of course, even in a very mild winter, no great number of birds
such as I have just been mentioning are found. No one notices
them except the collector, and he only a stray one or two now
and then. Some other instances of such wandering it might be
well to speak of. In January, 1880 , a friend of mine was skat¬
ing on a pond where a number of men were engaged in cutting
ice, when he noticed a curious looking bird sitting on the edge
of the ice in a rather dazed manner, not heeding at all the
presence of the workmen. He went for a gun, returned, and
shot the bird, which I ascertained was a Black Guillemot . There
had been a severe northeast storm the day before, and the poor
creature had evidently got lost.

BuliN.O.O, 8 , July. 1883, p, t .

\

Birds of Bristol County, Mass,

F.W. Andros.

Cepphus grylle (Linn.), Black Guillemot.

Winter visitant, not common.

O.&o. XII. Sept. 1887 p.137

31

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Black Guillemot. (Uria grylle.) A specimen of the
above was shot in Narragansett Bay, near Bullock’s Point,
R. I., by Mr. S. W. Thayer of Pawtucket, and sent to me.
This is the only one of this species I have seen from that
locality.— F. B. W.

O.&O. XI. Jan. 1886 . p. H>.

Black Guillemot in Connecticut.—Through the kindness of Mr. Gurdon
Trumbull, I received in the flesh a male Cepphus grylle taken at Stony
Creek, Conn., in December, 1887 . So far as I know there is no previous
record of this species for the State.— John H. Sage, Portland , Conn.

Auk, VII. July, 1890, P. X*3

Albinism and Melanism in North
American Birds* Ruthven Deane,

Uriaj grylle^t-*** ,/« fV / £-*

A * r <ds_ f

Bali, N.O.O, 1, April, 1876, p. 24

Albinism and M< lar it m in ! or- h

Amsrioan Birds* Ruthven Deane,

Bull N.O.O. 1,April, 1876, p .23

The Winter Change of Plumage of the Black Guillemot.—
Years ago, when I spent my winters North, I had specimens of the Black
Guillemot (Uria grylle) sent me in midwinter in full dark summer
plumage. I was inclined to think some did not change into light plumage,
but from specimens sent me this winter I find that the change is very
early, and some are in full summer plumage by the 1st of February. One
specimen, shot the first week in February, had but few light feathers.
This winter change appears different from the fall moult, when the bird loses
all his pinion-feathers, so that it cannot fly, since in winter the feathers
appear to change from white to black without much of a moult. — George
A. Boardman, Milltown, N. B.

Bull. N.O.O. 5, July, 1880, p. / <jf O .

c x.

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Birds -within Ten Miles of Foirr
de Monts, Can, Comean & Merriait

146. Lomvia troile. Foolish Guillemot ; Murre. —Like the Dove-
kie, the Murre is sometimes very abundant here in winter, while during
other winters it does not occur at all. It is not wary, and does not even
know enough to keep out of the way of dogs along the shore. It is well
named the “Foolish” Guillemot, for both its habits and appearance deserve
this appellation. In fact it looks like a perfect idiot, swimming over
on one side as if one leg were broken, and staring vacantly at its enemies
without attempting to escape. Its tout ensemble is stupid and gawky.

During the winter of 1875 they were so exceedingly abundant that Mr.
Comeau shot about a thousand for their feathers, and his dog caught over
fifty. They were all in very poor flesh, some being little more than
animated skeletons, and a great many died and were washed ashore.

Built N, O.O, 7, Get, 1882, p, 242

VlUeO

The late records in the Bulletin by Mr. Harry Merrill and
others, regarding the rarity of Lomvia trcile, prompt me to add
mv quota of information, which will support the facts alieady
recorded, as I have known of but two examples ot this species
occurring in this vicinity in ten years. There is not, however,
near St. John, any good collecting ground for this class of sea¬
birds ; for many species reported as common at the mouth of the
Bay of Fundy have not been taken here.

O //\

Bird* of Magdalen Islands.

Dr. L.B.Bishop.

5. Uria troile. Murre. —Common. Breeds on Bryon Island and the
Bird Rocks. About a dozen specimens of the lately eliminated species
U. ringvia , or, as at present considered, phase of plumage of U. troile ,
were breeding on the cliffs of Great Bird Rock. As far as we were able to
judge from the limited time at our disposal they were in pairs, and seemed
to be entitled to the rank of a distinct species. An egg obtained by Mr.
Robbins from one of these peculiarly marked birds could not be distin¬
guished from those of the other Murres. April, 188S. P- ’45

452. Observations of the Nesting Habits of the Guillemots at Bird
Rock [Gulf of St Lawrence]. By Col. N. S. Goss. Trans. Kansas
Acad, of Science , VIII, 1881-82, pp. 59, 60.—From differences observed in
the eggs and habits of the birds the writer believes that Lomvia ringvia
will prove to be not an individual phase merely of L. troile , as now gen-
erally held.

An Ornithologist’s Summer in Labrador
M. Abbott Frazar.

Uria troile , Murre. Very common but rap¬
idly diminishing. This species generally breed
on the islands furthest out to sea and seldom
make any effort at concealment, laying their
eggs generally upon flat surfaces; often so
close together that they get confounded and
try to steal each others eggs. But quite of¬
ten I have found them away underneath the
rocks on shelves where I have had to crawl
on my stomach and then reach still further
in with a forked stick to draw them out. I
noticed quite a number of instances where
eggs had been laid in little hollows among
the rocks which had afterwards become full
of water so as to nearly cover the eggs; how¬
ever, I saw quite a number of birds sitting
upon eggs which were in just such positions;
whether they would hatch or not I cannot j
say, but I certainly never took an egg which
was in the least bit addled. I saw no evidence
of their ever laying over one egg at a time
and the birds pick but one bare spot on their
breasts.

Q t &0. 3-

Birds of N.E. co'.st of Labrador
by Henry B. Bigelow.

5- Uria troile. Murre.— We found the Murres fairly common to Ham-
1 ton Inlet, north of which we saw very few. A large colony was reported
to us, however, at Eclipse Harbor. Probably no bird has suffered more
from the depredations of the eggers than this, which is in merely a rem¬
nant of its former numbers.

Auk, XIX, Jan., 1902, p.26.

Ck f -^ .

£***£$£* - Auk, XIX, April., 1902, pp.

Birds of Toronto, Ontario.
By James K.Fleming.
Pt.I, Water Birds.

Hypothetical List.

AuK, XXIII, Oct., 1903, p.452.

2. Uria troile. Murre. — A specimen recorded by me is an error . 5
A careful examination of the printed records prove they are based on hear¬
say evidence, and as far as I know no specimens exist from any where on
the Great Lakes. -, C^r. i C—

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tor-da ) on the New England Coast.—Among some birds received by Mr.
F. B. Webster from a gunner at Eastport, Maine, December 27, 1S86, I
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only a few days.

U/^YL A . A f 1-W A* i— f

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Auk, 4 , April 1887 . p. /$-£

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Birds of Bristol County, Mass.
F. W, Andros.

TJria troile (Linn.), Murre. Rarely recorded,
off our coast in winter.

Albinism and Mel&niem in North
American Birds* Ru three Deane,

An albino

L. troile is in the Museum collection at Toronto, Canada.

BulLN.O.O. 1,April, 1876, p,23

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Birds Worth Atlantic, Been by
Hagerup. Chamberlain*

A large number of some species of Auk was
I seen in the North Sea, between 14 ° and 8°
west longitude, that were supposed to be
I Mjjrres. Numerous single birds and some
small flocks were seen.

• Oj&Q, XVI. Jan. 1891, p -l4

Birds Worth Atlantic, seen by
HageruP. Chamberlain, ^

Brunnich’s Murres, also singly anil in small
| flocks, were passed about 100 English miles
south of Cape Farewell.

0,&0. XVI, Jan, 1891, P*I4

Birds of Southern Greenland, from
Mss. of A.Hagerup. M.Chamberlain.

Uria lomvia. Brunnich’s Murre— An abundant winter visitor, ap¬
pearing on the fjord in flocks of one hundred to a thousand birds. They
are generally found swimming over very deep water, much deeper than
that upon which the Eiders gathe'rtoo deep to admit of their going, to
the bottom for food. When approached they usually escape hy swimming
or diving, and but seldom take to the wing. They are very fond of sitting
near the edge of the ice, but are never seen to stand while resting either
on the ice or land.

In the autumn of 18S6 the first comers were observed on November 9,
and during the following day large numbers appeared. On. April 16,
1887, they were yet numerous, though somewhat diminished, but
by the 25th of that month the greater part had left. A few remained
through May, and on the fourth day of June some groups of two to five
individuals were observed. In 1886 the last small flocks, numbering
twenty to thirty, were seen on May 30.

Aw*. vi. July, 1880 . P- 213

GENERAL NOTES.

An Abundance of Murres in the Environs of Quebec.—Since the 15th
of November last, numerous flocks of Murres 1 have been seen flying over
the river before Quebec; hundreds have been shot by sportsmen and
some have even been killed with sticks near the wharves. The cold in
December has been from 15 0 to 25 0 Reaumur, but it did not seem to
inconvenience them. Several, however, that had left the wat^j' to rest
on floating ice found themselves unable to remove on account of
their wet feet freezing to it; two live specimens thus captured have been
brought to me. The presence of these birds is a novelty here, as they are
never met with in the environs of the city. Several have even strayed
away into the mountains about ten miles from the river; they were
exhausted and starving. After the 20th of December their numbers con¬
siderably decreased till the 8th of January, when the last were seen.

Their presence is probably due to hurricanes in the Gulf of St. Lawrence
driving them towards the southwest.—C. E. Dionne, Quebec, Can.

1 [A specimen sent to Dr. Jonathan Dwight, Jr., proved to be Uria. lomvia. —Edd.]

Auk XI. April. 1894 p. 17<J

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6

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Birds of Southern Greenland, from
Mss. of A.Hafiferup. M. Chamberlain.

Uria lomvia. Brunnich’s Mukre.— An abundant winter visitor, ap¬
pearing on the fjord in flocks of one hundred to a thousand birds. They
are generally found swimming over very deep water, much deeper than
that upon which the Eiders gather — too deep to admit of their going to
the bottom for food. When approached they usually escape by swimming
or diving, and but seldom take to the wing. They are very fond of sitting
near the edge of the ice, but are never seen to stand while resting either
on the ice or land.

In the autumn of 1886 the first comers were observed on November 9,
and during the following day large numbers appeared. On April 16,
1887, they were yet numerous, though somewhat diminished, but
by the 25th of that month the greater part had left. A few remained
through May, and on the fourth day of June some groups of two to five
individuals were obseryed. In 18S6 the last small flocks, numbering
twenty to thirty, were seen on May 30.

GENERAL NOTES.

An Abundance of Murres in the Environs of Quebec. — Since the 15th
of November last, numerous flocks of Murres 1 have been seen flying over
the river before Quebec; hundreds have been shot by sportsmen and
some have even been killed with sticks near the wharves. The cold in
December has been from 15 0 to 25 0 Reaumur, but it did not seem to
inconvenience them. Several, however, that had left the wat^j* to rest
on floating ice found themselves unable to remove on account of
their wet feet freezing to it; two live specimens thus captured have been
brought to me. The presence of these birds is a novelty here, as they are
never met with in the environs of the city. Several have even strayed
away into the mountains about ten miles from the river; they were
exhausted and starving. After the 20th of December their numbers con¬
siderably decreased till the 8th of January, when the last were seen.
Their presence is probably due to hurricanes in the Gulf of St. Lawrence
driving them towards the southwest.— C. E. Dionne, Quebec, Can.

1 [A specimen sent to Dr. Jonathan Dwight, Jr., proved to be Uria Lomvia. — EDI).]

Birds of N.E. coast of Labrador
* IT . , °y Henry B. Bigelow.

« - Of about the same occurrence

■ pci naps even less common.

Auk, XIX, Jan., 1902, p.26.

1 ‘The Unusual Migration of Brilnnich’s Murre in Eastern North America/ (Pro¬
ceedings IV International Ornithological Congress, London, 1905).

Birds of Toronto, Ontario.

By James K.Fleming.

Pt.I, Water Birds.

Aua, XXIII, Oct., 1906, p.441

7. Uria lomvia. Brunnich’s Murre. — In 1893 this species entered
Lake Ontario in considerable numbers; the first appeared at Toronto
November 29, and they increased in numbers through December, all event¬
ually dying of starvation. For the next ten years the birds were noted
annually in November and December, but in decreasing numbers, none
surviving very long. The migration of this maritime species into the fresh
waters of the Great Lakes was so remarkable and accompanied by so many
unusual features that I have recorded elsewhere a fuller account . 1

dfc

fr>v) u-tscCL

Lomvia arra brunnichi and L. troile in New England. —Mr.

Merrill’s note on these birds in the July number of this Bulletin (p.
igi) was a timely correction of a long established error, for the common
Murre found in winter oft' the New England coast is, as he has stated,

Lomvia arra brunnichi , and not L. troile. At different times during the
past ten years I have examined specimens from various points along the
shores of Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts , and all of the nu¬
merous birds that have come under my notice have proved to be Brunnich’s
Guillemots. Indeed the example of L. troile mentioned by Mr. Merrill
is the only New England one of which I have any knowledge. Dr. Coues
says that the young of L. troile in their first winter plumage “are col¬
ored precisely like the adults, but may be always distinguished by their
much shorter and slenderer bills which are in great part light colored
(yellowish).”* If the latter peculiarity be constant it will afford a ready
mark of distinction between young of the two species, for the bill in
young briinnichi , so far as I have seen, is invariably black.— William
Brewster. Cambridge, Maes, N> Q 1&Q2 p< 6 2 .

Lomvia arra briinnichi (Scl.) Ridgtv. Brunnich’s Guillemot; and
Lomvia troile (. Linn .) Brandt. Common Guillemot. — These birds
are found on our coast in the winter season, Brunnich’s Guillemot being
quite numerous, while the Common Guillemot is more rare. Some idea
of their comparative numbers may perhaps be obtained from the fact that
during the past two years I have procured some thirty specimens from
different points on our coast (from Grand Manan to South Bristol) and
out of this number only one was a representative of the Common Guille¬
mot (/,. troile .) The experience of Mr. N. A. Eddy of this city is exactly
similar, and out of about an equal number of specimens he has obtained
but a single example of troile. Other collectors in this vicinity who have
received numbers of Guillemots have not obtained a specimen of Lomvia
troile.

Bull N. O. O, 7 , July, 1882, p, / 9/.

Auk, 4, April 1887, p, /C#

^’7 Cv r /_, , , . , ^ / •„/. '

* 7 one Brflnnich’s Murre ( Uriallomvia),)

I he Biiinnich s Murre, usually an abundant visitor in
the late autumn, has been apparently nearly wanting the past season.—
William Brewster, Cambridge , Mass.

Q 0

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Brewer, Me.
1890.

A (thick-billed^ Guillemot) was picked up alive on the

railroad track in January, over sixty miles north of the nearest
open water and a hundred miles north of where they were ever known
to have been taken. Some three years ago one was picked up on
the rialroad track here and brought to me alive. It was in Janu¬
ary, and the weather was bitterly cold. These are the only two
cases that I know of one's coming within forty miles of here,
though Petrels occasionally and little Auks often alight in au-
turml ft on our ponds and lakes.

Letter of Manly Hardy, April 9.

Brewer, Me.

As to the MuHes, I saw the one taken at Brewer when alive,,
and it was mounted for Dr. C.P. Thornes of this place. It was bit¬
terly cold weather when it was taken, 10 to 20 below zero. Mr. Jo n
Clayton of Lincoln, We. mountdd the other.

Letter of l|4anly Hardy)

/ l

GZ.

(Uria loinvia'), so far as my knowledge goes was first found here in
December, 1892, at which time specimens were easily procured and added
to the cabinet. They came in large numbers to St. Albans Bay, an arm
of Lake Champlain, some three miles from town, during the winter of
1892, returning in the winter of 1893, when a specimen was shot on the
13th of December. In January, 1894, another specimen was shot in Rich-
ford, an inland town bordering on the Canada line. In the past Decem¬
ber they came by thousands, the lake seeming, in places, fairly swarming
with them. One sportsman shot 200, and each gunner brought more or
less of them to town, many of which were taken alive. Those who have
shot them say they are so tame one can almost catch them in their hands.
They are in poor condition, apparently starving, and very many have
been frozen into the ice and chopped out by fishermen.

^ | tv. "^L«-<£^-->^—

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Several Brunnicli’s Murre /*« • 4 AA-'

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Birds of Bristol County, Mass.
F. W..Andros.

TJria lomvia (Linn.), Brunnich’s Murre. Win-
I ter visitant, occasionally seen off the coast.

0,&0. XII.Sept. 1887 p.131

Auk, XIV, Jan., 1897 , p./dD

/ S ^6 ,

Una lomvia. Two Brunnich’s Murres were taken at different points
near Springfield on Dec. 19. A heavy gale had just previously prevailed
on the coast.— Robert O. Morris, Springfield , A/«.<w.

'—->-

Uu tV-

£5

1005- BMunich's Guillemot in Rhode Island. [By 1
Ibid., p. 6. — One was shot “between Warwick Neck Light
Island. Dec. 26, 18S3. The first specimens we have ever k
Narragansett Bav.” Ten others are reported as taken later.

p . s). ' Sanfl. Notes Nat* His, I Yi«i-

T. T. Jencks.j
and Patience
nown taken in
(Ibid ., No. 2 y

GENERAL NOTES.

Briinnich’s Murre in Connecticut.—The occurrence of Briinnich’s Murre
(Uria lomvia) along the Connecticut coast during the past winter (1S90-
91) in large numbers, seems worthy of notice, since the species was not
recorded in Linsley’s orMerriam’s list, nor have I seen any Connecticut
record-

On February 7 I picked up a dead specimen on the beach at Bridge¬
port and a few days later three more. The finding of these specimens
was the first indication I had of the occurrence of the bird, as I had been
absent from home during the winter until the above mentioned date.

At New Haven I saw a stuffed specimen in the store of Folsom & Co.
and learned that it was secured at Saugatuck Harbor by Mr. D. C.
Sanford, a government surveyor, who had also secured another at that
place.

Mr. W. F. Davis of Stony Creek writes me that hundreds could be seen
there from the 1st to the 10th of January, so tame they could be taken in
the hand; they could fly but seemed hungry and fatigued, some be¬
ing found five miles from the salt water; he thought many died of
starvation He adds that he used to see great numbers of them when a
boy, at Nantucket Shoals, where they were called Murres.

At Stratford I found a stuffed specimen in the village drug store and
another in the possession of Mr. L. B. Beers. They had been seen in
large numbers and attracted general attention. They were described as
very tame but no one that I talked with seemed to think that they had
starved. Mr. Theodore Judson, keeper of the Stratford Light, assured me
that he had seen the bird occasionally before, but had regarded it as rare.

Mr. Win. H. Hayt, an associate member of the A. O. U., writes me
from Stamford as follows : “The Murres were plentiful here from Dec. 20
to about Feb. 10. A large number were shot. Fourteen specimens fell
under my own observation. They all seemed to be in the last stages of
starvation. One was found by the road side at some distance from the
shore where it had evidently fallen from exhaustion. The stomachs of
those which I examined contained nothing but sand.

I received information from several other persons at different places
but think the above sufficient to indicate the extent of the movement.
As all the specimens I examined were Briinnich’s Murre, I refer all the
notes to that species.

Since writing the above I have been informed by Mr. D. C. Sanford
that from Penfield Reef Light House, off Black Rock, to the mouth of
Saugatuck River “there were thousands of them, and hundreds weie
shot off Saugatuck.”—C. K. Averill, Jr., Bridgeport, Conn.

-Auk, 8, July , 189L p. 307-30V

Auk, XII, July, 1895, PP-f"*"-

Notes on Some Connecticut Birds.—Una lomvia.—A few of these
northern birds entered the Connecticut River in December, 1894. Two

were killed at Essex on the nth of that month and sent to me. At Port¬
land, three were seen Dec. 14, and five on the 22d—specimens being taken
at each date which are in my collection. I have never seen Briinnich’s
Murre in this immediate vicinity before.

A- ^5*-, C

Brunnich’s Murre (Uria lomvia ) in Connecticut.— I have a specimen
of this species which was shot at Rocky Hill, Conn., Nov. lS, 1893.

The man who shot it said it was very tame and that it permitted a very
near approach. On dissection it was found to be in very lean condition.

This is the first occurrence of this bird in this locality so far as I can
learn.— Willard E. Treat, East Hartford, Conn ^ X//, ' 77 '

Bird Notes from Long Id. Wm.Dutoher

8. Lomvia arra bruennichi ( Sck.) Ridgw. Brunnich’s Guillemot-
—Between January 8 and March 24, 1884, I obtained twelve specimens
and noted about thirty additional individuals of this species from the
south side of Long Island. A large majority of the specimens obtained
were either found dead on the beach, generally frozen, or else so weak
from hunger that they were easily captured by hand and died within a few
hours. The only exception to the above was two that were shot by a
gunner at Rockaway, who had them come to his Duck decoys. Dr. C.

Hart Merriam mentions the same circumstance of starvation in connec¬
tion with the Foolish Guillemot in his ‘List of Birds ascertained to occur
within ten miles from Point de Monts, Province of Quebec, Canada.’*
“They were all in very poor flesh, some being little more than animated
skeletons, and a great many died and were washed ashore.”

The notes accompanying the specimens indicate that this species is
a very uncommon winter visitor to the western end of Long Island, and
an irregular winter visitor to the extreme eastern portion of the Island.

From a correspondent at Ditch Plain, which is very near the eastern
extremity of the Island, I get the following note : “The bird sent was
picked up dead on the beach after an easterly storm. At such times we
have quite often found them, and have also seen them alive. I think
they are driven on our shore by severe northeast gales, as after such
storms is about the only time we find them.” Another correspondent,
from Shinnecock Bay, which is about thirty miles west of Ditch Plain,
writes : “They are rather a rare bird on this coast, but during the winter
in severe storms you will see one occasionally.” A correspondent from
Smith’s Point, which is about midway between New York City and Mon-
tank Point, says, “Do not see them every winter. They appear to be a
very dumb bird. I picked this one up on the beach alive, and was going
to send it to you that way, but it died before I could do so. The Captain
of our Station says ‘to the best of his knowledge he has never seen one
before.’ He has been in the Life-Saving Service twelve years.” At South
Oyster Bay and Rockaway, which are but a few miles from the western
end of the Island, the gunners and Life-Saving men had never seen them
before, and at the former place the single one shot was considered so rare
that it was preserved and mounted. Atlk, 2 , Jan. , 1886. p, 3V'3^.

* Bulletin of the Nuttall Ornithological Club, Vol. VII, p. 242.

GENERAL NOTES.

Auk, XII, April, 1895, P./77-

Briinnich’s Murre in Oneida County, N. Y.—The first week of Decem¬
ber last, a specimen of Brunnich’s Murre (Uria lomvia') was caught alive,
a few miles south of this place, by a school girl, on the road between
Lime Kiln Creek and Black River Canal. The bird was kept in confine¬
ment for a couple of days, when it died. It was offered meat, but refused
to eat. As near as I can ascertain the bird was captured December 5,
1894.

Late in December I obtained possession of another specimen of this
same species. This one was captured alive by a farmer, about December
15, a few miles south of where the other was caught. It lived but two
days in confinement. The stomachs of both birds were empty. Mr.
Egbert Bagg informs me that a specimen of this same Murre was caught
alive at Utica, December 24. This is the first record of Uria lomvia from
Oneida County. — William S. Johnson, Boonvjlle, N T.

GENERAL NOTES.

Auk, XII, July, 1895, P

Brunnich’s Murre near Johnstown, New York.— I recently examined a
specimen of Brunnich’s Murre ( Uria lomvia ), that was taken about thirty
miles north of this place. The bird seemed somewhat exhausted, and was
captured alive.— Donald Fraser, Johnstown, N. T.

Auk. XII, July, 1395, P. 3/Z-

Some Rare Birds of Recent Occurrence near Buffalo, N. Y. — Uria lomvia.

Brunnicii’s Murre. — Four stragglers of this species were seen here last
fall; two of which were captured. One was shot near Irving on or about
December i, 1894, by ‘Jake’ Koch, a sportsman of local fame, who had it
mounted and placed in the rooms of the Acacia Club in this city. The
second was shot in Buffalo harbor by a gunner named Snyder who says
that it is one of three that were flying past him at the time. This latter
is now in my collection. Both were young birds which probably strayed
from the coast via the St. Lawrence River and Lake Ontario.

Mcllwraith recorded in his ‘Birds of Ontario’ (p. 38) the capture of
nearly fifty of these birds in various parts of the Province late in the fall
of 1893, and it would be interesting to know if there were any considerable
numbers of stragglers last fall. A short time ago Mr. J. L. Davidson of
Lockport informed me that a correspondent of his shot four strange look¬
ing Ducks in Jefferson County which possibly were of this species. And
recently ‘ Forest and Stream’ was asked to identify a bird shot in the in¬
terior of New York State that from the description was evidently a Murre.

Murres in Western Sew York. — Writing from Geneva, N. Y., Mr. L.
Clark states that a specimen of Uria lomvia was killed on Seneca Lake,
December 23, 1895, a second in May, 1896, and a third on December 26,
1896. He also reports that J. S. Baker, a taxidermist at Geneva, has had
several specimens of the same species brought him by hunters for mount¬
ing and that numbers had been seen on the lake during the winter of
1896. Previous to December 1895^ the bird was not known to occur.—
Frank M. Chapman, American Museum of Natural History, New York
City.

Some New Recorad from Central New York.- — Since April, 1894,
when I recorded in ‘ The Auk ’ eight new species for ‘ Oneida County
and its Immediate Vicinity,’ I have been able to add four new records,
making the total number of species and subspecies recorded from our
territory 243.' These four records are as follows, viz. :

Uria lomvia. — In Christmas week, 1894, the mounted letter carrier on
the road between Utica and New Hartford captured one of these birds
alive, finding it almost helpless in the road just outside of the city. It
was kept alive for several days and after its death was mounted and
preserved.

Mr. \Y. S. Johnson of Boonville has recorded two other specimens of
this species taken the same month in the northern part of this county
(Auk, Vol. XII, p. 177 ).

Uria lomvia. Brunnich’s Murre. — Mr. F. A. Macomber of Murray
has a mounted specimen in winter plumage which was brought to him in
the first half of March, 1897, having been taken alive by hand, in a
famished condition, on the ice of Sandy Creek. My collection contains
the mounted head of another individual which was picked up dead from
the Lake Ontario shore in the town of Kendall, by Mr. Harry Burnett.

iicZjL y~. - I

HlUZcyt-C ax C\ t c/tV/.

Auk, XVI, ApTil, 1899, p p.ij3-6.

Briinnich’s Murre in Lewis and Jefferson Counties, New York. — On

Nov. 29, 1900, I had an adult male specimen of Uria lomvia brought to
me by a farmer who stated he caught him alive in a mud hole near his
home. This is, I believe, the first instance of the capture of this species
in Lewis County.

A few days later, Dec. 4, I received another from a gunner at Redwood,
Jefferson County, who stated there was quite a large flock of them on the
lake at that place. This specimen had eight small black bass in its
stomach, the largest three inches long. — James H. Miller, Loivvilte,
Lewis Co., N. V. Auk> XVIIIj ApriL> 1901i p J 9 2 .

Notes from Northern New York.— At Chateaugay Lake, Clinton Co.,
N. Y., on Dec. 24, I saw a typical specimen of Uria lomvia which had
been shot on the lake just before it was closed by the ice that is, about
Dec. 12 or 13, 1900.

Auk, XVIII, April., 1901, p

'V'-'uAL0
I TV

Uria lomvia. Brunnich’s Murres occurred on the Long Island
coast during the winter of 1901-02. Four were obtained from
various localities. On Dec. 6, 1901, a female was killed at Sag
Harbor on a fresh-water pond. It came into the possession of
Mr. Ivan C. Byram a taxidermist of that village, who sent it to me
in the flesh. Mr. Robt. R. Peavey of Brooklyn shot one at Rock-
away Beach on Dec. 26, and kindly presented it to me. A
member of the crew of the Amagansett Life-saving Station, George
H. Mulford, found one on the beach, dead, at that place Dec. 30,
1901, and another on March 2, 1902. The last is rather remark¬
able as a Long Island specimen of the species, in that the feather
coloration approaches nearly, if not quite, the full nuptial plumage.
The feathers of the chin, sides of the throat and neck are of the
dark, sooty color seen in adults collected at their breeding stations.
No other skin which I have seen from Long Island has the dark
coloring so much developed. This may be attributed to the date
of occurrence, which is a late one for the species in this latitude.
The bill of this bird is larger than our usual specimens, its depth,
in fact, somewhat exceeding the limit for U. lomvia as indicated in
Chapman’s ‘ Birds of Eastern North America.’

Auk, XX, Jan., 1008, p. 57*

WdULL*—

_ ^

KM \ 6

Some Rare Occurrences in Yates County, N. Y.— Brunnich’s Murre

(Uria lomvia).— A female Brunnich’s, Murre was killed in the inlet of
Keuka Lake at Branchport Dec. 1, 1902 , by Myron Pelton and the skin is
now in my collection. It was apparently unable to rise from the water
and was killed with a boat oar. There was not a particle of fat on the
body and the stomach and intestines were entirely empty.

Auk 27, Aw*•1810 p, %/g.

Auk, XII, Oct. , 1895, p. 3S 7

Brunnich’s Murre in Michigan. — On the morning of December 13,
1894, a Brunnich’s Murre (Uria lomvia'), in dying condition, was picked
up on the Flat River, a small stream near the city of Greenville, Michigan.
It came into the hands of Mr. Percy Selous, a naturalist and taxidermist
of that place, who subsequently sent it to me for inspection, and eventually
presented the specimen, well mounted, to the State Agricultural College.
Mr. Selous writes me that the bird, an immature male, was greatly
emaciated, and was dead, though not really cold when he obtained it,
probably not more than an hour or two after its capture. This, I believe,
is the first actual record of the occurrence of this species in Michigan,
and is of special interest as rendering more probable the several more or
less reliable reports of capture of other members of the family within the.
State. — Walter B. Barrows, Agriculttiral College , Mich.

During the occurrence of the heavy gale which prevailed along the coast
about the middle of December, 1896, great numbers of Brunnich’s Murres
were seen and shot at different points along the Delaware River. On the
15th a boy shot one from the shore at Edgewater Park, the skin of which
was preserved. The next morning I witnessed several flocks of fifteen 01-
twenty birds each flying up the river, and secured two specimens. During
the afternoon they returned in scattered flocks numbering about three
hundred. A flock flew over my boat while crossing the river, low enough
to have been struck with an oar. Those which remained about the river
during the day to feed, were quite tame, and could be easily approached
without alarm. One was also shot further down the river at Palmyra, and
I was informed, several above Burlington.—J. Harris Reed, Beverly ,
N.J.

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Birds within Ten Miles of Point
de Monts, Ctia, Conaean &

YYlZ/i^iyt*edyvu-.

147. Utamania torda. Razor-billed Auk.— Not common
breeds on the Mingan Islands.

B'aa N. 0,0, 7, Oct, 1882, p. 242

Birds of Magdalen Islands.

Dr. L.B.Biahop.

7. Alca torda. Razor-billed Auk. —Breeds, but notin large numbers,
on Great Bird Rock, Bryon Island, and Entry Island. On Great BirdRock
this species with Fratercula arctica breeds principally near the top of the
cliffs, leaving the lower ledges for the Gannets, Kittiwakes and Murres.

Auk, VI. April, 1889. p.145

Birds of N.E. coast of Labrador
by Henry B. Bigelow.

7. Alca torda. Razor-billed Auk; Tinker. — Although subject to
the same persecution as ihe Murres, the Razor-billed Auk seems to have
stood it better, and is still abundant all along the coast. We found them
in July in considerable numbers in the lanes in the floe ice. They breed
in company with the Murres.

Auk, XIX, Jan., 1902, p.20.

2 Proceedings Canadian Institute, 1890 , 200 .

Birds of Toronto, Ontario.

By James H.Fleming.

Pt.I, Water Birds.

Auk, XXIII, Oct., 1906, p.44I.

8. Alca torda. Razor-billed Auk. — One specimen taken Decem¬
ber 10 , 1889 , now in the Canadian Institute. 2 There is also a Hamilton
record in the collection of Mr. John Maughan, Jr., taken December 9 , 1893 .

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7 v-t^^cC. no less than twenty Razor-billed Auks. AW,/ occurred

in great numbers at various points between Eastport, Maine, and Prov-
incetown, Mass., during November and December, 1886; ordinarily they
are not common.

life' j f‘ L

Auk, 4 , April 1887. p. /^I?,

t* (i/'ti .. S * i jx J <K

Birds of Bristol County, Mass.
F. W. Andros.

Aica £orda Linn., Razor-billed Auk. Win¬
ter visitant, rarely seen off the coast.

O.&O. XII. Sept. 1837 P .137

^^ryuryuur^ $&L- - MiflvA *

and a Razor-billed
Auk were taken about April 15 tli, which I con¬
sider late for these birds at Monomoy.

6?*^ XV. leU-(*?.

77

Bird Notes from Long Id. Wm. Dutcher

7. Utamania torda (Linn?) Leach. Razor-billed Auk. — January 15,
1884, I received from a correspondent at Southampton, a specimen of this
species accompanied by the following note : ‘'The bird I send you was
found dead on the seashore. It is likely it was drowned in the heavy surf
we had just before. It was a new bird to me.” February 2, 1884, I re¬
ceived another from a correspondent at Smith’s Point, which was also
found dead on the beach. February 6, 1884, I received still another from
Southampton, not, however, from the same correspondent who sent me
the one January 15. With it came the following interesting note: “I
found this bird on the beach last night while on my patrol, and as it was
a stranger to this coast I send it. I have been in the Life-Saving Service
nine years and have never seen one before.” All three birds were
remarkable for the poor condition they were in, and also for the total ab¬
sence of food of any kind in their stomachs.

^Vc<r<-AX)

Alca torda. An immature Razor-billed Auk was sent me by
Capt. James G. Scott, keeper of the Montauk Point Light, on

1 “TV.P hirrl T sent VOU

was brought to me by a fisherman, and I think h<
beach, for I have found them dead on the beach.

Nov. 14, 1901. In regard to it he wrote:

n regard to it he wrote: “ The bird I sent you
by a fisherman, and I think he found it on the

Aak, XX, Jan., 1908 . §'• 57 *

An Ornithologist’ s Summer in labrador
M.AbJotbFrazar.

Alca torda , Razor-billed Auk. Common ev¬
erywhere, much more so than the preceding
species, owing to its habit of breeding in less
frequented places and concealing its eggs in
cracks and crevices among the rocks where
it is not so apt to be disturbed. Also very
frequently lays its eggs in the mouths of in¬
habited Puffin’s holes a few inches or a foot
from the mouth. This species is exceedingly
gregarious; lays generally one egg, though
in about twenty instances I found two. The
bird picks two bare spots on its breast.

O.&O. XII. Jan. 1887. p. 3

a jit ant. a /Ms, £ i/cC y . 1 *&■ . /* - y lc.

The last Great Auk. —It is generally supposed that this bird has been

extinct for the last forty years. In the ‘ American Naturalist,’ however, for
1872 (vol. vi. p. 369 ) there appears a notice of one which was found dead on
the Labrador coast in 1870 The writer of the notice, Mr. Ruthven Deane,
sa y s; —“While at Montreal, in August, 1871 , Mr. Alfred Lechevallier, a
naturalist who has collected largely in Labrador, informed me of a specimen
of this supposed to be extinct species: It was found dead in the vicinity of
St. Augustin, Labrador coast, in November, 1870 , by some Indians, from
whom Mr. Lechevallier obtained it while collecting there at the time. It
was a male, and, although in a very bad state, he preserved it, and has
recently ( 1872 ) sold it to a naturalist in France, who is to send it to Austria.
Although it was a very poor specimen he realised two hundred dollars.” We
should be glad to know whether any of our readers have seen this specimen,
and can add anything further to its history; also whether they can inform
us where it is now deposited. —Ed.

-tit, J/(rVOLs AtirZZcO .

. H , and here

may be mentioned, though certainly not
owing to Arctic currents, that about twelve
or fifteen years ago a specimen of the Great
extinct Auk was discovered by the late
Lord Bishop of Newfoundland and pre¬

sented to a gentleman in Halifax. It had
been dead a long time and was only feathers,
skin and bones, and was found buried under
guano at the Funk Islands by the Bishop)
himself. I think this to be the last speci¬
men noted.

v//. M-

7

Sale of an Egg of the Great Auk
in London.

The following is taken from the Pall Mall
Gazette of Dec. 14 , 18 S 7 . The sale was held on
Dec. 13 th:

“ An egg sold for 160 guineas. — At Mr. J. C.
Stevens’ auction rooms in King street, Covent
Garden, this week, a large number of or¬
nithologists assembled to witness the sale of an
egg of the Great Auk. Before offering the lot,
Mr. Stevens remarked that, in 1880 , two eggs of
this bird, both of which had been broken, were
sold by him, and that they fetched 100 and 102
guineas respectively. Of the recorded eggs,
twenty-five were in eighteen museums, and for¬
ty-one in nineteen private collections, forty-
three out of the sixty-six being in Great Brit¬
ain. The first bid of fifty guineas was made by
a well-known ornithologist, and this was fol¬
lowed by sixty guineas from Mr. L. Field, to
whom the egg was eventually knocked down at
160 guineas.”

0.&0. .&m:.F fl h,1888 p. 31

I have an old book, printed over one hundred years
ago in England, describing a voyage to the North Sea
by the Danes. From a description I think they saw the
Great Auk . Possibly they may be there now? Dr. T.
S. Hitchcock.

O &Q. XIV. May. 1889 p.77

The Great Auk in the U. S. National Museum.—The Great Auk in the
collection of the U. S. National Museum has recently been remounted by
Mr. N. R. Wood, and is thereby greatly improved in appearance. Al¬
though the specimen is more than fifty years old, the skin proved to be in
fair condition, although naturally so venerable a bird needed careful ma¬
nipulation.

Like nearly all mounted specimens of the Great Auk this was far too
long, and even now that it has been shortened between two and three
inches still remains at least so much longer than in life.

Measured along the curve the length of the stuffed specimen is a little
more than twenty-nine inches from tip of beak to root of tail, while a

large skeleton, similarly measured, is but a trifle more than twenty-live
inches in length.

A life-sized, colored photograph of the bird as it appeared before re¬
mounting is preserved in the collection. — F. A. Lucas, Washington ,

D. C.

Auk, VII. A^ril, 1HO, p. X03~XC^.

We take the following respecting the eggs of the Great Auk or Gare-
fowl from a recent issue of the ‘London Times,’ apropos of the recent
sale in London of a noted egg of this celebrated bird.

“The sale yesterday afternoon [Feb. 22, 1894] of an egg of the Great
Auk at Mr. Steven’s auction-rooms in Covent Garden is an event of

interest to many people besides ornithologists. After a keen competition
it was purchased by Sir Vauncey Crewe, of Calke Abbey, Derbyshire’
for 300 guineas.

“The collecting of birds’ eggs is a pastime which has obtained for some
centuries. John Evelyn mentions in his diary for 1681 that when at
Norwich he saw the collection of eggs formed by Sir Thomas Browne,
but we must come to the end of the eighteenth century before we can
trace any collector in possession of an egg of the Great Auk. Early in the
present century references to collections containing specimens of this egg
become more frequent. There are 68 recorded eggs of the Great Auk,
but this number includes several fragmentary remains that can only by
courtesy be called eggs. They may fairly be divided into four groups.
Ten specimens, from their perfect condition, color, and style of marking,
may be put into a class by themselves. Then we have 34 good specimens ;
12 are slightly cracked, badly blown, or varnished eggs, while the
remaining 14 are imperfect, varying from the eggs that had one end
knocked off (probably for the purpose of sucking), like that in the Angers
Museum, to the two fragments of the Natural History Museum at South
Kensington. Great Britain possesses the larger number of the specimens,
for, of the 68, England has 45 and Scotland 3. France comes next with
10 eggs, followed by Germany with 3. Two are in Holland, while Den¬
mark, Portugal, and Switzerland each possess one; there are two in the
United States. Again, of the 68 eggs, 29 are in 19 museums, while 21
private owners possess 39 eggs among them.

“The fact of the Great Auk having formerly inhabited the British Isles
has been one great cause for the steady advance in value of its eggs. The
earliest record we have of a sale by auction is in 1853, when two fetched
respectively £29 and £30, which remained about their value until i860,
when one sold for £60. In 1880 the price had risen to £100, followed in
1887 by £168 and in 1888 by £225.

“The egg which was sold yesterday, though not nearly such a good
specimen as that sold in 1888, has an interest to all British ornithologists
from having belonged to Yarrell, who purchased it in Boulogne of a
fisherman who had been in a whaling ship. He had two or three swan’s
eggs and this egg on a string. Yarrell asked if they were for sale, and
was told that the white eggs were one franc each and the spotted one two
francs. Unfortunately we do not know the date of this transaction, but it
was anterior to 1838, for in that year the egg was figured in Hewitson’s
‘British Oology.’ After Yarrell’s death it was sold at Stevens’s auction-
rooms for £21 (December, 1856), and purchased for the late Mr. Frederick
Bond, an old friend of Yarrell’s. It remained in this gentleman’s posses¬
sion until 1875, when it was sold with his unrivalled collection of British
eggs to Baron Louis d’Hamonville of Chateau de Mononville, who sent
it to Mr. Stevens.”

Erratum. —At bottom of Plate IV, second line, for “preesing” read

“preening.”

Auk XI. April. 1864 p. 189-03

GENERAL NOTES.

An Egg of the Great Auk.— Mr. Symington Grieve of Edinburgh, in a
recent letter to Capt. J. W. Collins, announces the discovery of one more
egg of the Great Auk, “this time in a museum kept in the tower of an
English parish church. The egg was labeled ‘Penguin,’and the owner
of the museum was under the impression that it was the egg of one of
the Penguins of the southern hemisphere, until in reading an , article in
one of the magazines he observed that the Great Auk also was known as
the Penguin in the American localities that were frequented by the bird.
He had the egg examined by experts who pronounced it undoubtedly an
egg of A lea invpenms . From all that can be discovered of its histoiv it
appears in all probability to have come from Newfoundland.”.— Frederic
A. Lucas, Washington-, D. C. Auk. G, Apt’. 12^2. p, / J ^

-toot? Xjojara st! pop-roSe-t aou si eoTiosoad sji eaapA ‘sjjosnqonssupj;
ni nounnoo ssoj ao 0.10tu soraij jfpree ui ssejjqnop sha pui! ‘pnnj
-Siv}[ A\o kj jo sj-iud aoqjo pnu o.trqsdurejq Aojvj jo jU'Bjiq'eqnt jouuoj

■b su pouoijtrara si (pmpu/iyjAipvj, 1 snwvospj) uuoqa,! sjiqM. ® t IiL

•juora

-raoo oainbai oj juo.reddii ooj si aou puu soinij ;Cpre0 osoqj ui jaoj
- a 0 jt!A jo aou'Bputtq'G oqj oj joodsoa ui jsnajuoo oqx ( 1 ‘sjoi{s V 3
pjpjj 9 Aoqi 3 put! oaoos oa] 0 aj „ uaou 3 [ suq 9 q (/suipopuisg,, jo SiCus
uXjassof * ( <' 9 caoq era epuoj pptoA qotqA jooqs u ju uazop 0 aij
put? oanoj 9U00Ajoq popp[ OAnq j put! : ragqj aoj oj ao ddojs t! jnq
ju 0 A j 9 sw 3 O 0 q ‘jfq eraoo oj 01SU0 puu ‘jjuj eaoA ifoqj osnuooq ‘inoqj
uo 0p09j oj pojqSqop qonra sua j pun ‘ediug u uuqj psipoq II n J
9937 The last Great Auk. By J. E. Harting. Ibid., April, 1884, pp-
141, 142. — Relates to a discrepancy in letters of Mr. A. Lechevallier about
a specimen of the Great Auk alleged to have been found dead on the
coast of Labrador in November, 1870, and obtained by him, record of
which was made by Mr. Ruthven Deane in the ‘American Naturalist’ for
1872 (Vol. VI, p. 369). The validity of the record thus made on Mr.
Lechevallier’s authority appears to be hereby much impaired. (See above,

No. 991.) Zoologist* VIII

450. Bits of history of the Great Auk. [By Winfred A. Stearns.]
Fishkill Standard (newspaper), Fishkill Landing, N. Y., June 30, 1883.
—A good account of the species, compiled from various sources.

1676. The Home of the Great Auk. By Frederic A. Lucas. Ibid.,

Vol XXXIir, No. 4, Aug., 1888, pp. 456-464.—An account of„(he vwitei s
visit to Funk Island. POP, SO*. SWSp

991. The last Great Auk. ByJ. E. Harting. Ibid Nov.

—A call for information respecting a specimen recoided^ y ^ ,

Deane (Am. Nat. VI, 1872 . o. s6oY on Browne. Ibid., No. 11, April

.320. Eggs of the Great Auk By b Edinburg U about 1880, one

7 , p. 225-Sale of two eggs s at th a e othel ! one hundred and two guineas,
bringing one hundred pou , April 14, P- 2 4 §-

See also note by Chas. A. Bramble, ibid > J

fgoe, Sg Stream* vm* ■*»***■•

i637 . Feathered Forms of Other Days.^ By R- W. Shufeldt. Ibid..

No. 3, Je

labradorius, Ftamns -V— --- Canadian

Animals that have disappeared in Recent lime
773. Animals uia " , 278-280—Refers to the Great

Sportsman and Naturalist , Vol. fit, PP 7

Auk, the Labrador D uck, the Moas^ Notornis, etm Higiifne for

The Great Auk. With cut. * of its hist ory.

Ibid., No. 8, March 17, p- l 5 2 ' $

S'or, Stream* Vol. XXVIII

Lucas. F. A. The. Home of the Great Auk. (Fop. Sci. Monthly, Aug.

1S88, pp- 456-464-)

Skeletons of the 'Great Auk. From the ‘ Boston Herald.' Ibid.,

No. V, Aug. 18, p- 65. Discovery of its bones VOlfel-

Funk Island, off the coast of Newfoundland. S - -

, a note

on the extinction of the Great Auk at the Funk Islands (p. 48 ), by the
same • Affler, Naturalist, Vol, iO.Jaa.

Collett Robert. Ueber Alca i mpenni s in Norwegen. (Mittheil. des
Ormth. Vereins in Wien, 1884.)

lpon the His tor y and Anatomy of the Great
887-88, pp. 493-529, pll. lxxblxxiii.)

orius, Plautus impennis, and seveia r „„ —„

r 3 1 3 -
March, 1887.

Auk. (Rep. Nat.

Mi

Dscraaae of Birds in Mass. J. A. Allen

The Great Auk ( Alca impennis) has recently been added to the
list of the birds of the State, on account of the occurrence of its
bones in the Indian shell-heaps at Ipswich. There is little reason
to doubt, however, that the bird called “ Pengwin, or I enguin,
mentioned as found from Cape Cod northward at the.time Euro¬
peans first visited this coast, really refers to the Great Auk. It
figures in all the early enumerations of the birds' of New England
and Newfoundland, while it does not appear in any of the lists
referring to the region south of Massachusetts. Captain Bartholo¬
mew Gosnold, in 1602, found “ Pengwins ” on the Massachusetts
coast at what he calls “ Gilbert’s Point,” in latitude 41° 40'. He
says : “ The twentieth, by the ships side we there killed Pengwins
and saw many sculls of fish.”* The locality, as shown by the
context, was between the southeastern point of Cape Cod and
Nantucket Island, probably a few miles south of Egg Island. What
the bird called “ Pengwin ” was, that was so often referred to by
the early explorers of the New England coast, is clearly evident
from the following : Richard Whitbourne, in his account of his
voyage to Newfoundland, in 1618, says, “ These Penguins are as
bigge as Geese, and flie not, for they have but little short wings,

& they multiply so infinitely, upon a certame flat Island [Sable
Island], that men drive them from thence upon a boord into their
Boates by hundreds at a time; as if God had made the mnocencie
of so poore a creature to become such an admirable instrument for
the sustentation of man.”+ The same bird is also referred to by
Josselyn as the “ Wobble.” He says : “ The Wobble, an ill shaped ^

Fowl, having no long Feathers in their Pinions, which is the reason 3 .

they’cannot fly, not much unlike the Pengwin; they are in the
Spring very fat, or rather oyly, but pull’d and garbidgd, and laid
to the Fire to roast, they yield not one drop.” t ^

This bird, so valuable as a “commodity,” and whose “mnocencie
rendered its capture so easy, doubtless did not long survive on the
coast of New England after the establishment here of permanent
settlements. ___

* Purchas’s Pilgrims, Yol. IV, p. 1648 .
j + lb., Vol. IV, p. 1886 .

+ New Englands Rarities, p. 11 .

Bull, n, o. o. i, Sept, 1870. p. 51T- 6V ’ [

sportsman an* Naturalist, Vol. HI, pp. ^-Refers to the Ureal
Auk, the Labrador Duck, the Moas <£__ __ Audubon MSg^ne for

1313. The Great Auk. With cu . _ SUetch of its history.

■Jl. 88,. Ibid.. No. 8, March 17- P .

SPOT. & Stream. vol.A.A.vii.4.

The Home of the Great Auk. (Pop. Sci. Monthly, Aug,

Lucas. F. A.

1S8S, pp- 456^464-) ^ __

1353. Skeletons of the Great Auk.
No. 4, Aug. 18, p. 65. Discovery

From the '

‘Boston Herald.' Ibid.,
of its bones in the guano deposits

.. r „ , & Stream. Yol.*** A

Funk Island, off the coast of Newfoundland. HOC- - a note

on the extinction of the Great Auk at the Funk Islands (p. 48), by the
8ame * Amen JTatnralist* Vol,10«Jan.

Collett, Robert. Ueber Alca im penn is in Norwegen.

Ornith. Vereins in Wien, 1884.)

upon the History and Anatomy of the Great Auk. (Rep. Nat Mus
1887-88, pp. 493-529, pll. lxxi-lxxiii.)

(Mittheil. des

c

.y /9 .

Plautus impennis.

7

•J

J

'/t

7

<L C ^ <

T<rU~. f. 7?^ A*—

XT’J &X-

X<7

7^,5 P<7n.c^ ,(> _ *Jcrzr&L << ^ ^

Ia/a

['

/tX f^ J

Plaut us inpennis..

. ... THE GREAT AUK. _ y

BY PROFESSOR W. A. STEARNS.

I was very much interested in the article on the Great
Auk, in a recent issue of the American Field.

With regard to this unique bird nearly every ornitholog¬
ical writer has had something to say, and little or no news
to add to its history. A resume of our knowledge on the
subject may be of interest. In Anspach’s “ History of the
Island of Newfoundland,” 1821, p. 393, we find the follow¬
ing curious information: “There was formerly on this
coast a species of birds of the diving genius, which, from
their inability to fly, were always observed within the space
between the land and the Great Bank, and were once so
abundant as to have given their name to several islands on
that coast, but they are now utterly extinct. They were
known by the nam9 of penguins, according to some writers
from the Welsh, in which language that word signifies
white head, the penguin having a remarkable white spot on
one side of its otherwise black head; while Dr. Forster is
of opinion that this bird received its name from the Span¬
iards and Portuguese, on account of Its heavy and fat body.
In this case the derivation must have come from the Latin
pinguis; but it is more natural to-suppose that in this as in
every other instance in which they have given names to
places, the Spanish and Portuguese would have made use
of their vernacular word ‘ gorde,’ which is common to both
languages.”

Audubon said of it when he made his voyage to Labrador
and Newfoundland: “The only authentic account of the
occurrence of this bird on our coast that I possess, was ob¬
tained from Mr. Henry Havell, brother of my engraver,
who, when on his passage from New York to England,
hooked a Great Auk on the banks of Newfoundland, in ex¬
treme boisterous weather. On being hauled on board, it
was left at liberty on the deck. It walked very awkward¬
ly, often tumbling over, bit every one within reach of its
powerful bill, and refused food of all kinds. After con¬
tinuing several days on board, It was restored to its proper
element.

“ When I was In Labrador, many of the fishermen as¬
sured me that the 1 Penguin,’ as they name this bird, breeds
on a low rocky island to the southeast of Newfoundland,
where they destroy great numbers of the young for bait;
but as this intelligence came to me when the season was too
far advanced, I had no opportunity of ascertaining its ac¬
curacy. In Newfoundland, however, I received similar in¬
formation from several individuals. An old gunner resid¬
ing on Chelsea Beach, near Boston, told me that he well re¬
membered the time when the Penguins were plentiful about
Nahant and some other islands in the bay.

“ The egg is very large, measuring five inches in length,
and three in its greatest breadth. In form it resembles that
of the Common Guillemot; the shell is thick and rather
rough to the touch; its color yellowish-white, with long, ir¬
regular lines and blotches of brownish black, more numer¬
ous at the larger end.”

The Great Auk differs from the Razor-billed Auk, “Tin¬
ker,” or “Turre,” as the inhabitants of Labrador call it,
only in its immense size and in having a very large area of
white between the eye and bill. Its length, according to
Coues, is “ about thirty inches, wing six, tail three, bill
three, along gape four, its depth four.” During the Sum¬

mer of 1800, Dr. Elliott Coues visited Labrador, and his re¬
port on this bird, though adding little new light, thus re¬
flects a little of our former knowledge, and says that “ the
fishermen knew immediately to what I referred when I
spoke of ‘ Penguins ’—as they are called—and all with
singular unanimity agreed in designating the Funks, an
island off the southeast coast of Newfoundland, as the only
place where the birds were to be found. Yet I never could
find a person who had actually seen one of the birds; they
had only heard of them as Penguins. But the fact of their
all agreeing as to the precise locality where the birds were
to be found, seemed to me worthy of attention.”

In the sailing directions for this part of the coast, the
Funk Islands are thus described: “ Th e Fu nk Islands,
which lie northeast by east about thirty-two miles from
Cape Freels, are a little group of rocks, just above water
The largest of them is forty-six feet high, not half a mile
long, and cannot be seen farther than ten or twel ve miles; but
it will always be distinguished by the numerous birds hover-
ing-'over it. About two hundred yards northward of this
island there is a large rock above water, and northwest by
west one hundred and eighty yards from this are still larger
rocks; these are all barren, and only the resort of seabirds,
that inhabit and breed there.”

In the “Bulletin of the Essex Institute,” Yol. V, Nos.
2 and 3,1873, p. 41, Mr. Harold Herrick in his “ Partial
Catalogue of the Birds of Grand Menan,” refers to this
species and says: “ Formerly occurred, as bones have been
dug up from the shell heaps of Nantucket Island, close to
Menan.”

Dr. Coues, in his “ List of the Birds of New England,”
says: “ For an interesting account of the discovery, by
Prof. Wyman, of its remains at Mt. Desert, and at Cronchi
Cove, Me., see [American Naturalist, i, p. 578.” This re¬
ferred to the finding of bones in the Indian shell heaps or
kitchen gardens of these places. Dr. Coues states also that
“ Audubon states that it used to occur on the coast of Mas¬
sachusetts. This statement has been corroborated by the
finding of a humerus of the Great Auk in the shell heaps at
Ipswich by Prof. Baird.” This was in 1868. The year
previous, Mr. J. C. Maynard (Maynard’s Naturalist’s Guide,
1870), wrote that “ The Great Auk (Alca impennis, Linn,)
must have been quite common many years ago on the coast
north of Cape Ann. In the Autumn of 1867, and in com¬
pany with Mr. J. A. Allen, in June, 1868, I found in the
shell heaps on the Ipswich Sandhills, numerous bones of this
now extinct bird; probably dropped there by the Indians,
who must have killed them with their arrows, or other
primitive weapons, for food.”

Dr. Elliott Coues, in his “ Key to the Birds of North
America,” 1872, p. 339, sums up our previous knowledge
and adds our latest record. He says: “ Special interest at¬
taches to this bird, which is now on the point of extinction,
largely through human agency. It formerly inhabited this
coast from Massachusetts northward, as attested by earlier
observers, and by the plentiful occurrence of Its bones in
shell heaps; also Greenland, Iceland, and the northwest
shores of Europe to the Arctic Circle. On our shores it
was apparently last alive at the Funks, a small island off
the south coast of Newfoundland; while in Iceland, its liv¬
ing history has been brought down to 1844. Of late years,
it has been currently, but, as it appears, prematurely, re¬
ported extinct. Mr. R. Deane has recently recorded
(American Naturalist, Yol. VI, p. 368,) that a specimen was
‘ found dead in the vicinity of St. Augustine, Labrador, in
November, 1870; ’ this one, though in poor condition, sold
for two hundred dollars and was sent to Europe. I know

fit

Plautus iiiipennis.

of only four specimens in this country—in the Smithsonian
Institution, In the Philadelphia Academy, the Cambridge
Museum, and in Yassar College, Poughkeepsie (the latter
the original of Audubon’s figures). There is an egg in
each of the first two-mentioned collections.”

According to- a late paper of Mr. Victor Patio, published
in the Bulletin of the Swiss Ornithological Society, the
total number of the skins of the (probably now extinct)
Great Auk, in Europe and in the United States, amounts to
seventy-one or possibly seventy-two. Besides the skins and
eggs found in the United States he adds that “ seven skele¬
tons are enumerated as existing in Europe, and two (one ?)
in the Museum of Comparative Zoology of Cambridge,
Massachusetts.” He enumerates sixty-five eggs known to
be in collections in Europe and America. The writer of
the article adds: “ This enumeration of the remains of this
bird is believed to be very nearly accurate, and although a
few more specimens may yet be detected in local museums, it
is not likely that the total can be much increased. The lim¬
ited number extant will sufficiently explain the high price
which specimens of both skins and eggs bring when offered
for sale, the sums obtained for the former varying from five
hundred dollars to fifteen hundred dollars, and for the lat¬
ter two hundred and fifty dollars to three hundred and fifty
dollars.” c XX/X -t •

Cambridgeport, Mass. A '' ' 9^7-

Plautus linuennls

Ml. xx>x. ,4fcuU- [of?. 3if2,

THE GREAT AUK. 3 ^3.

The sale by auction of an egg of the great auk for the
unprecedented sum of £225, has again attracted the atten¬
tion of the public to the history and relics of this bird, one
of the last species that has been exterminated by the
agency of man. The great auk, which may be described as
a gigantic razor-bill, but with wings so small as to be in¬
capable of flight, was a common bird at one period, hun¬
dreds being caught periodically on the small islands off
Newfoundland, and on the coast of Iceland. The species
also occurred in St. Kilda, and the Orkney and Faroe
Islands. The last specimen from Orkney was killed in
1812, that from St. Kilda in 1822, and the last recorded cap¬
ture was made on Eldey, off the coast of Iceland, in 1844.
So recent has been the extinction of this fine species, that

•EGO OF THE GREAT AUK (HATURAL SIZE.)

in the early editions of Yarrell’s “Birds,” and even in Mac-
gillivray’s fifth volume of the “British Birds,” published in
1852, it is spoken of as still existing.

The cause of the destruction of the great auk and its ad¬
dition to the list of species of birds exterminated by man,
which at present includes the moa of New Zealand, the
dodo and solitaire of the Mauritius, is not far to seek.
When the species was plentiful, and hundreds were to be
found at their breeding places, they were easily captured,
being of slow movement on land, and utterly incapable of
flight. The French fishermen who frequented the coast of
Newfoundland for the purpose of capturing cod were ac¬
customed, according to a correspondent of Hakluyt, to
victual themselves always with those birds, salting them
down in hundreds; and as late as a century since, a Mr. G.
Cartwright prophesied they would be all destroyed, for on
Fogo Island they were captured by laying gangboards from
the gunwale of the boat to the rocks, and driving on board
as many as the boat would carry. The captors must have
taken some care to prevent any of the garefowl reaching
the water, for once in what may be termed their native
element, the rapidity of their movements would have rend¬
ered all pursuit perfectly hopeless.

Plautus

A

iniuennis .

In the early part of this century, when the species had
become so scarce that they were not pursued for food, a new
danger arose. The collectors killed them for specimens,
and the naturalists completed the destruction that the sailors
and fishermen had commenced. It may be thought that on
some of the rocky islets off the coasts of‘either continent the
great auk may still exist; but the opinion of naturalists best
acquainted with the subject, such as the late John Wolley,
who journeyed to Iceland specially to make inquiries re¬
specting this species and its relics, is most strongly against
the probability of any remaining.

Such being the case, every relic of the bird is valuable,
whether in the form of bones, skins, or eggs. Bones have
been found in considerable abundance, especially in places
where the birds were used for food. Professor Milne de¬
scribed the collection of a large number on Punk Island in
The Field of 1875 (March 27 and April 3 and 10). His articles
were illustrated by a drawing of the bird. No less than ten
complete skeletons have been made, five of which are in
England—one at Cambridge, two in the Natural History
Museum, 8. Kensington, one at the College of Surgeons,
and the fifth in the possession of Lord Lilford. Of skins
nearly eighty are known to exist in public and private col¬
lections. Of the twenty-two in the British Isles, examples
may be seen at the Natural History Museum, and the
museums at Newcastle, York, Dublin, Durham, and Leeds.

Of the eggs of the great auk, or garefowl, about seventy
are known. It doubtless made no nest, and laid but one
egg, which was large even in proportion to the size of the
j bird, being about 5 inches in length by 3 inches in breadth,
and having that peculiar pyriform shape common to those
of sea birds, whose eggs are deposited in exposed situations,
a form which prevents them rolling, except in narrow
circles, and thus prevents them being readily blown off the
ledges on which they are deposited.

Like those of its nearest ally, the eggs of the great auk

for £140. But all these prices are far distanced by that ob¬
tained on Monday last at Stevens’ Auction Room, when an
egg from the collection of Mrs. Wise was offered for sale,
and realized the unprecedented sum of £225. This egg had
been inherited by Mrs. Wise in a collection belonging to
her father, Mr. Holland, and had been purchased by him in
1851 for £18 from Williams of Yere street, the predecessor
of H. Ward; Williamshaving previously obtained it from
Lefevre of Paris.

Those who desire additional information respecting this
interesting species will find it in Professor Newton’s ab¬
stract of “Wolley’s Researches in Iceland” in the Ibis, 1861,
and in “The Garefowl and its Historians,” Nat. His. Rev.,
1865. Sir R. Owen’s description of the skeleton is in the
Transactions of the Zoological Society for 1866. Professor
Milne’s account of the remains in Funk Island has been al¬
ready cited. There are sundry papers in the Zoologist for
1860, 1861, 1868 and 1869, and the results of previous in¬
quiries have been accumulated in Mr. Symington Grieve’s
very handsome quarto, which is illustrated with colored
drawings of the Edinburgh eggs and of the bones of the bird;

but for a drawing of the entire skeleton reference must be
made to Sir R. Owen’s account in the Zoological Transac¬
tions.

We reproduce the engraving of the bird which illustrated
one of Professor Milne’s articles in The Field of April 3,
1875. The egg sold during the present week is represented
of the natural size; but the figure of the bird is much re¬
duced, its actual weight when living being about 11 pounds.
—W. B. Tbgetmeieb, in Field (London).

vary much in color and marking. Two are figured by See-
bohm in his ‘(British Birds”—one from the Oxford Museum,
of which the ground is creamy white, with black and brown
blotches, chiefly at the larger end; the second, from the
Liverpool Museum, being beautifully streaked with dark
brown on a light brown ground.

In the valuable monograph of Mr. Symington Grieve on
the great auk, two eggs are figured from the Edinburgh
Museum. These vary again, being creamy white with dark
blackish-brown markings, which in one are very sparsely
distributed.

The value of the eggs has risen rapidly of late years. In
the year 1830, one was bought in Paris for 4s. Id.; in 1833,
another was secured for 8fr. One of the eggs at Cambridge
was purchased for £2 in 1832; in 1847, the late Sir W.
Milner paid 200fr. for one in Paris; in 1853, the late Lord
Garvagh bought two at a public sale for £59.

In 1865, ten eggs were discovered in a box at the Museum
of the College of Surgeons; of these, five were sold at
Stevens’, averaging £30 each. In 1869, Lord Garvagh
bought at Stevens’ a third egg for £64; and in 1883 one is
reported to have been bought by a well-known ornithologist

8“t

278

Lucas, Notes on the Great Auk.

Lucas, Notes on the Great Auk.

[July

GREAT AUK NOTES.

BY FREDERIC A. LUCAS.

Ornithologists owe a debt of gratitude to Professor New¬
ton and Mr. Grieve for their contributions to the history of the
Great Auk, and for their labors in collecting and rendering
accessible to English and American readers the substance of
many scattered papers by foreign writers. Well as their work
has been done a few errors, here and there, have crept in, and
in correcting them, as they come up in connection with some of
the points herein discussed, the writer trusts that he may not seem
ungracious, for few have probably studied the writings of the
above-named gentlemen with more pleasure and profit than
himself.

To Professor Newton belongs the credit of calling attention to
the fact that the range of the Great Auk was much more re¬
stricted than was generally supposed, and that the bird never
even visited many of the localities in which it was once thought
to have bred.

It is my own belief that, in historic times at least, the number
of places resorted to by the Great Auk for breeding purposes
was comparatively small, partly from the inability of the bird to
fly, but more from one of those unknown reasons which impel
some animals to select for their homes only one or two out of
many possible sites.

We have a striking example of this in the Gannet, a bird
whose powers of flight are exceptionally great, and whose con¬
siderable size and voracious appetite demand an abundant supply
ot fish. It might therefore be supposed that this bird would be
found breeding at many places from Maine to Labrador, and yet,
so far as I am aware, it is found at only two spots in all this range
of coast, and to one of these we know certainly that it has resorted
for three hundred and fifty years* in spite of almost ceaseless per¬
secution. . 1

If then such is the case with a bird gifted with unusual powers
of locomotion how much more likely it is to have been the habit

*In 'The Auk' for April, by an unfominate slip of feTpen, I wro^to^h^d^d
and thirty-two instead of three hundred and fifty-three.

|

I

188S.]

279

of a bird so hampered by nature as the Great Auk. It is also
worthy of note that traditions concerning the Great Auk refer to
a small number of localities only, and moreover had the bird
availed itself of the many possible breeding places along the
coasts of Newfoundland and Labrador it might have endured in
lessened numbers until this day.

There is a rumor that twenty years ago the Great Auk was
still to be found on the Penguin Islands, in the mouth of Gros
Water Bay, sixteen miles from Grady Harbor, a locality about
two hundred and fifty miles north of Cape Norman, N. F.* Of
course this is possible, but it seems hardly probable.

It was on the program, during the cruise of the Fish Com¬
mission schooner ‘Grampus,’ in the summer of 18S7 (a ciuise
in which it was my good fortune to take part), to visit as many
of the probable former breeding grounds of the Great Auk as
circumstances would admit of, notably Penguin Island near Cape
la Hune (southern coast of Newfoundland), and Penguin Islands
near Cape Freels (eastern coast). Unfortunately MIolus decided
against a visit to the former locality — so often mentioned by the
early navigators — and let loose upon us a brisk southwester,
before which the ‘Grampus’ drove by under shortened canvas at
the rate often knots an hour, while, with a visit to Funk Island
still in prospect, it was deemed inadvisable to lose any time by
waiting for wind and sea to go down.

On the eastern coast we were favored with better weather, and
leaving the well-named harbor of Seldom Come By early in the
morning, with a ‘Newfoundland Pilot’ (a lookout at the mast¬
head) to guard against the possible contingency of a rock not
laid down on the chart, passed Peckford Reef, the Schoolmarm,
and Scrub Rocks, and came to anchor about noon oft' the Pen¬
guin Islands, two flat, grassy islets rising but twenty feet above
the water and not at all suggestive of an Alcine breeding place.

Still one of these may be that certain flat island whence men
“drave the Penguins on a board into their boats by hundreds at
a time,” in spite of the fact that the islets are but three miles
from shore, and in consequence the Great Auk must have led
a very precarious existence.

Offer Wadham, nine miles farther out to sea, is much more

*For this report I am indebted to Mr. William Sclater of St. Johns, N. F.

38 °

Hardy on the Great Auk.

[October

TESTIMONY OF SOME EARLY VOYAGERS ON
THE GREAT AUK.

BY FANNIE P. HARDY.

Mr. Lucas, in his recent article on the Great Auk, asks if the
“great Apponatz” of Hakluyt may not be either a misprint or a
wrong translation of “ grasse Apponatz ,” the fat Apponatz ; and
further on supposes, for the sake of a question, that the Apponatz
is the Razor-bill, as if the “Apponatz” and the “great Apponatz”
were two different birds. That there is no mistake involved, and
that but one bird, the Great Auk, is meant, can be shown by
comparing the certain statements of early travellers.

Unfortunately the notes from which I draw my material were
taken for quite another purpose, and contain no extracts from
Cartier, and no copy of his works is at present accessible; but
as every good library should contain at least the Tross reprints
of the ‘Bref Recit et Succinte Narration,’ the ‘Discours du Voy¬
age fait (en 1534)’ and the ‘Relation Originale,’ his exact
words can be very easily determined. A few of the very best
libraries in the country may possibly contain the following as
well: ‘A. short and || brief narration of the two || Navigations
and Discoueries || to the Northwest partes called || Newe France :||
First translated out of French into Italian by that famous ||
learned man Gio : Bapt: Ramutius, and now turned || into English
by John Florio : worthy the rea || ding of all Venturers, Trauel-
lers || and Discouuerers’ || etc. This book, published in 1580, is
an English translation of Cartier’s work, and is in all probability
the one quoted by Hakluyt.

While these four books would decide the question of grande
and grasse, far more valuable as evidence is a quotation from
one of them made by Marc Lescarbot in 1609. This I have not
compared with Cartier, but probably, like most of the quotations
of that time, it is a paraphrase rather than a verbal reproduction.
Certainly it is much modernized in spelling. Yet that it is strik-
ingly accurate anyone may see by comparing the French as here
given with the English translation from Hakluyt, quoted in ‘The
Auk for April, p. 129. The great value of this extract as evi¬

ISSS.]

Hardy on the Great Auk.

381

dence, lies in the fact that Lescarbot had travelled extensively in
this country, being as he said himself “temoin oculaire d’une
partie des choses ici recitdes” ; and so able from his own experi¬
ence to correct any misprint in Cartier’s work ; and moreover
would not have hesitated to do this, as anyone who is acquainted
with the calm way in which these early travellers appropriated
each other’s observations will admit. The extract is as follows :

“ .. . .et approchames de trois iles, desquelles y en avoit deux
petites droites comme un mur, en sorte qu’il estoit impossible
d’y monter dessus, et entre icelles y a un petit escueil. Ces iles
estoient plus remplis d’oiseaux que ne seroit un pre d’herbes,
lesquels faisoient la leur nids, et en la plus grande de ces iles y
en avoit un monde de ceux que nous appellions Margaux, qui
sont blancs et plus grands qu’ Oysons, et estoient separez en un
canton, et en l’autre part y avoit des Godets ; mais sur le rivage y
avoit de ces Godets et grands Apponaths semblables a ceux de
cette ile dont nons avons fait mention [probably his lie des
Oyseaux, No. 3 of his chart; this Ile des Margaux is No. 46].
Nous descendimes au plus bas de la plus petite, et tuames plus
de mille Godets et Apponaths et en mimes tant que souloumes
en noz barques, et en eussions plus en moins d’une heure remplir
trente semblables barques. Ces iles furent appellees du nom de
Margaux.” (Lescarbot, Histoire de la Nouvelle France, Vol. I,
p. 231 et seq., ed. 1609; p. 233 et seq., Tross edition.)

It is extremely improbable that the same verbal error should
find its way into the three different versions of Cartier and also into
the four editions of Lescarbot published duringthe latter’s lifetime.
Hence if Hakluyt, quoting a translation, said “great Apponatz,”
and Lescarbot, quoting Cartier either directly or indirectly, said
“grands Apponaths,” the chance that Cartier ever said or meant
to say “grasse” is exceedingly small. Whatever the bird was,
we must admit that it impressed the French as being large ; and
we must remember that this is an absolute, not a relative term.

In one or two places Mr. Lucas writes “Great Apponatz,”
beginning the adjective with a capital, as if there might be a
‘Lesser Apponatz,’ in comparison with which this was large.
That this could not have been the case, may be seen from the
fact that Apponatz, or Apponath, was an Indian name, not yet
naturalized, so that any adjective attached must have been purely
descriptive, never distinctive in its use. For any other bird some-

SALE OF EGGS OF THE GREAT AUK.

T HE SALE of four empty eggs-sholls for the sum of one hundred
and twenty-two pounds ten shillings sterling, is an occurrence
of sufficient rarity to merit a notice in the columns of The Field.

I therefore desire to place on record that on July the 11th, Mr.
Stevens, the natural history auctioneer, disposed of four eggs of the
great auk, in four separate'lots for the sums of ,£ 29 , .£ 33 , £ 31 . 10 s.,
and £ 29 , respectively. Such of the readers of this account as are
not professed naturalists may perhaps enquire-wliat were the pecu- ;
liar circumstances that could give to these egg-shells such an;
enormous value. I may therefore, perhaps, be excused if I claim
space to say a few words respecting the great auk and its eggs.

The Alcci impennis of Linnaeus and all subsequent naturalists, ‘the ;
great auk of the books of our boyhood, is a species that no longer 1
exists. Even as late as thirty years since, ornithologists delighted
to describe the habits of this" wonderful diver, whose speed when in
the water was .so great that the celebrated naturalist Bullock chased
the specimen now set up in the British Museum, for many hours in a
■six-oared boat, without ever coming sufficiently near to it to gain
even the chance of a shot.

Several other specimens were also known in the Orkneys during
the present century. Mr Fleming possessed one captured at
St. Kilda in 1822 ; this subsequently escaped, as did another taken
in 1829 and intended for the Edinburgh Museum. The last specimen
known, was that secured in 1834 , for Dr Burkett’s collection. This
was captured off the coastof Waterford. Ten specimens, altogether,
are known as British. Recently the remains of a specimen, contain¬
ing an almost perfect skeleton, were brought to England from North
America. The bones have been carefully macerated and prepared,
and the skeleton has been set up, so that the structure of this

extinct bird is now-very well known.

The great auk, which was also termed the gare fowl, was a diving-
bird, closely related to the razor-bills and guillemots, although in
size it considerably surpassed these species, its length being upwards
of two feet. Like all divers, its feet were placed very far back, so
that the body was nearly erect when the animal was on land. The
tarsus or scale-covered part of the hind limb was very short ; the
hind toe absent. The plumage was dense, to resist the entrance of
the water and very short, the tail being only three inches in length.
The wings were small, and used as fins when the bird was diving.
In colour, the head, neck, throat, and upper parts generally, were
black ; the wings greyish-brown, the under parts white. A somewhat
similar arrangement of colour may be noticed in the penguin and
many other fish-feeding diving-birds. It appears not improbable
that it may have -direct reference to their mode of life, as they would
be less visible to their destined prey than if the position of the
colours was reversed, the dark colour of the back being less con¬
spicuous from above, and the white from below.

It is probable that the plumage in the winter, and perhaps in the
young, might have undergone a modification, as Dr. Fleming’s spe¬
cimen had the throat and neck white.

There seems but little doubt of the entire extinction of the great
auk. It certainly no longer exists in the Orkneys, nor is it found
in tiie small islands near Newfoundland, which were the last known
breeding places of tho birds. Consequently, specimens both of the
skins and eggs are much valued. Not long since I heard of one egg
which was purchased by a celebrated ornithologist for £ 15 , and which
was said to have been shortly resold for £ 50 . The sudden influx of
as great a number as four upon the market at once necessarily depre¬
ciated somewhat the price.

There was no doubt of the genuineness of the specimens recently
sold. They were discovered with some others in one of the museums
in London, when it was decided that the supernumerary ones should
be parted with. I may state that £100 was offered, and refused,
for the four before the sale, and that they were all purchased by
different individuals. , ,,, ,

The eggs are fully five inches m length, by three m breadth, and
of that°peculiar pyriform or tapering shape characteristic of the
eggs of so many sea-fowl. In colour they are very pale yellowish-
white, blotched with irregular patches of dark an i light brown.

In conclusion, I may state that those who desire to become
further acquainted with the structure of this singular diver will find
an elaborate description of its anatomy, illustrated with admirable
plates, in a recent number of the Transactions of the Zoological
Society. And while I am writing of diving birds, I would mention
that those who may be desirous of possessing an admirably coloured
life-like drawing of the King Penguin, lately deceased, should obtain
the last number of the Intellectual Observer. Of the merits of the
accompanying description I cannot offer an opinion, as the signature
to the articled that of W. B. Te&eth^ter.

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' Birds -within Ten Miles of Foir ■
de Monts, Can, Oomeau & Merrian

144. Alle nigricans. Dovekie. —Very abundant in flocks during
some winters, arriving early in December and remaining till some time in
February. During other winters it is rare or does not occur at all.

Bull N.O.O. 7,Ooti 1882, p,24:

Birds of N.E. coast of Labrador
by Henry B. Bigelow.

8. Alle alle. Dovekie; Bull Bird. — Reported as very common in
winter. I observed only one, off Cape Harrison, on September 18.

Auk, XIX, Jan., 1902, p.26.

Ontario Bird Notes. - A Dovekie (Alle alle > was shot Nov. 18, 1901, by
II. Macdonald, a fisherman, two miles out in the lake from Toronto, On¬
tario. Mr. John Maughn, a taxidermist, now has it in his possession. I
was present when he opened the stomach, which was empty except for a
few small fish bones. It was a female and evidently a young bird, as there
was no white on the secondaries and the back was slaty instead of a black.

(<J. A ' 77$ vJzou* .

Auk. XIX Jan., 10 j% p. 1

Birds of Toronto, Ontario.

By James K.Fleming.

Ft.I, 7/ater Birds.

Auli, XXIII, Oct., 1905, p.44I.

9. Alle alle. Dovekie.— One record, a female taken November
18, 1901, 3 in collection of Mr. John Maughan, Jr.

3 Auk, XIX 1902 , 94 .

The Dovekie in Maine in Summer.— On July 15, 1911, while Mr. G.
Gilbert Pearson and the writer were taking passage, with a local fisherman,
from Machias Seal Island, which is about twelve miles south from Cutler,
Maine, when about half way between the Seal Island and Cross Island,
Me., or about six miles from either point, we came upon a pair of Dovekies
{Alle alle) swimming in close company. We found them in one of the
eddies of the numerous tide rips, caused by the tidal currents of the Bay
of Fundy.

They proved to be a male and female in an interesting stage of plumage.
The head, neck, underparts, interscapular region, and tertials of the male
were of the nuptial plumage, the neck entirely around being uniformly
velvety, sooty brown. The rump and tail were of the winter plumage,
faded grayish, and worn. The wings were much worn, some of the pri¬
maries with bare shafts for half their length.

The female was similar, except that the winter plumage remained over
the entire back behind (caudad) the scapular region; the rectrices had been
renewed. The throat and sides of the neck, at the place of the winter
half-collar of white, were well sprinkled with white.

Though two leading manuals make no distinction between the sexes,
this last feature had the appearance of a sex character, and the female was
noticeably smaller than the male.

Though the birds were in fair bodily condition and had not been crippled
they showed no indication of breeding, and it is doubtful if they could have
flown.

I am told by Capt. Merton Tolman, until recently keeper of Matinieus
Rock light station, a man whose word in such a matter is not to be doubted,
that during the summer of 1910, one of these birds was frequently seen near
Matinieus Rock.

So far as known to me, these are the only instances recorded, of the
verified occurrence of the bird in summer south of Newfoundland. {Cf.
Townsend and Allen, Proc. Boston Soc. N. H., XXXIII, p. 309 .)—Arthur
H. Norton, Portland, Me.

AQk 28 sGc>.'* 1 d} •,

Breezy Point, Warren, N.H.

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AUealle. Dovekie.— 1910 M fl v 11 1 1

day. It was mounted and is now fn the State' bUt ^ the next
It was in summer plumage. ™ State M ® eam at Montpelier.

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The Occurrence of the Sea Dove at Kehoboth,

Mass.-A specimen of tlie Sga Dove, (Aife nigricans) was
shot in a small fresh water pond about a quarter of a mile
from my house, on November 25, 18S5. Probably the
storm of the previous days had blown the little fellow in¬
land from his usual habitat. This is the first occurrence T
have noted of this species at this place, but several hunters
assert that during a severe winter several years ago the
“Little Auks were quite frequently shot.” They were, i
presume, this species, as it is not very uncommon for them
to occur inland during boisterous weather. I. II. C.

O.&O. XI. Jan. 1886.p.y£

Another Occurrence of the Dovekie Inland. —Mr.

E. A. Capen, of Canton, Mass., writes that he captured
alive a fine specimen of the Dovekie at the above locality
on November 26, 1885. The close proximity of the two
dates of capture would more strongly indicate the reason
of their occurring inland being due to the violent storm on
the coast just previous to the above dates.

_ _ O. XI. Jan.l886.p./fe.

Birds of Bristol County, Mass.

F. W. Andros.

Al.le alle (Linn.), Dovekie. Winter visitant,
occasionally seen off' the coast. One occur¬
rence inland noted at Rehobot.li, November
25th, 1885 (O. and O. Vol. xi. No. 1).

O.&O. XII.Sept. 1887 p.13?

loo

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H-6 7 * \_Sea Doves near Warwick, R. /.] [BjJ. M. Southwick.] Ibid,
No. 3, March, 1886, p. 23. Hand. Notes Nat. Bit, ill

Connecticut. June* 1893,

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I have also a Dovekie, ( AMejni-
gricans ,) that was taken about six miles
from here in the town of Pomfret, Nov.
23 , 1878 . It was just after a heavy north¬
east gale, and the bird had evidently been
blown inland from Mass. Bay, although
the distance must be more than fifty miles.
It was caught alive in a field.— G. M.
Jones, Eastford, Conn.

O.&O. Vlll. Apr. 1883 . p.<//

/°3

Capture of the Sea Dove 150 Miles from the Sea: — On Novem¬
ber 8th, 1881, a Sea Dove ( Alle nigricans ), was shot in the Hudson
River, at Lansingburg, by Alfred Benjamin of that village. The bird
was mounted by Williajn Gibson of the same place, and is in his col¬
lection. — Austin F. Park, Troy , N. MN.O.O, 7 , Jan,1882, p,6/

Bird Notes from Long Id. Wm. Dutcher

14. Alle nigricans Link. Sea Dove ; Dovekie. — Decem¬
ber 7, 1882, Mr. C. A. Blydenburgh, first assistant keeper of
Fire Island Light, sent me a female of this species, which he
found dead on the beach. Ten days later he sent me another, and
wrote as follows: “I found one Sea Dove which I will send you
with this. The men at the Life Saving Station had three Sea
Doves before I got one. One of the men from the next station
east told me they found one this winter. That makes six picked
up along here.” In answer to an inquiry, Mr. L. S. hostel, of
New York City, wrote me as follows: “My Long Island
information concerning 752, Alle nigricans , is as follow's:
The specimen in my cabinet ‘was caught on my patrol, in my
midnight watch, the night of the 23d of December, 1881. June
Bishop, Life Saving Station, oil' Centre Moriches, L. I.’ One
was found dead in the meshes of a net near the same locality,
November, 1SS2. One was brought on the cars of the Long
Island railroad at Bayport by a gunner, Novembei, 1SS2, having
been shot in a pool.’ ” Auki j Jan< _ 1884< p j

'WCZa \ i

ZZ 1 w-r* . vv .h .

Alle alle. Two little Auks were found by the same member
of the Amagansett Life-saving crew referred to above, while
patrolling the beach on the evening of December 14 , 1901 . He
wrote me that he had so obtained them and added: “The sea
was running very high and I suppose that they where washed in
on the beach.”

Auk, XX, Jan., 1008 . p. 6“/-

The Dovekie (Alle alle) on Long Island, N. Y— January 15, 1903, Mr.
George W. Mott of Westminster Kennel Club brought in a Dovekie to
be mounted. I inquired where he procured it, and he informed me that
it had been given him by a boy who found it the morning previous,
lying in the road midway between the steamboat dock and Babylon
Village. It evidently had struck either the electric light or telephone
wires, as the neck and breast were much bruised. The bird was found
in a road crossing meadows near Great South Bay, and at least three
and one half miles from the ocean. Both plumage and body were in
good condition.-H e^M^B^rtis $$$>»*..I

NOTES CONCERNING CERTAIN BIRDS OF LONG
ISLAND, NEW YORK.

BY WILLIAM C. BRAISLIN, M. D.

The species here referred to have recently been met with as
birds of Long Island. Most are recorded because of their rarity.
One, the Hermit Thrush, is herewith for the first time definitely
announced as a breeding species on Long Island. The evidence
is based on the capture of a single specimen of an immature bird
just out of the nest, with but little power of flight, at Lake Ronkon-
koma. Lake Ronkonkoma lies nearly at the geographical center
of Long Island, several miles from the sea. The temperature
there is, however, tempered by its influence, both in summer and
winter, as the thermometer records, carefully made for a series of
years by a medical friend who lives near there, show. The Hermit
Thrush is said to breed regularly on Cape Cod. The present record
brings its coastal nesting range somewhat further south. Further
investigation will probably show that the Hermit Thrush is, though
rare, a regular summer resident on Long Island.

Alle alle. Little Auic or Dovekie. — Another specimen
(several have been previously recorded by me in ‘The Auk’) was
recently sent from Montauk by Mr. Baker. It was secured on

Hither Plain Dec. 31 , 1906 . It was driven on the beach and
there found by the patrolmen of the Life-saving Service. Mr.
Baker wrote me that it came ashore during an unusually heavy
southerly storm. It bore marks of having received serious injury
in the surf. There were areas of extravasated blood beneath the
skin of both the tj^ ej ie^.^,^ stomach contained no

130. Some Note-worthy Birds. By Samuel Lockwood. Ibid., XIV, pp.

715-719, Oct. 1880.—Chiefly in reference to a captive Mergulus alle. Sfnat.'’rJAtnysHat

380. Sea Dove (Alle nigricans). By W. H. Collins. Ibid., p. in.

Killed in Detroit River, Mich., Nov. 30, 1881. Qi V/L '’TQ'LYii

Albinism and JVf elan ism in Forth
American Birds, Bnthven Deane,

9^77

Bull. N. 0.0. 1,April, J8V6, p.23

/07

Note on Alle nigricans, Link. —In looking over Link’s Descrip¬
tion of tlie Museum of the Rostock University,*— a book so rare that only
four copies are known to be extant, — I find, on p. 17 of Abtli. I, the above
name, which requires attention. It is, in fact, a new genus and species,
based on Alca alle, Linn., and set forth in due form. Now Mergulus, the
current name of the genus, is a very old word, having come down to us from
the pre-Linnsean fathers; but one which was never used in the sense of a
modern genus by a binomenclator until so employed by Vieillot in 1816.
Consequently AUe, Link, 1806, antedates Mergulus, and must be employed
for the genus, unless we are to accept Arctica of Moehring, 1752, which
few of us seem disposed to follow Gray in doing. As to the specific name,
there are three to choose from. We may say Alle Candida after Briinnich,
1764, but this name is scarcely applicable, as it was based upon an entirely
white specimen, probably an albino, and misleads as to the character of
the bird ; moreover, it conflicts with a Linnajan name, and would therefore
be thrown out by most systematists. We may say Alle alle, after Lin-
nteus, but this duplication of generic and specific terms is objectionable,
and now rarely practised. The alternative is Alle nigricans. Link , and
this would appear to be the tenable name of the bird in question, accord¬
ing to recognized rules of nomenclature. — Elliott Cotjf.s, Washing¬
ton, D. C.

* Beschreibung der Naturalien-Sammlung der Universitat zu Rostock.
Erste [sechste] Abtheilung. Von D. H. F. Link. Rostock, Adlers Erben, 1806
-1808. 1 vol., sm. 8vo. (Vogel, pp. 17-50 of Abtheilung I, 1806.)

Bull N.0.0. 4,Oct.,X879, p. .