Plate CCXIII. Male and Female.
Bill with three curved grooves on both mandibles toward the end, a
very slight addition to the ridge at the base only a quarter of an
inch long; the basal rim and first ridge of both mandibles dull
yellow, the intervening space greyish-blue, the rest bright red; on
the upper eyelid a flattened triangular nearly erect horny body, and
along the lower an adherent elongated body of the same nature; feet
vermilion; throat and sides of the head greyish-white; upper parts of
the head greyish-black, tinged with blue; the middle of the neck all
round, and all the upper parts deep black, glossed with blue, the
quills tinged with brown; under parts white, except the upper part of
the sides, which are dusky, and the lower wing-coverts, which are
brownish-grey.
_Male_, 11-3/4, 23.
Ranges southward along the coast in winter, at times as far as
Georgia. Less rare from Long Island eastward, and becomes plentiful in
the Bay of Fundy. Breeds in vast numbers in burrows, on the islands
off Labrador.
Mormon arcticus, Bonap. Syn. p. 430.
Puffin or Coulterneb, Nutt. Man. v. ii. p. 542.
Puffin, Mormon arcticus, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. iii. p. 105.
GENUS. II. ALCA, Linn. AUK.
Bill as long as the head, feathered as far as the nostrils, beyond
which it is very high, exceedingly compressed, and obliquely furrowed
on the sides; upper mandible with the dorsal line decurved, the ridge
extremely narrow, the sides nearly flat, the nasal groove very large,
and feathered, with its lower margin very narrow, and convex, the
edges sharp and inflected, the tip decurved, very narrow, but obtuse;
lower mandible with the angle very narrow, and having a horny
triangular appendage, the sides at first extremely narrow, towards the
end erect and flat, the edges inflected, the dorsal outline concave,
the tip decurved. Nostrils medial marginal, linear, short, concealed
by the feathers. Head large, ovate; neck short and thick; body full,
rather depressed. Feet placed far behind, short, stout; tibia bare for
a short space; tarsus very short, compressed, anteriorly scutellate;
hind toe wanting; anterior toes of moderate length, rather slender,
scutellate, webbed, the outer slightly longer than the middle. Claws
rather small, arched, compressed, obtuse. Plumage close, blended, very
soft. Wings very short, narrow, acute, first quill longest. Tail
short, tapering, of twelve or fourteen feathers.