THE LARGE-BILLED GUILLEMOT.
URIA BRUNXICHII, SABINE.
P L A T E C C X L V . ADULT MALE.
I HAVE never observed this bird on any part of the coast of our Middle
Districts, and, although I was told that it not unfrequently occurred
about the Bay of Boston, I failed in my endeavours to procure it there.
The specimen from which my figure was made was sent to me in ice, along
with several other rare birds, from Eastport in Maine. I received it quite
fresh and in excellent plumage, on the 18th of February 1833. It had
been shot along with several other individuals of the same species while
searching for food in the waters of Pasmaquody Bay, which were then
covered with broken ice. Its flight was described by Mr CURTIS, who
sent it to me, as similar to that of the Foolish Guillemot, with which it
associated. No other information was transmitted, excepting that it dived
and swam like the other species. I afterwards sent the skin to my friend
JOHN BACHMAN, in whose collection it remains.
No individuals of this species were observed by my party on our way
to Labrador ; and as the Foolish Guillemot was abundant on the coast of
that country, I concluded that the Thick-billed Guillemots which visit
our eastern seas in winter, set out for the far north at an earlier period
than the others. I am indebted to Mr HEWITSON of Newcastle, author
of the " British Oologyfor a description of an egg of this bird, which
is in the valuable collection of the Messrs HANCOCKS, who procured it
from Greenland. It measures 3£ inches in length, by 2£ at its broadest
part, and is of a bluish-green colour, streaked and spotted with black or
very dark umber.
URIA BRUNNICHII, Ch. Bonaparte, Synops. of Birds of United States, p. 4 2 4 .
URIA BRUNNICII, BRUNNICH'S GUILLEMOT, Swains, and Richards. Fauna-Bor.
Amer. part ii. p. 4 7 7 -
LARGE-BILLED GUILLEMOT, Ntittall, Manual, vol. ii. p. 5 2 9 .
Adult Male in winter. Plate CCXLV.
Bill shorter than the head, stout, tapering, compressed, acute. Upper
LARGE-BILLED GUILLEMOT. S37
mandible with the dorsal line slightly curved, the ridge narrow, broader
at the base, the sides sloping, the edges sharp and inflected, the tip a little
decurved, with a slight notch. Nasal groove broad, feathered ; nostrils
at its lower edge, subbasal, lateral, longitudinal, linear, pervious. Lower
mandible with the angle medial, narrow, the dorsal line sloping upwards
and straight, the back very narrow, the sides nearly flat, the edges sharp
and inflected.
Head large, oblong, depressed, narrowed before. Eyes of moderate
size. Neck short and thick. Body stout, rather depressed. Wings
small. Feet short, placed far behind; the greater part of the tibia concealed,
its lower portion bare; tarsus short, stout, compressed, anteriorly
sharp, and covered with a double row of scutella, the sides with angular
scales; toes of moderate length, the first wanting, the third longest, the
fourth longer than the second, all covered above with numerous scutella,
webbed, the lateral ones with small margins; claws small, slightly arched,
compressed, rather acute, that of the middle toe largest, with a dilated inner
edge.
Plumage dense, very soft, blended ; on the head very short. Wings
rather short, narrow, acute; primary quills curved, tapering, the second
longest, the first slightly shorter, the rest rapidly graduated; secondaries
short, incurved, broad, rounded. Tail very short, rounded, of twelve
narrow feathers.
Bill black. Iris dark brown. Feet dusky, tinged with red. The
general colour of the plumage is greyish-black on the upper parts, those
of the head tinged with brown. The sides of the head and neck, its fore
part, the breast, abdomen, edges of the wings and the tips of the secondaries,
white; the sides shaded with greyish-black; a line of the same
behind the eye.
Length to end of tail 18£ inches, to end of claws 21^; extent of
wings 30 ; wing from flexure 8, tail 2£ ; bill along the ridge l T
2
g , along
the edge of lower mandible 2 ; tarsus 1 T \ ; middle toe l T
8
g , its claw i%.
Weight 2£ lb.
VOL. III.