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GUILLEMOT-AV KS-PUFFINS-DOVES-PIGEON-WAGTAIL.
Black-throated Guillemot. (Synthliborhamphus antiquus.)
Fig. tx.
Guillemots are another group of birds that pass most of their
time upon the ocean; visiting land very seldom, except when the
time of incubation arrives. When on land their walk resembles
dancing. They do not fear man, as he seldom visits their wild
resorts; but should a Falcon or an Eagle make its appearance
thousands of them at once take wing, and hastily retreat to some
place of safety. The countless pairs of which the vast assembly
of these birds consist, exhibit the utmost constancy and attachment,
and may be seen, before the eggs are laid, keeping constantly to-
gether, caressing each other with their beaks, and evincing the
greatest affection.
Figure 2, on plate LXXV., is a representation of the Common
or Foolish Guillemot (Uria troile), and on page II5 appears an
account, to which the reader is referred for a more detailed refer-
ence of the habits of these species.
The Thick-billed, or Briinnick's Guillemot, is a resident of the
North Atlantic, Arctic, and Pacific coasts, south to New Jersey
and California.
The Sooty Guillemot is a resident of the North Pacific.
The Pigeon Guillemot is also a resident of the North Pacific
Ocean.
Kittlitz's Guillemot, or Murrelet, is said to be a resident of the
North Pacific Ocean.
Temminck's Guillemot is an extensive and numerous inhabitant
of the whole of the Pacific coast to Cape St. Lucas.
The Black-throated Guillemot is a handsome bird of the North
Pacific.
Whiskered Auk. (Simorhynchus camtschaticus.)
Fig. 12.
Crested Auk. (Simorhynchus cristatellus.)
Fig. 13.
Parrot, or Parroquet Auk. (Phalaris psittacula.)
Fig. 1+
Horn-billed Auk. (Ceratorhyna monocerata.)
Fig. xS.
Little Auk: Sea Dove, or Dovekie. (Mergulus alle.)
Fig. x8.
Auks, in their habits and modes of life, closely resemble the
Guillemots represented on this plate.
The Whiskered Auk, the Crested Auk, and the Parrot, or Par-
roquet Auk, are inhabitants of the North Pacific Ocean.
The Horn-billed Auk is met with on the Pacific Ocean, in Cali-
fornia.
The Little Auk is met with, in great numbers, along the coast
of the North Atlantic, and in winter as far south as New Jersey
and to Florida.
Large-billed Puffin. (Fratercula arcticus, var. glacialis.)
Fig. x6.
This Puffin is a resident of the Arctic Coast and is a variety of
the common Puffin, Sea Parrot, or Coulterneb (Fratercula arcs-
cus), Plate LXXV., fig. 4, page ii5, Its habits are similar.
Figure x7 represents the Horned Puffin (Fratercuta corniculala),
which is also similar in its habits and is met with on the same
ocean.
PLATE CIX.
Red-billed Pigeon or Dove. (Columbaftavirostris.)
Fig. i.
This handsome Dove is a resident of the Lower Rio Grande
River, and is also found on and near the Gulf coast of Mexico and
Central America. They are said to be secluded in their habits and
to have a veiy rapid flight.
White-Winged Dove. (Melopeteia Leueoptera.)
Fig. 2.
The distribution of this species is quite extensive through South-
western United States, Lower California, Arizona, New Mexico
and Texas, south through Mexico to Central America, Cuba and
Jamaica. Its food consists principally of grain and seeds, and it
is also fond of ripe fruit. At the approach of a person they are at
first quite wild, but with a little care they soon become tame. Its
eggs are white, of equal size at either end, an oval in shape, and
measure 1.25 inches by .92.
Band-tailed Pigeon. (Columba fasciata.)
Fig. 3.
The residence of this pigeon is in the Rocky Mountains, thence
to the Pacific Ocean and southward to South America.
Dr. George Suckley, whose opportunities of investigation were
excellent, has left the following record: " The Band-tailed Pigeon
is a very common bird in Washington Territory, especially west
of the Cascade Mountains; I saw but one flock, containing five
individuals, east of those mountains. In i856 the first birds of
this species that arrived in the spring made their appearance about
May 15, which is the customary time every year for their arrival.
One or two individuals are first seen, and within two or three days
thereafter the main body of the migration follows. A small num-
ber remain throughout the summer and breed; the rest retire fur-
ther north. Those that remain generally make their nests in thick
fir-forests, near water. They subsist during the summer on wild
cherries and other berries, and later in the season, since the coun-
try has become settled, upon grain. About the first week in Sep-
tember large flocks congregate in stubble-fields in the vicinity of
Fort Steilacoom, and for two or three weeks thereafter their num-
bers are daily augmented by arrivals from the north. Some flocks
of these Pigeons, that I saw in September, must have contained at
least one thousand individuals. I am told that in the cultivated
districts on the Cowlitz River, at the same season, they are in still
greater numbers. By the 5th of October, of the year I856, all had
suddenly disappeared, with the exception of a few stragglers, gen-
erally young birds. In flying, the flocks, I think, are not quite so
compactly crowded as those of the Passenger Pigeon. During the
summer, while breeding, their cooing can be heard a long distance.
The name of this bird in the Nisqually language is ' hubboh,' a
good imitation of its calls. . . . . In autumn these birds are
in excellent order for the table; indeed, I prefer them to the Wild
Pigeon of the Atlantic States."
Yellow Wagtail. (Budytes flava.)
Fig. .
This is an extensive and well-known European species, which