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 Oology,” for 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 1/8 inches in length, by 2 1/8 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 the United States, p. 424.
Uria Brunnichii, Brunnich’s Guillemot, Swains. and Richards. Fauna Bor. Amer. part ii. p. 477.
Large-billed Guillemot, Nuttall, Manual, vol. ii. p. 529.
Adult Male in winter. Plate CCXLV.
Bill shorter than the head, stout, tapering, compressed, acute. Upper 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 1/2 inches, to end of claws 21 1/2; extent of wings 30; wing from flexure 8, tail 2 1/2; bill along the ridge 1 2/12, along the edge of lower mandible 2; tarsus 1 4/12; middle toe 1 8/12, its claw 5/12. Weight 2 1/4 lb.