Description
The Marbled Murrelet is a small (25 cm), chunky auk with a slender black bill. It has pointed wings and plumage that varies by season. The non-breeding plumage is typically white underneath with a black crown, nape, wings and back. The bird closely resembles its closest relative, the Long-billed Murrelet. In fact, these species were considered conspecific up until 1998. They are virtually identical. In breeding plumage, both have a brown mottled body and face. The Long-billed has a pale white throat, lacking in the Marbled. In winter plumage, the Marbled Murrelet has a white neck collar, absent in Long-billed. The Marbled Murrelet is shorter billed and slightly smaller than the Long-billed Murrelet.
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“The next Augustan age will dawn on the other side of the Atlantic. There will, perhaps, be a Thucydides at Boston, a Xenophon at New York, and, in time, a Virgil at Mexico, and a Newton at Peru. At last, some curious traveller from Lima will visit England and give a description of the ruins of St Paul’s, like the editions of Balbec and Palmyra.”
—Horace Walpole (1717–1797)
“The next Augustan age will dawn on the other side of the Atlantic. There will, perhaps, be a Thucydides at Boston, a Xenophon at New York, and, in time, a Virgil at Mexico, and a Newton at Peru. At last, some curious traveller from Lima will visit England and give a description of the ruins of St. Paul’s, like the editions of Balbec and Palmyra.”
—Horace Walpole (1717–1797)
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—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)