KHiStll ; r;--‘/Yf-v ;’ I t ' , I -1 li-i . . ' . ' . '^1 r . , - IjI^ > ; V* 'uYiV ; ^ V *• .. ■ ' : v" * I ■ > , ’< ' HI ■ ’V" i ill *• : 1 4 $ . » ' if, V»' r|;% >?S ■lA-^ 'l' < • -ik ^ ■ ' I ' • V -A MM. i' . '■ ’ll / :"; ;ly;;-7vi ' 5--'^ siS,. Vii ' « ^ i ' ’ji; ..' K\^7 V , CONTENTS AND LIST OF PLATES. PAGK Order PROCELLARIIFORMES 1 Genus OCEANITES 9 No. 75. Australian Yellow- webbed Storm-Petrel, OceaniUs oceaniciis exasperatus . . . . . . . . 11 Plate 68 lettered Oceanites oceanica, to face . . . 11 No. 76. Grey-backed Storm-Petrel, Oceanites nereis nereis . 15 Plate 69 lettered Garrodia nereis, to face . . . . 15 Genus PELAGODROMA ......... 19 No. 77. West Australian White-faced Storm-Petrel, Pelago- drmna marina dulcioe . . . . . . . .21 Plate 70 lettered Pelagodrcnna marina, to face . . . 21 . No. 78. East Australian White-faced Storm-Petrel, Pelago- drmna marina howei ........ 26 Genus EREGETTA . . . . . . . . .31 No. 79. Black-bellied Storm-Petrel, Fregetta tropica melano- gaster .......... 33 Plate 71 lettered Fregetta melanogaster, to face ... 33 No. 80. White-bellied Storm-Petrel, Fregetta grallaria gr^llaria 37 Plate 72 lettered Fregetta grallaria, to face . . . . 37 Genus PUFEINUS . 45 No. 81. White-fronted Petrel, Puffinus leuco7nelas . . 48 No. 82. Allied Petrel, Puffinus assimilis assiinilis . . . 50 No. 83. Westralian Allied Petrel, Puffinus assimilis tunneyi 71 Plate 73 lettered Puffinus asshnilis, to face . . . . 71 V THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. Genus PUFFINUS — continued, No. 84. Queensland Black-and-white Petrel, Puffinus Iherminieri nugax ........ No. 85. Brown-backed Petrel, Puffinus reinholdi reinhoMi . Plate 74 lettered Puffinus gavia, to face . . . . No. 86. Snares Brown- backed Petrel, Puffinus reinholdi huttoyii No. 87, Western Wedge-tailed Petrel, Puffinus pacificus chlororhynchus ......... No. 88. Eastern Wedge-tailed Petrel, Puffinus pacificus foyanus .......... Plate 75 lettered Puffinus chlororliynchus, to face . No. 89. Flesh-footed Petrel, Puffinus carneipes carneipes . Plate 76 lettered Puffinus carneipes, to face No. 90. Sombre Petrel, Puffinus griseus griseus Plate 77 lettered Puffinus griseus, to face .... No. 91. Short-tailed Petrel, Puffinus tenuirostris brevicaudus Plate 78 lettered Puffinus brevicaudus, to face No. 92. Solitary Petrel, Puffinus tenuirostris intermedius Genus PROCELLARIA ......... No. 93. Spectacled Petrel, Procellaria cequinoctialis conspicillata Plate 79 lettered Majaqueus cequinoctialis, to face No. 94. New Zealand White-chinned Petrel, Procellaria cequinoctialis steadi ........ No. 95. Black Petrel, Procellaria parhinsoni .... Plate 80 lettered Majaqueus parhinsoni, to face . . No. 96. Grey Petrel, Procellaria cinerea .... Plate 81 lettered Priofinus cinereus, to face Genus PRIOCELLA ......... No. 97. Silver-grey Petrel, Priocella antarctica Plate 82 lettered Priocella glacialoides, to face Genus PTERODROMA ......... No. 98. Eastern Grey-faced Petrel, Pterodroma macroptera gould'h .......... Plate 83 lettered (Estrelata macroptera, to face No. 99. Western Grey-faced Petrel, Pterodrmna macroptera albani .......... 4 No. 100. Brown-headed Petrel, Pterodroma melanopus . Plate 84 lettered Pterodro^na melanopus, to face . PAGE 72 74 74 77 78 85 85 89 89 92 92 99 9j 104 106 108 108 114 116 116 119 119 125 126 126 129 134 134 139 141 141 VT CONTENTS. Genus PTERODROMA — continned. No. 101. Eastern White-headed Petrel, Pterodro'ina lessonii leucocephala ......... Plate 85 lettered (Estrelata lessoni, to face .... SoFT-PLUMAGED Petrel, PteTodwiYia 7nollis Plate 86 lettered (Estrelata 7nollis, to face .... No. 102. Blue-footed Petrel, Pterodrmna cookii cookii . Plate 87 lettered (Estrelata cooki, to face .... No. 103. White-winged Petrel. Pterodro^na cookii leucoptera . Plate 88 lettered (Estrelata leucoptera, to face Genus PAGODROMA ......... Genus MACRONECTES ......... No. 104. New Zealand Giant Petrel, Macronectes giganteus albus Plate 89 lettered Macronectes gigantea, to face Genus DAPTION . . . . . . . . ’ . No. 105. Cape Petrel, Daption capense ..... Plate 90 lettered Daption capensis, to face .... Genus HALOB^ENA ......... No. 106. Blue Petrel, Halohmna ccerulea .... Plate 91 lettered Halobcena coerulea, to face Genus PRION .......... No. 107. New Zealand Broad-billed Prion, Prion vittatus vittatus .......... No. 108. Australian Broad-billed Prion, Prion vittatus gouldi No. 109. Australian Long-billed Prion, Prion vittatus 7nissus Plate 92 lettered Prion banksi, to face . . ' . Genus PSEUDOPRION No. 110. Australian Fairy-Prion, Pseudoprion turtur turtur Plate 93 lettered Pseudoprion turtur, to face Genus HETEROPRION \ . No. 111. Australian Thin-billed Prion, Heteroprion belcheri No. 112. Australian Dove-Prion, Heteroprion desolatus 7nattingleyi Genus PELECANOIDES No. 113. Diving Petrel, Pelecanoides urinatrix urinatrix . Plate 94 lettered Pelecanoides 7irinat7'ix, to face . PAGE 153 153 157 157 166 166 171 171 174 178 179 179 190 191 191 194 195 195. 199 204 211 212 212 . 215 217 217- 222 224 226 232 234 234 VOL. II. VII THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA, Genus DIOMEDEA No. 1 14. Australian Wandering Albatros, Dimmdea exulans rothschildi .......... Plate 95 lettered Dimnedea exulans, to face . No. 115. Snowy Albatros, Dimmdea exulans ehionoftera . No. 116. Campbell Island Royal Albatros, Dimnedea epmno- phora epomophora ........ Genus THALASSARCHE No. 117. Australian Black-browed Mollymawk, TJialassarche melanophris impavida ........ Plate 96 lettered Dimnedea 7nelanopTirys, to face . Genus THALASSOGERON No. 118. Australian Flat-billed Mollymawk, Thalassogeron chrysostmna cuhninatus ....... Plate 97 lettered Dimnedea chrysostmna, to face . No. 119. East Australian Yellow-nosed Mollymawk, Thalassogeron chlororhynchos hassi ..... Plate 98 lettered Dimnedea chlororhynchus, to face No. 120. Westralian Yellow-nosed Mollymawk, Thalassogeron chlororhynchos carteri ........ Plate 99 lettered Dimnedea carteri, to face .... No. 121. Shy Mollymawk, Thalassogeron cautus cautus Plate 100 lettered Dimnedea cauta, to face .... Genus PHOEBETRIA ......... No. 122. New Zealand Light-mantled Sooty Albatros, Phcebetria palpebrata huttoni ...... Plate 101 lettered Phoebetria palpebrata, to face . No. 123. Australian Sooty Albatros, Phoebetria fusca ca^npbelli Order LARIFORMES Genus HYDROCHELIDON No. 124. Eastern White-winged Tern, Hydrochelidon leucoptera grisea Plate 102 lettered Hydrochelidon leucoptera, to face No. 125. East Australian Whiskered Tern, Hydrochelidon leucopareia fiuviatilis . . . . . . . . PAGE 240 246 246 ' 255 258 264 267 267 ' 273 277 277 - 281 281 , 287 287 , 289 289 . 294 297 297 , 304 306 310 312 312 > 316 CONTENTS. PAGE Geus HYDROCHELIDON — continued. No. 126. West Australian Whiskered Tern, Hydrochelidon leucopareia rogersi ........ 323 Plate 103 lettered Hydrochelidon hyhrida, to face . . . 323 Genus GELOCHELIDON 325 No. 127. Long-legged Tern, Gelochelidon nilotica macrotarsa . 327 Plate 104 lettered Gelochelidon inacrotarsa, to face . . 327 Genus HYDROPROGNE ........ 332 No. 128. Australian Caspian Tern, Hydroprogne tschegrava strenua .......... 333 Plate 105 lettered Hydroprogne caspia, to face . . . 333. Genus THALASSEUS ......... 338 No. 129. Bass Strait Tern, Thalasseus hergii poliocercus . . 340 Plate 106 lettered Sterna hergii, to face .... 340 No. 130. Torres Strait Tern, Thalasseus hergii pelecanoides . 348 No. 131. Westralian Crested Tern, Thalasseus hergii gwendolence 350 No. 132. Lesser Crested Tern, Thalasseus hengalensis torresii . 352 Plate 107 lettered Sterna media, to face .... 352 Genus STERNA . • . . . , . . . . . 356 No. 133. Australian Roseate Tern, Sterna dougallii gracilis 358 Plate 108 lettered Sterna gracilis, to face . . . . 358 No. 134. Australian White-fronted Tern, Sterna striata melanorhyncha ......... 366 Plate 109 lettered Sterna frontalis, to face .... 366 No. 135. Australian Black-naped Tern, Sterna sumatrana kempi 370 Plate 110 lettered Sterna melanauchen, to face . . . 370 Genus STERNULA 373 No. 136. Eastern White-shafted Ternlet, Sternula alhifrons platens . 375 Plate 111 lettered Sterna sinensis, to face . , . . 375 No. 137. Western White-shafted Ternlet, Sternula alhifrons tormenti 382 No. 138. Eastern White-faced Ternlet, Sternula nereis nereis 383 Plate 112 lettered Sterna nereis, to face .... 383 No. 139. Western White-faced Ternlet, Sternula nereis horni 386 IX THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. PAGE Genus ONYCHOPRION 388 No. 140. Australian Sooty Tern, Onychoprion fuscatus sermtus 389 Plate 113 lettered Sterna fuliginosa, to face . . . 389 Genus MELANOSTERNA 395 No. 141. Australian Brown-winged Tern, Melanosterna anceihetus novce-hollandice . 397 Plate 114 lettered Sterna ancestheta, to face . . , ♦ 397 Genus ANGUS 404 No. 142. Australian Noddy, Anous stolidus gilberti . . 405 Plate 115, lettered Anous stolidus, to face .... 405 Genus MEGALOPTERUS 412 No. 143. Australian Lesser Noddy, Megalopterus tenuirostris melanops .......... 414 Plate 116 lettered Micranous tenuirostris, to face . . . 414 No. 144. Australian V/hite-capped Noddy, Megalopterus minutus 7ninutus . . . . . . . .417 Plate 117 lettered Micranous leucocapillus, to face . . 417 Genus PROCELSTERNA 425 No. 145. Grey Noddy, Procelsterna cerulea cinerea . . . 426 Plate 118 lettered Procelsterna cinerea, to face . . . 426 Genus GYGIS 432 No. 146. Australian White Tern, Gygis alba royana . . 433 Plate 119 lettered Gygis alba, to face ..... 433 Genus BRUCHIGAVIA 444 No. 147. Silver Gull, Bruchigavia novcB-hollandioe novce-hollandice 448 Plate 120 lettered Larus novce-hollandice, to face . . . 448 No. 148. Northern Silver Gull, Bruchigavia novce-hollandice gouldi .......... 458 No. 149. Tasmanian Silver Gull, Bruchigavia novce-hollandice gunni . . . . . . . . . . 462 No. 150. Southern Silver Gull, Bruchigavia novce-hollandice ethelce .......... 466 No. 151. Western Silver Gull, Bruchigavia novce-hollandice longirostris .......... 468 X CONTENTS. PAGE Genus GABIANUS 472 No. 152. Pacific Gull, Gdbianus pacificus paciflcus . . . 474 No. 153. Western Pacific Gull, Gabianus facificus georgii . 480 Plate 121 lettered Gdbianus pad ficus, to face . . . 480 Genus CATHARACTA 482 No. 154. Australian Skua, Catharacta lonnbergi lonnbergi . 484 Plate 122 lettered Megalestris antarctica, to face . . . 484 # Genus COPROTHERES 497 No. 155. Siberian Pomarine Skua, Coprotheres pomarinus camtschatica . . . . . . . . . 498 Plate 123 lettered Stercorarius pmnatorhinus, to face . . 498 - Genus STERCORARIUS 500 No. 156. Arctic Skua, Stercorarius parasiticus . . . .501 Plate 124 lettered Stercorarius crepidatus, to face . . 501 1 m f/i 'i//. mi I'K Tv’.Av ?' ''“n ‘.'» '<“ ■'i!i teW m If \uX iM m fp) wi TmJ 1 -*I*cn*> '"I t. f^. >p X IK^hld WUi'? .1 r/ vll s •«> . M S'?'.. . >r *. 'frfj S '.» L •IN^i pUv V I ^m\ » ' I mf. Ml fi I « ilt^, 7r‘ t 7'- if t V r’^»i fci K- . AL ' vdffiEtt'AvV J /' ’ Cl#* . ■:, ' .' I C.V I* V '. .1 / .. 4 '! '. VafV V. ' ‘j "I ■•I I >j|jani‘ ,y o Ir >Lt •‘yr /I ‘ m ;^r, .. i; '» ;^'y ' Jf j‘,' . 1 IT* “ A ® J ^ 1 ij""*!] i'> ' « 1^' ti H ’A '>> ?> TV' Kk\ j('.' (M ,-. I'r ■ fii n ' ^ I* -■'1 ' I I' .' ■ ' vl. 'i'.v .» SI ,4 4'tJ' .'■ 1 ' • ' I ll fm ;).V VA. 1 Yr^ P? ■Lv3 I’ ■' '.•;," ' ■' ts*a ?i " ''''' ' ^ Is [fJi^ k :'»i/ /iM I s' r^' i.'r '« ;<'l .?'i) k* is U: * ' K€- fw PREFACE. IT is pleasing to record that the completion of my second volume has seen the abatement of the criticism at first directed against the nomenclature, and more attention has been given to the facts displayed. This volume has dealt with the Petrels and Gull-like birds, and I have endeavoured to introduce all matter that will enable the Australian ornith- ologist to deal with his own birds, so that he can feel he is not working at such a disadvantage as previously. It is admitted that the Catalogue of the Birds in the British Museum has been the one recent book of reference to the Anti- podean worker : I hope that this work will take its place as regards Australian birds, and to that end I have devoted much time and space to the elucidation of the systematic side of the Austral Ornis, and anticipate co-operation from my Australian friends in working out their life-histories. It is gratifying to record that this anticipation seems in a fair way of fulfilment, as those friends whom I indicated, in the Preface to the first volume, as having helped me, have continued their efforts. In this connexion I would specially tender my most sincere thanks to Captain S. A. White, who has made special excursions, costing much time and expense : he has con- tributed valuable notes and specimens which will be made full use of and acknowledged throughout the continuation of my work, as the birds presented are worked out. Messrs. Frank Howe, Charles Belcher, Bernard H. Woodward, J. W. Mellor, F. E. Wilson, Hugh Riordan, Tom Carter, Dr. W. Mcgillivray and Miss Fletcher all again require special mention, while amongst new friends should be noted Messrs. R. A. Dyott and C. F. Cole. \ Professor R. Collett of Norway, I have to signally thank for his great kindness in forwarding me the large, hitherto unworked, collection made by Dahl in the Northern Territory, and for the gift of many specimens. In connexion with the birds dealt with in this volume, I owe a deep debt of gratitude to the Hon. Walter Rothschild, who placed his invaluable collection of birds of the Order Procellariiformes at my service. XIII THE BIEDS OF AUSTRALIA. Mr. Eagle Clarke of the Scottish National Museum, has also always been ready to allow comparison with the specimens collected by the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition, and thereby interesting notes have been obtained for which thanks are tendered. Dr. Peringuey, Director of the South African Museum, courteously for- warded me the collection of Prions from that Institution, and I was thus enabled to fix the South African forms by comparison with the types of Smith’s species preserved in the British Museum. Mr. A. F. Basset Hull, whose investigations into this hitherto neglected group have already borne such good results, forwarded some very interesting specimens, including the type of (Estrelata montana Hull, the property of the Australian Museum, Sydney. To both Mr. Hull and the Trustees of the Museum must the thanks of all Australian ornithologists be rendered, as through this action the solution of the mystery surrounding Gould’s Procellaria solandri was brought about. I hope I have made it obvious that a very wide field for investigation awaits Australians in this branch, and that co-operation with Mr. Hull would bring about more valuable results : I have indicated some of the points that have attracted me in the course of the work. In conclusion, I would again ask all my friends for a continuation of their help, and would also ask all those who have observed the lack of life- histories to aid in filling up the blanks. G. M. M. Christmas, 1912. ERRATUM. Page 173 — Insert : “ Nestling — about four weeks old. Head and the whole upper surface covered with bluish- grey down, extending on to the flanks ; chin, throat, and upper breast, white ; centre of breast, abdomen, and under-tail, white. Bill, black, interdigital membrane fleshy white and basal half, black. Total length, 8 inches. “ Younger birds, about 5 inches in length, show more of the white on the under surface.” (Hull) This was copied out for introduction in the proper place, but not sent to press ; note that the reference is included in the synonymy. XIV Oedee viil— procellakiifoemes. The Order Procellariiformes consists of sea-birds which can be recognised at sight by their prominent tubular nostrils (hence the name Tubinares, by which the group is frequently called) and peculiar bills, which are made up of several horny pieces, between which are grooves. They constitute such a distinct group that systematists have long been in doubt as to the value of the aggregation, but it is now generally conceded that they must be recognised as a separate Order. Moreover their relationships appear to be with the Pelicanijorines and Spheniscifonnes, and not with the Lariformes, to which they bear a superficial resemblance, and next to which they were placed in the system I adopted before the commencement of this work. The inter-relationships of the higher groupings are not at all well known, as Salvin accepted four families in the Catalogue of the Birds in the British Museum, and this arrangement was followed in the Monograph of the Petrels recently published. But in the introduction to the latter work (p. xvii.) Pycraft concludes that osteologically, two families alone are recognisable. In our present imperfect knowledge of the group, the former classification is the more convenient, and I am therefore following it. The minor groupings are even more unsatisfactory, as almost each well-defined species is characterised by features which have at times been considered worthy of generic rank. The majority of specimens at present in museums are birds killed at sea, and until a series of all the various forms are collected at breeding-stations we cannot hope for much progress. The study of sea-killed specimens has caused the lumping of many distinct forms, the observed differences being ascribed to variability, whereas I am convinced that these birds show little variation when breeding series are examined. I also anticipate that, when this group is studied by means of breeding birds, it will be found^ that they are not the great wanderers they have hitherto been considered, but that the majority pass their time quite close to the breeding -ground. I have here gratefully to acknowledge that the Hon. Walter Rothschild, with his usual generosity in the cause of science, has placed at my disposal the whole of his magnificent collection of birds of this Order, to aid in working out VOL. II. 1 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. the forms. Such assistance needs special recognition, as the Rothschild collection is peculiarly rich in Neozelanic specimens of this group, and their study was especially desirable. As the majority of the members of this group live in the Southern Hemisphere, and many occur as breeding birds on the islets round Australia, it is necessary that they should become an attractive object of study to the Australian ornithologists. I hope that the present resume will tend to continue the interest recently introduced, as evidenced by the researches of Messrs. Hull, Campbell, and White. In order to make this Part a work of reference, so that Antipodean ornithologists shall be at as little disadvantage as possible when contrasted with the Home-worker, surrounded by wealth of material and literature, I propose to give in review the varied attempts at monographing this group, and as a further aid I am including copies of the original descriptions of all the forms described in connection with the species and subspecies admitted, so that my conclusions can be fairly criticised by every student. The history of the Petrels of the Southern Hemisphere practically com- menced with the famous voyages of Captain Cook, and the first monograph of Petrels may be said to be the treatment of the group by Latham, in the third volume of the General Synopsis of Birds. On Cook’s first voyage Sir Joseph Banks accompanied him, and as assistants. Banks had selected Dr. Solander as botanist and zoologist, and two or three artists, one of whom (Sidney Parkinson) made drawings of birds, including many of Petrels. On Cook’s second voyage, John Reinhold Forster was the naturalist selected, whilst his son George Forster acted as artist, birds being specially collected and figured. On Cook’s last voyage, the artists were W. Ellis and — Webber. Whatever became of the birds collected cannot now be definitely ascertained, but apparently none of the specimens met with on the first voyage came into the possession of the British Museum ; some, if not all of those procured on the second voyage, did come to the British Museum, and possibly some of these also went to the Leverian Museum ; those brought home from the last voyage passed into the collection of Sir Joseph Banks. Apparently all the MSS., drawings, etc., made on the first voyage became the property of Sir Joseph Banks, who also secured the drawings made on the second voyage by George Forster, and those of W. Ellis drawn on the last voyage. The manuscript descriptions made on the second voyage by John Reinhold Forster were retained by the author, who, however, published in the Mhn. Math. Phys., Paris, 1785, an article on the species of Albatros which was overlooked until brought to light by the researches of Mr. C. Davies 2 PROCELLARIIFORMES. Sherborn, when engaged on his monumental work of reference, the Index Animalium^ in 1902. The drawings and specimens in the collection of Sir Joseph Banks were made use of by Latham in his monograph, and the latter also attempted to identify these and the British and Leverian Museum birds, with those mentioned in the various books dealing with Cook’s voyages, but noted : “ As few of the voyagers have thought worth while to describe the birds to which they have given names, we cannot always be clear of the species meant ; are therefore not quite certain it was the one here described.”* This unmerited reproach was removed in the case of John Reinhold Forster by the publication in 1844 of the beautiful detailed descriptions prepared by that writer at the time of capture of the birds, some seventy odd years previously. I have now the greatest pleasure in showing that Dr. Solander was equally faithful in carefully describing most systematically all the Petrels met with on Cook’s first voyage. The reason for the non-publication of the descriptions of Forster is known, differences having arisen between the British Government of that day and J. R. Forster regarding the status of the latter, details of which are given in the account of Cook’s voyages, by George Forster. Why the descrip- tions made by Solander were not published I do not know, and it would also seem that these were not seen by Latham, though the drawings and specimens in the collection of Sir Joseph Banks were otherwise made available to that ornithologist. Since that time the descriptions of Petrels made by Solander have never been studied carefully by any ornithologist, and when Salvin, in 1875, made an examination of the Banksian drawings (Rowley’s Ornith. Miscell., Vol. I., p. 223, 1875) he was unable to trace them, though they had apparently been referred to as recently as 1871 by Gray. Since that date they have been regarded as lost, until a few weeks ago, when endeavouring to trace a name attributed to the Solander MSS. in the British Museum, I was enabled to recognise that a batch of manuscript marked as “ Copies,” constituted the re-written and press-prepared matter of the original manuscript notes, which in other cases are still preserved in the British Museum. Along with these copies were lists which proved to be the original ones drawn up regarding the birds brought back from Cook’s last voyage. These, in connection with the drawings and the Forster descriptions already known, have enabled me to trace almost all the birds described by Latham ; there were only two or three that had almost defied attempts to place them, and these, I think, can be accounted for. Now to review the work done. As before noted, Latham’s was practically the first monograph of this group. In the 10th edition of the Syst. Nat., 1758, Linne, there are only three species * Latham, Qen. Synopsis Birds, Vol. III., Pt. i., p. 308, footnote, 1785. 3 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. of Procellaria and two of Diomedea^ one of the latter being a Penguin! In the 1 2th edition, 1766, the number of species of Petrels was increased to six, one being still unrecognisable ; the other two both northern forms. In the Syst. Nat., edited by Gmelin, 1788-1789, Latin names were given to the forms described by Latham in the General Synopsis as above noted, and there twenty-two Petrels were included, and of these fifteen were the results of Cook’s voyages. In 1820, Kuhl, having access to the Banksian drawings, reviewed the group, and introduced into literature many of the names attached to the drawings by Solander, attributing them in some cases to Banks, and in others to Forster. It should be noted however that very many of the drawings made by Sidney Parkinson and George Forster are simply pencil sketches, with the soft parts coloured in or descriptions of these carefully written in, by the artist at the time, after which apparently the birds were handed to Dr. Solander or John Reinhold Forster, who made most minute descriptions of the specimens. In 1844 were published the descriptions drawn up by John Reinhold Forster, but as almost all the birds noted by him had been previously described by Latham and named by Gmelin, most of Forster’s names sank into synonymy. But the details given by Forster are very useful, inasmuch as they enable us to fix definitely the type-localities of many of the Gmelinian species, when only such data as “ South Seas ” or “in the Antarctic Circle ” were formerly known. The same year Gould reviewed the group and wrote : “I have endeavoured wherever possible to identify them with those described by Forster, Banks, etc., whose drawings and descriptions have been consulted for the purpose.” Gray, in his List of Spechnens in the British Museum and also in the Genera of Birds^ noted in the synonymy several names accredited to Solander MSS. which had not previously been used in literature. In 1852 Reichenbach in his Systema Avium introduced new generic names for many of the species, and reproduced figures of other authors as well as many original ones. This practically includes all the work done up to the time of that great worker, Bonaparte, and his Conspectus Generum Avium. As a preparation for this great work, the Consp. Gen. Av., Bonaparte 4- contributed a series of papers to the Comptes Rendus Sci. (Paris), 1855 and 1856, and gave interesting points regarding this group which was at that time in manuscript. In order to make his work of permanent value, Bonaparte visited most of the museums of Europe, and apparently at the British Museum examined the Solander MSS. and the Banksian drawings. That he saw the Petrel MS. is certain from his quotations of names occurring therein, and which were not previously referred to by Gray. Moreover, he attaches these names 4 PROCELLARIIFORMES. to species which roughly correspond somewhat to the descriptions given by Solander. Delay, owing to sickness, brought it about that the Consp. Gen. Av. (dated in MS. 1855) did not appear until 1857 (details substantiating this statement will be given later), and in that work Bonaparte included all the corrections brought about by fuller knowledge in the short space of eighteen months. After his identification and long synonymy, a very brief diagnosis is given, and I have found it almost impossible to determine Bonaparte’s meaning. In many cases the synonymy is fairly accurate, but the description is not applicable to any of the synonyms given. I have therefore omitted most of Bonaparte’s references from my S3monymy, though they have usually been included under the species name he had used, but will note the discrepancies I detect when dealing with the individual species. In 1856 Tschudi named some Petrels from observations of fiying birds, and the majority of these still remain indeterminable. In the Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad. for 1864-1866 appeared a series of articles entitled “ A Critical Review of the Family Procellariidoe, by Dr. Elliott Coues.” As a standard of excellence as regards ornithological work it will never be surpassed, and it has really been the basis upon which the succeeding pages have been founded. Had Dr. Coues only been able to include in his essays a personal criticism of the Banksian drawings and documents, little would have remained for later workers. His introduction contains the following sentences, which express my own desires more clearly than my own words might do : “I have attempted to elucidate the specific characters of the components of the groups as well as their most natural generic disposition, and to discuss fairly such questions of synonymy as may arise . . . Concerning the genera adopted, each one must judge of their agreement with nature, or the reverse, according to his own opinion upon the question of what constitutes a generic group.” To the above I would add “ sub ” — where Coues wrote “ specific ” in the first sentence. Concerning Coues’s monograph, little can be said, save that I can see no faults whatever in his treatment of this group. The corrections to be made upon his work after almost fifty years are only those due to lack of specimens and propagation of errors through inability to check other workers’ deterqiinations. At the conclusion of the series Coues gave a Bibliographical Appendix, wherein he noted the preceding monographs of this group, all the species named, and their modern equivalents. Regarding his determinations of the species of Gmelin, practically all are as now correctly accepted, and the few he was not certain of I hope to prove applicable to species he was autoptically unacquainted with. I think I can satisfactorily demonstrate the validity and necessity for 5 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. recognition of the whole of the Gmelinian names. According to my investiga- tions, the brilliancy of the Couesian exposition will become more manifest as these Petrels are more carefully studied. In 1863 Schlegel had written upon the Pr ocellar iidce, but there is little of interest save the description of new species, the synonymy collated being now quite unacceptable. In his Handlist, 1871, Gray added some more Solander MSS. names to the synonymy. It would appear therefore that this was known at that date, yet in 1875, when Salvin examined the Parkinson drawings, it was supposed to have been mislaid. From 1875 to 1896 the only worker on this group was Salvin, who monographed the Order in the Catalogue of the Birds in the British Museum, and prepared the basis upon which the Monograph of the Petrels by Dr. Godman, I906-I9I0, was founded. This short review indicates the few workers upon this Order, and gives the state of the classification at the present time. As the Solander MSS. were not known to Salvin and Godman, no advance was possible with regard to the names in use ex that manuscript. To deal now with the Solander MS. treating of Petrels: By permission of the trustees of the British Museum, I am enabled to give copies of the original descriptions prepared by Solander, and which supplement the Parkinson drawings. These beautiful detailed diagnoses clear up all the obscure points which inevitably surrounded attempts to determine the unfin- ished drawings. Some of the latter were easily recognisable from the data given therewith, and the manuscript simply serves to confirm the correctness of the current acceptance. In others, and some of them important cases, the manuscript clearly shows what has hitherto been impenetrable mystery. A resume of the manuscript is interesting in connection with the drawings, which number sixteen, all credited to Sidney Parkinson. The first date on which a bird described from the Southern Ocean was procured is December 22nd, 1768, and the dates suggest that advantage was taken of calms to make collections of birds, and this is confirmed by reference to Cook’s Journal, where we find notes such as the following : — Feb. 1st, 1769 : “ The weather was such as to admit Mr. Banks to row round the Ship in a Lighterman’s Skifi shooting birds.” Oct. 2nd, 1769 : “ A. M. had a Boat in the Water, and Mr. Banks shott an Albetross which measured 10 feet 8 inches from the tip of wing to other.” These dates agree with those given by Solander, and the bird mentioned in the second note is carefully described by him. The succeeding list is extracted from the dates given with the descriptions, and shows the extent of the collection made, which is of extraordinary interest to Australian ornithologists, inasmuch as it contains the first records of 6 PROCELLARIIFORMES. Petrels obtained in Australian waters, those waters which has not since been Oct., 1768 .. Dec. 22, 1768 „ 23, 1768 Eeb. 1, 1769 „ 2, 1769 99 99 3, 1769 15, 1769 „ 23, 1769 Mar. 3, 1769 99 21, 1769 Sept. 19, 1769 and moreover indicates a form inhabiting met with : — Procellaria crepidata oceanica 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 fregata sandaliata gigantea (^) „ cequorea „ oceanica Diomedea exulans „ antarctica Procellaria turtur lugens fregata var. fuliginosa gigantea («) ,, vagabunda Diomedea exulans var. „ profuga „ profuga Nectris fuliginosa Procellaria velox Nectris munda Procellaria fuliginosa ,, velox „ veliflcans „ agilis velox melanopus sordida lugens veliflcans 99 99 99 99 99 Diomedea exulans Procellaria melanopus velox sordida atrata passerina velox vagabunda 99 99 99 99 7 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. Oct. 2, 1769 „ 7, 1769 Dec. 24, 1769 Jan. 6, 1770 „ 7, 1770 Feb. 14, 1770 Apl. 11, 1770 June 6, 1770 Procellaria pallipes ,, longipes „ velox ,, latirostris Nectris fuUginosa Diomedea exulans var. 2 Procellaria velox Nectris carhonaria „ munda ,, fuUginosa Procellaria longipes „ velox Diomedea exulans var. 2 Procellaria melanopus „ saltatrix „ longipes ,, velox Diomedea exulans var. 2 ,, impavida Procellaria oceanica ,, velox ,, longipes ,, vagdbunda „ melanopus Nectris fuUginosa ,, nugax I shall deal with each one of these in the succeeding pages, and I hope that my notes wUl show that Solander was a most accurate observer, and that with regard to Petrels he was certainly ahead of any other systematist of his time. Certainly, if his descriptions had been published, I do not think there would have been so much misunderstanding regarding the members of this group. 8 ■St' Family-hydro B ATI D^. Genus— O CEANITES. OcEANiTES Keyserling und Blasius, Die Wirbelthiere Europa’s, p. xciii., 1840 (Also spelt Oceanitis.) Garrodia W. A. Forbes, Proc. Zool. Soc. (Lond.) 1881, ^3* •• •• •• •• •• ** Pealea Ridgway, Auk, Vol. III., p. 334, 1886 Small Petrels, with long legs, webbed feet, weak bills, long wings, and medium tails. The bill is shorter than the head, and the nostrils are placed in a tube lying on the culmen. The wing has the second primary the longest, the first usually shorter than the third ; the secondaries are ten in number. The tail consists of twelve rectrices, and may be even or slightly forked. The tarsus is booted, or covered in front with transverse oblique scutes. The middle toe is longest, and the hind one very minute. In the genus Oceanites I include the species hitherto referred to the genera Garrodia and Pealea, which I propose to suppress, the only differences being that in Oceanites the tarsus is booted, in Garrodia the tarsus is scutellated, while Pealea has the scutes indistinct. I find from an examination of half a dozen specimens of Oceanites gracilis Elliot that, though five are booted, the sixth shows indistinctly, signs of scutellation. In Oceanites and Garrodia the first primary is shorter than the third, in Pealea the reverse is the case. The above diagnosis will separate the species of this genus from those of Hydrobates, in which genus the legs are short, the secondaries thirteen or more in number, and the tarsus is covered with hexagonal scales. Type 0. oceanicus. Type 0. nereis. Type 0. lineatus. VOL. II. 9 Key to the Species. A. Abdomen sooty-black ; rump white ; tarsus booted .. .. .. .. . . O.oceanicus exasperatus^p. W. Abdomen white; rump grey ; tarsus scutellated 0. nereis nereis, p. 15. Note. — As, in the Monograph of the Petrels, so in this volume the Petrels are given in conventional attitudes, and the figures can only be considered as showing the colora- tion of the species, and not as being life-like representations. It is now known that these birds cannot stand as usually figured except, perhaps, the Albatroses. 10 OCEAN ITES OCEANICA (' YELLOW- WEBBELD STORM-PETSEL J Order PR0GELLARIIF0RME8 No. 75. Family HYDROBATILM. OCEANITES OCEANIOUS EXASPERATES. AUSTRALIAN YELLOW-WEBBED STORM-PETREL. (Plate 68.)* OcBANiTBS ocBANicus EXASPEEATUS, subsp. n.; New Zealand seas; Type no. 244 in my collection. Thcdassidroma wilsoni (not Bonaparte) Gould, Birds Austr., Vol. VII., PI. 65, 1846. Oceanites oceanica Bonaparte, Consp. Gen. Av., Vol. II., p. 199, 1857 (pars) ; Coues, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad. 1864, p, 82 (pars) ; Gould, Handb. Birds Austr., Vol. II., p. 478, 1865 ; Mathews, Handl. Birds Austral., p. 15, 1908. Procellaria {Oceanites) oceanica Ramsay, Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., Vol. II., p. 203, 1877. Oceanites oceanicus Salvin, Cat, Birds Brit. Mus., Vol. XXV., p. 358, 1896 (pars) ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 91, 1899 ; Campbell, Nests and Eggs Austr. Birds, p. 869, 1901 ; Buller, Birds New Zeal., 2nd ed., Vol. II., p. 250, 1888 ; id., Suppl. Birds New Zeal,, Vol. I., p. 97, 1905 ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., 2nd ed., p. 91, 1906 ; Wilson, National Antarct. Exp., Aves, p. 76, 1907 ; Godman, Monogr. Petrels, p. 41, 1907 (pars) ; Littler, Handb. Birds Tasm., p. 157, 1910. Distribution. Australia ; New Zealand (south to Cape Adare during December, January, February). Adult male. Sooty-black above and below, paler on the greater wing-coverts, which are fringed with whitish ; upper tail-coverts pure white Hke the feathers on the sides of the rump ; under tail-coverte whitish at the base, sooty-black at the tips ; bill black ; iris dark brown; feet black ; middle of webs yellow. Total length 176 mm. ; culmen (exp.) 13, wing 156, tail 72, tarsus 35. Adult female. Similar to the adult male. Nest. “ A chamber at the end of a tunnel, lined with feathers ” (Wilson). Egg. “ Clutch one ; dull white, sometimes sparingly dotted with reddish spots; sometimes these spots form a ring round the larger end ; axis 33 mm., diameter 23.” Breeding-season. January (Cape Adare, Wilson). Gould found this species one of the commonest of the Storm-Petrels inhabit- ing the Australian seas. ' “ It is exceedingly active when flying, its wings being kept fully expanded ; it also makes considerable use of its feet, in patting the surface of the water, with its wings extended upwards and its head inclined downwards, to gather any food that may present itself. * The plat© is lettered Oaeanitea oceanica. f Gould, Handb. Birds Austr., Vol. II., p. 478, 1865. II THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. Speaking of what I believe to be this bird’s nesting habitat, Wilson^ writes: “ On January 9th we made a landing on Cape Adare, and had some hours which we occupied in hunting for this and other birds’ nests. It was presumably late for nests, but we were lucky in at last locating one. The birds were to be seen hovering round the mouth of crevices in the rocky side of the cliff, often settling close by for a few seconds, and then sailing in short circles round it, reminding one strongly of the movements of a House Martin {Chelidon urbica) at its nest under the eaves of a country barn. “ Two of the crevices could not be reached, but soon we saw a bird hover round and settle upon a large boulder. Hunting about for a burrow underneath, we caught the sound of twittering and traced it to a kind of mouse-hole. This, by dint of long and tedious picking with a sheath-knife, we enlarged till it admitted an arm up to the shoulder. The work w^as laborious, as the floor of the burrow was hard black ice and grit, but eventually we reached the nest. At the end of a little tunnel was a chamber containing a very comfortable nest, thickly lined with Adelie Penguins’ feathers, and in it a somewhat remarkable collection. First we brought out an adult male alive, then an adult female ; then two eggs, one clean and newly laid, the other old and rotten, and under all, another dead and flattened adult Oceanites. Outside, as we worked, a fourth bird was hovering, which, when shot, proved to be an adult male. It has been long known that with this species the nesting burrow is often used by more than a single pair. The fresh egg was preserved, the rotten one fell to pieces, and the three birds were preserved. “ Not a day now passed in our summer cruising on which we did not see a few Wilson’s Petrels. Never in large numbers, they were, nevertheless, never absent, and it was not until February 7th that we saw the last, in 1902. “ At the approach of winter, they disappear from the southernmost regions and no doubt migrate north. Though the ice of Ross Sea was many times broken up by storms during winter and early spring, the little Wilson’s Petrel was not to be seen in McMurdo Sound from the end of February to the middle of December. On December and in January of 1903 to 1904, while we were camped on the sea ice under Dellbridge Islands, we saw quite a number of them, but though the rough volcanic rocks and boulders were apparently much frequented, we found no nest there. Nor could we find them nesting at Cape Royds, which seemed more suitable, being some miles nearer the open water and their food supply. “ The burrows are not very difficult to discover, for one’s attention is drawn to them by the habit the bird has of hovering round the entrance in the evening hours, and settling there without actually going in and also sometimes by the * National Antarct. Exp., Avee, p. 76, 1907. 12 AUSTRALIAN YELLOW-WEBBED STORM-PETREL. twittering of the bird within. They are often quite inaccessible without a rope, even when located, but, on the other hand, they may be almost on level ground. “ The flight of the bird is peculiarly attractive in these barren waters of snow and rock, chiefly perhaps from its resemblance to the flight of the familiar martin, for it flits here and there exactly as though in search of insects on the wing. Occasionally it sails on outstretched wings. The power of flight must be very wonderful, for it seems to spend its lifetime on the wing. On more than one occasion it was seen by sledging parties on the ice plain of the Great Barrier, some sixty miles from open water (78° 30' S. lat.), but always on the wing, and apparently never tired. “ Its food, consisting of minute crustaceans, is picked up from the surface of the water, on the wing. Flitting about from wave to wave, the little Petrel delicately treads the water to steady itself a moment, while it picks up a tiny morsel. “ As we left the southernmost area, we saw it each day from February 19th to March 3rd, but on that day, when amongst the Balleny Islands, we saw the last of the icebergs and with them the last of Oceanites. “ Five days later on, when in S. lat. 61°, we fell in with Cymodroma gr allaria and from that time onwards they became more and more abundant, and apparently took the place of Oceanites^ The male bird figured and described is the type of 0. o. exasperatus, and was obtained at sea off New Zealand. Procellaria oceanica was described by Kuhl (1820, p. 136) as follows: — Proc. Oceanica Banks Fig. mea 1 Banks tabula 12 a Cauda aequali, suhemarginata 1 Remige secundo longissimo, alis cauda longioribus Unguibus applanatis, obtusis, halluce verruciformi vix conspicuo. Pedibus altissimis. Rostro parvo, nigro, debili, a hasi inde arcuato. Pedibus altissimis, digito medio 11 lineas, iarsis 16 lin., et tibiarum parte denudata 7 lin. longis. Pedibus fuscis, membranis natatoriis medio pallidis. Alis a flexura ad apicem 5^ poll ; cauda 2|- poll. Totius avis longitudo 6| poll — Corpore fuliginoso, caudae tectricibus superioribus et inferioribus albis. In Museo Ridelliano, nunc in Temminkiano No locality is given for the specimen described, but inasmuch qs Kuhl accepted Banks’s (that is, Solander’s) name and Parkinson’s drawing as repre- senting his species, we may accept the locality of that specimen, viz. South Atlantic Ocean, off the mouth of the Rio de la Plata, as the type-locality of Kuhl’s Procellaria oceanica. The description prepared by Solander I give herewith : — Oceanica Procellaria nigra, uropygii penis, totis albis, palma nigra, disco lutea. Fig. Piet. 13 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. Habitat in Oceano Atlantico, intra tropicos Lat. Sept gr IX 43 (Oct. 1768) et non procul ab America australi. Lat austr. gr XXXVII (Dec. 23 1768) in oceano austr. Lat austr. XXXIX : 17 Long Occident CCIV : 6 (Apr. 11 1770). Nigra sunt omnia exceptis pennis uropygii totis albis, & disco memhrana' pedum qui luteus est. Pena crissi basi albida', extra medium tamen nigra' Rostrum breve Mandihula superior apice valde adunca, acuta, sulco profundo, recto, abbreviate, utrinque ante tubum narium qui medium rostri non adtingit, cylindricus, bdocu- laris, apice a rostro parum elevatus, Mandihula inferior vix deflexa Digitus posticus minutissimus, ut vix nisi attenti appareat Cauda suba'qualis vel latere paulo longior Longitude ab apice rostri ad finem caudae 6| | ab apicibus alarum expansarum 15 j rostri 6 lineas Pondus IJ unc. The “ Fig. Piet.” refers to the drawing made by Sidney Parkinson, and is the “ Banks tabula 12 ” of Kuhl : it was made from the specimen killed on December 23rd, 1768. It is noteworthy that Solander met with the bird on April 11th, 1770, as he was approaching Bass Strait coming from New Zealand, and of course this is the first record of the bird I figure as 0. o. exasperatus. I have so named it, as examination of series of South Atlantic Ocean specimens in comparison with South Pacific Ocean ones, shows that the latter are larger in aU their measurements. Bonaparte named the North Atlantic form Procellaria wilsoni, and recent students have accepted this as a synonym of 0. oceanicus, typical, concluding that the bird breeding in the Antarctic circle ranges north and becomes com- mon in the North Atlantic in the Antarctic winter, i.e. the northern summer. From my researches I conclude that this is an unsatisfactory explanation, and confidently anticipate the discovery of breeding colonies of a subspecies of 0. oceanicus on some of the West Indian or North African islands which would bear the name of 0, o. wilsoni (Bonaparte). When Forbes worked upon the Anatomy of the Petrels {Rep. Voy. “ ChaU lengerf^ Vol. IV., 1882), he formed a family Oceanitidee to include the long-legged small Petrels, Oceanites, Garrodia, Pelagodromay and Fregetta, as opposed to the family Procellariidce, which he composed of short-legged small species. I am unable to accept this divorce, as I find that the species of each run very close. On p. 55 one of the chief features of the Oceanitidee reads, “ The claws are very flat, depressed, and lamellar,” as contrasted with the Procellariidce, the claws of which are sharp, curved, and depressed. But this is scarcely true, as the claws of Oceanites approach quite closely to those of Hydrohates. As noted under the next species, very careful authors have classed Garrodia with the short-legged species, while Forbes would make it a member of his long-legged family. 14 > v^H ■.'jr/^S i'lkfS * !/'/'•#, ft:#. Yr(8 *•'«('■ \ GARRODIA NEREIS ( GREY- BACKED STORM-PETREL ) Order PR0CELLABIIF0RME8 No. 76. Family HYDROBATIDM OCEANITES NEREIS NEREIS. GEEY-BACKED STO RM -P E TEE L . (Plate 69.)* Thalassideoma nereis Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc. (Lond.) 1840, p. 178, 1841; Bass Strait. Thalassidroma nereis Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc. (Lond.) 1840, p. 178, 1841 ; id., Birds Austr,, Vol. VII., PI. 64, 1845. Procellaria nereis Bonaparte, Consp. Gen. Av., Vol. II., p. 196, 1857 ; Ramsay, Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., Vol. II., p. 203, 1877 ; Coues, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad. 1864, p. 81 ; Gould, Handb. Birds Austr., Vol. II., p. 476, 1865. Oarrodia nereis Forbes, Proc. Zool. Soc. (Lond.) 1881, p. 736 ; BuUer, Birds New Zeal., 2nd ed., Vol. II., p. 247, 1888 ; H. O. Forbes, Ibis 1893, p. 542 ; Salvin, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., Vol. XXV., p. 361, 1896 (pars) ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 91, 1899 ; Oates, Cat. Birds’ Eggs Brit. Mus., Vol. I., p. 150, 1901 ; Campbell, Nests and Eggs Austr. Birds, p. 871, 1901 ; Buller, Suppl. Birds New Zeal., Vol. I., p. 98, 1905 ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., 2nd ed., p. 91, 1906 ; Godman, Monogr. Petrels, p. 50, 1907 (pars) ; Mathews, Handl. Birds Austral., p. 15, 1908 ; Littler, Handb. Birds Tasm., p. 159, 1910. Distribution. Australian seas (also New Zealand). Adult male. Head and neck aU round, upper-back, lesser wing-coverts, bastard-wing, and primary-coverts sooty-black ; greater wing-coverts and scapulars dark grey, more or less edged with white ; primary and secondary quills blackish, white on the inner- webs towards the base ; rump and upper tail-coverts grey ; tail grey with a soot^’^- black band at the tip ; breast, sides of body, axillaries, greater under wing-coverts and abdomen white ; sides of breast and outer edge of wing below sooty-black ; under tail-coverts white, the lateral and longer ones barred and spotted with ashy-grey bill, iris, and feet black. Total length 175 mm. ; culmen (exp.) 13, wing 128, tail 65,. tarsus 31. Adult female. Similar to the adult male, but not quite so dark in the head. Nest. “ Situated in burrows about 18 inches deep, and resembling rat-holes ” (Seymour,, Tomahawk Island). \ Egg. Clutch, one. Ground-colour white, the larger end covered with fine dots of deep reddish-brown and lavender, and a few reddish ones sparingly distributed over the rest of the surface. Dimensions 33 mm. by 23-5. Breeding-season. November (Reischek, Guano Island) ; January (Seymour, Tomahawk Island). * The plate is lettered Oarrodia nereis. 15 THE BIEDS OP AUSTRALIA. Apparently nothing whatever is known concerning the habits of this bird. The species was described by Gould from Bass Strait, but whether it breeds on the islands in that strait is not yet known, though the probability is that it does so. The original description reads : — Thalassidroma nereis Gould, P.Z.S., 1840, p. 178. Thai, gutture pectoreque fuliginoso-cinereis ; dorso, uropygio tectricibusque caudae cinereis ; abdomine, lateribus et crisso albis. Head, neck and chest sooty gray ; lower part of the wing-coverts, back, rump and upper tail-coverts gray, each feather very slightly margined with white ; wings grayish-black ; tail gray, broadly tipped with black ; under-surface pure white ; irides, bill and feet black. Total length, 6J inches ; bill, ^ ; wing, ; tail, ; tarsi, 1|-. Hab. Bass’s Straits, on the south coast of Australia. It is of great interest to know that this bird was met with and carefully differentiated by Solander as follows : — saltatrix Procellaria nigra, abdomine crissoque albis, dorso uropygioque cinereis, pedibus totis atris. Habitat in Oceano australi. Lat. austr. XLII 34 Longit occ CLXXXV (Febr. 14 1770) Caput, Collum, antica pars Pectoris, Humeri nigra Dorsum cinereum, penis posticis apice fuscis Crissus cinereo-canescens Abdomen, uropygium & Femora nivea Obs. Pena' posteriores uropygii & femorum apice floccis cinereis subfasciata Ala' longa' supra' nigra', subtus e nigro-cinerea' Tectrices superiores cinerea' ,, inferiores alba' Cauda truncata, pedibus paulo brevier Rectrices nigra', a medio ad basin cinerascentes Rostrum atrum, capite brevius Mandibula superior sulco laterali profundo, apice valde adunca Tubus narium rostro dimidio brevior, subcylindraceus, apice a rostro elevatus integer Apertura orbiculata, coarctata Dissepimentum abbreviatum orificium non adtingens Mandibula inferior recta longitudinaliter secundum medium cutacea Oculi nigra Ped,es toti atri Digitus posticus minutissimus, subsetaceus Longitude ab apice rostri ad finem caudae 6) inter apices alarum expans. 13] Pondus I uncia paulo levior The type-locality is off Kaikoura, in the South Island of New Zealand, and if later the New Zealand breeding form should prove separable this name will be available. 16 GREY-BACKED STORM-PETREL. It will be noticed that, though the diagnosis is correct, the words “ crissus and uropygium ” have been misused in the detailed description. Whether it is due to this misplacement or not, the same bird is again described from some other localities, including one near the type-locality of 0. nereis. The description is as follows : — longipes Procellaria nigra abdomine crissoque albis, pedibus longis, totis atris, poUice setaceo minutissimo Habitat in Oceano australi Latit. austr. XXXVII : 10 Long, occ CLXXI : 5 (Oct. 2, 1769) Lat. austr. XXXV : 8 Long, occ CLXXXVIII : 30 (Jan. 6 1770) Lat. austr. XLII : 34 Long, occ CLXXXV : (Feb. 14, 1770) Lat. austr. XXXIX : 17 Long, occ CCIV : 6 (Apr. 11 1770) Caput, Gollum, anticaque pars Pectoris nigra Dorsum nigricans Uropygium e cano-nigricans Abdomen, Crissus & Femora alba Ohs Pena' longiores femorum & crissi apice undulis cinerascentibus irrorata' Ala' longa' angusta', supra nigra', subtus nigricantes, in medio e tectricibus inferioribus alba' Cauda brevis, a'qualis, nigra Rectricibus pone medium (h.e. versus basin) cinerascentibus Rostrum atrum Mandibula superior adunca apice subulata Tubus narium, rostro dimidio brevior, subcylindraceus, apice a rostro elevatus ibique integer. Apertura orbiculari Dissepimentum enim abbreviatum est, orificium non adtingens Mandibula inferior recta acuta Sulci lateralis utriusque mandibula' uti in congeneribus Oculi nigricantes Pedes cauda multo (fere unciam) longiores toti aterrimi Ungues lanceolati Digitus posticus, setaceus, minimus Longitudo 6| unc : 7^ unc. Latitudo 13J unc : 15 unc. Pondus 1 unc. As three of the four localities are near New Zealand, this name can be sunk as a synonym of that form. Owing to lack of Australian specimens I am accepting New Zealaiid birds as typical, and comparisons with a series show that three subspecies are at present recognisable. A series of nine adult specimens from the Chatham Islands in the Rothschild Museum, Tring, gave the following measurements : 131, 130, 130, 130, 130, 130^ 128, 126 (worn), and 125 mm. (worn). VOL. II. 17 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. From Ocmnites nereis nereis, the Kerguelen breeding birds are separable by their smaller size, the wing averaging 124 mm., and these I name Oceanites nereis couesi, subsp. n. Falkland Island birds, on the other hand, are larger than 0, n. nereis, the wing averaging 135 mm., and are moreover darker on the head and breast, and have more grey on the back. For this subspecies I propose the name Oceanites nereis chubbi, subsp. n. As I have pointed out above, I consider the genus Garrodia unnecessary, and it may be of interest to note that Gould, Ramsay, and Coues all class it with the short-legged species, and more recently Reichenow {Deutsche Siidp. Exp., Zook, pp. 495-558, 1907) has also placed it there. Coues {Bull. U.S. Nat. Mus., No. 2, p. 31, 1875) wrote : “ It comes very near P. pelagica proper, in form belonging to the same short-legged group, as distinguished from Oceanites and Fregetta, though the legs are longer than in P. pelagica.'''^ Forbes himself, when he wrote the Anatomy of the Petrels, concluded, “ Garrodia is, therefore, on the whole, the least modified form of the group.” I would accept this form as being the connecting link between the long- legged and the short-legged small Petrels, and its presence certaiuly obviates the necessity of any family distinction between the two groups. The male figured and described was obtained at the Chatham Islands by Mr. W. Hawkins. 18 Genus— P ELAGODROMA. Pelagodroma Reichenbach, Nat. Syst. Vog., p. iv., 1852 . . Type P. inarina. This monotypic genus only differs from the preceding in its longer legs and toes, the outer of which is longest. The tarsus is scutellated and the third primary is almost as long as the second, otherwise it agrees very closely with Oceanites. In the Monograph of the Petrels, Classification, p. xxxvii., it is widely separated from Oceanites and Garrodia and allied with Pealea in a section having the “ claws flattened and wide.” This must be an error, though perpetrated by the majority of authors, as the claws are long and narrow, with very little flattening, and closely approach the claws of Oceanites. It will be noted that I have considered “ Pealea ” lineata a member of the genus Oceanites. \\ 19 Key to the Subspecies. A. B. Mantle and upper-back dark grey with shade . . Mantle and upper -back clear dark grey a fuscous . . . .P. m. dulcice, p. 21 . . . . P. m. howei, p, 26 20 PELA(K)DROMA MARINA . f WHITE -FA cun STORM-PETREL). Ord^r PR0GELLARIIF0RME8 No. 77. Family HYDROBATIDM. PELAGODROMA MARINA DULCI^. WEST AUSTRALIAN WHITE-FACED STORM-PETREL. (Plate 70,)* Pelagodeoma marina dtjlco:, subsp. n. ; West Australia ; Type no. 246 in my collection. Thalassidroma marina (not Latham) Gould, Birds Austr., Vol. VII., PI. 61, 1845. Pelagodroma marina Salvin, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., Vol. XXV., p. 362, 1896 (pars) ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 91, 1899 ; Oates, Oat. Birds’ Eggs Brit. Mus., Vol. I., p. 150, 1901 ; Campbell, Nests and Eggs Austr. Birds, p. 872, 1901 ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 91, 1906 ; Godman, Monogr. Petrels, p. 53, 1907 (pars) ; Mathews, Handl. Birds Austral., p. 15, 1908. Pelagodroma fregata (not L.) Coues, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad. 1864, p. 88 (pars) ; Gould, Handb. Birds Austr., Vol. II., p. 482, 1865 ; North, Austr. Mus. Oat. No. 12, p. 362, 1889 (pars). Procellaria fregata (not L.) Schlegel, Mus. Pays-Bas, Vol. VI., Procell., p. 5, 1863. Procellaria {Pelagodroma) fregata Ramsay, Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W. 1877, Vol. II., p. 203 (pars). Distribution. West Australian seas. Adult male. Crown of head and a line below the eye on to the ear-coverts dark slate-colour ; hind-neck, sides of neck, and mantle and upper-back dark ash-grey with a brownish shade ; lesser wing-coverts, primary-coverts, and quills black, the latter more or less white on the inner webs towards the base ; greater coverts brown with pale margins ; lower -back and scapulars dark brown ; upper tail-coverts grey barred with white at the base ; tail black ; forehead, lores, an irregular line over the eye, and under-surface pure white like the axillaries and under wing-coverts ; thighs and lateral under tail-coverts grey, the latter with white bases ; bill black, iris hazel, feet black, webs yellow. Total length 209 mm. ; culmen (exp.) 17, wing 156, tail 69, tarsus 41. Adult female. Similar to the male. Immature. A very small, downy young shows the adult coloration to be taken on with the first feathers, the only noticeable difference being white edgings to the primary- and secondary- quills, and wavy grey and white undulating marks on the upper tail-coverts and rump. Fully-feathered young are quite like the adult but cleaner-looking, with con- spicuous white edgings to the secondaries. The wing-measurement is noticeably less. Nest. In a burrow. Egg. “Pure white, one inch and a half long by one inch and an eighth broad ” (Gould). Breeding-season. December ; January (Gould). * The Plate is lettered Pelagodroma marina. 21 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. Nothing appears to have been written about this bird since the time of Gould. Mr. Tom Carter tells me that he picked up a specimen on the beach at Point Cloates, North-west Australia, on July 31st, 1894. The type-male figured and described was collected on Breaksea Island, off Albany, West Australia, on December 15th, 1908, by Mr. Tom Carter. The first appearance of this species in hterature is when Latham (1785, p. 410) gave the following : — Frigate Petrel. Procellaria fregatta Linn., I., p. 212, 2. Length eight inches and a half. Bill one inch ; slender and not greatly hooked ; the top of the head, and hind part of the neck, as far as the shoulders, blueish ash-colour ; back and wing-coverts brown ; rump hoary blue ; sides of the head above the eye, and all the under-parts, white ; under the eye a trace of blueish ash-colour ; the tail, when spread, seems hollowed out in the middle, but scarcely what may be called forked ; legs black ; on the middle of each web a yellowish mark. , Such is a description of a bird among the drawings of Sir Joseph Banks, which I liken to that mentioned by Lirmseus, of which he merely says, that it is less than the Stormy Petrel, black above and white beneath. Pound in latitude 37 south. In a second drawing I observe the rump to be very pale, nearly approaching to white. Gmelin included this under P. fregata, but in the Index Ornithologicus, Vol. II., p. 826, 1790, Latham named it Procellaria marina, as annexed : — Peocellaeia marina. Pr, dorso tectricibus alarum fuscis, vertice et cervice casrulescenti-cinereis, uropygio cserulescente, genis corporeque toto subtus albis. Frigate Petrel, Lath. Syn, VI., p. 410, 17. Habitat in Mari australi ; latitudine 37. — 8^ pollices longa. Pileus totus cum cervice ad dorsum usque cinereo-cserulescens : capitis latera et corpus totum a gula ad anum alba ; sub oculo utrinque striga cinerascens ; cauda emarginata ; pedes nigri, palmarum medio macula flavescente. Variat uropygio pallido. Bonaparte reverted to the idea that Latham’s bird was referable to Linne’s species, and was at first followed by Coues, but the latter author soon abandoned that idea. As the name has been commonly used by Australian ornithologists, I attach Linne’s description : — {Syst. Nat., Xllth ed., p. 212, 1766). Procellaria fregata. Procellaria nigra, subtus alba, pedibus nigris. Fregata marina apus subtus alba, superne nigra. ... ... Barr. Av. 73. Hirundo americana ... ... ... ... ... Rochef. it. B4, 134, 6, 135 Habitat in Oceano Pelago. Avis paulo minor P. pelagica. The first reference is to Barrere, Ornithologioe Specimen Novum, 1745, who on p. 73 has the following : — Genus viii. Fregata. Fregate. Fregata est avis genus semifissipedis, rostro hamato, vulturino, sursum convexo, cujus valva superior, inferiori longior est. Fregatse species quas observavi hae sunt. Fregata marina, apus, subtus alba, superne nigra. Fregate. 22 WEST AUSTRALIAN WHITE-FACED STORM-PETREL. Apparently Linne did not know the bird, but simply included Barr^re’s bird and attached therewith Rochefort’s description. I cannot see anything in Barr^re’s diagnosis whereby his bird can be recognised, so that we must fall back upon Rochefort. The latter writer gives a figure of his bird which has the head and neck all round dark like the back, and has the breast and abdomen white. There is no resemblance whatever to this bird, but it would quite recall Fregetta leucogaster, save that it is figured and described with a very long, deeply forked tail, which prohibits its acceptance for that form. Under no circumstances could it be deemed applicable to this delightful little Petrel, which is not ^^paulo minor P. pelagicaP This species was first described by Latham as noted above. It will be seen that he did not have a specimen, but depended entirely upon the drawings ; the second drawing mentioned by Latham is of Fregetta leucogaster Gould, which was accepted by Solander as P. fregata Linne. Solander’s beauti- ful description of his P. cequorea is herewith given : — a'quorea Procellaria fusco-cinerea, subtus alba, area supra-ocellari albido, pedibus nigris, palma disco lutea. Fig. Piet. Habitat in Oceano America' australis. Latit. austr. gr XXXVII (Dec. 23, 1768). Caput supra e nigricante cinereum, subtus antice & lateribus album ; vitta oculari nigricanti-cinerea . Gula, Jugulum, Pectus, Abdomen, Venter ds Ala' (exceptis remigibus primoribus) subtus alba' Collum supra. Humeri, Dorsum, cfc Ala' superne e fusco-cinerea. Oculi nigri. Uropygii pena' cana' Remiges primores tota' nigricantes. Cauda nigricans, medio a'qualis : rectricibus duobus exterioribus paulo longioribus. Pena' Crissi canescentes. Rostrum nigrum, rectum, angustius longiusque quam in allius ProceUariis parvis. Mandibula superior apice parum adunca, sulco utrinque longitudinali ante tubum nasalem profundo dein oblique descendens. Tubus narium cyUndricus, bilocularis ; dimidium rostri non adtingens, apice parum a rostro elevatus ; orificio rotundo. Mandibula inferior vix adunca Pedes nigri. Membrana connectens lutea, apice nigra, in medio etjam inter digitos, striga nigricante notata. Ungues oblongo-laneeolati. Posticus minutus. Longitudo ab apice rostri ad finem cauda' 7|'l inter apices alarum expansar. 15| >unc. Rostri iJ Pondus If unc. This species has a very wide range, but the subspecies have not hitherto been determined ; the type-locality of Solander’s specimen described above. 23 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. of which a drawing by Parkinson furnished the basis for Latham’s P. marina, is the mouth of the Rio de la Plata, South America. Hence, I take as typical the birds breeding on Tristan d’Acunha, Nightingale Island, etc., and probably other islets in the South Atlantic Ocean. It has been found also breeding on the islands off the African coast in the North Atlantic Ocean, the Great Salvage Islands, the Canary and Cape Verde groups. A fine series from the Great Salvage show the northern form to differ in having a longer bill, and generally lighter coloration above, especially on the mantle, which is pale ashy-grey. This form should be called Pelagodroma marina Tiypoleuca Webb and Berthelot, as it was described from the Canaries as Th. hypoleuca {Hist. Nat. lies Canaries, Zook, p. 45, 1841). The subspecies breeding on the islets off the West Australian Coast differs from P. m. marina in its longer bill and its lighter mantle and back, but is a darker bird than the North Atlantic one. Solander describes the typical form as “ fusco-cinerea ” : the West Australian bird has still the fuscous tinge which is missing in the North Atlantic bird. This I have called P. w. dulcice. The East Australian subspecies is well marked in having the mantle and back a distinctly darker grey, with scarcely any fuscous shade. Another race occurs in New Zealand, which has been commonly found breeding at the Chatham Islands, and also at the Auckland Islands. This sub- species is easily differentiated from the East Australian form by having a shorter bill, and the mantle, sides of neck, and upper-back light brown, not grey. I propose to call it Pelagodro7na 7narina 7naoriana, subsp. n. One of the most interesting of the Solander descriptions is the following : — passerina Procellaria supra fuliginosa subtus rdvea uropygio cano, eauda nigra forficata, palma lutescens marginibus nigris. Habitat in Oceano australi Latit. austr. gr XXIX : 10 Longit. occ ; CLIX ; 20 (Sept. 19, 1769). Caput supra nigricans, antice et latere albidum, area magna oculari descendente nigra. Collum supra f uliginose -cinereum. Dorsum, Scapula', Tectrices alarum fuliginosa. Uropygium e cinereo-canum. Gula, Collum subtus. Pectus, Abdomen unc. Neetris supra fuliginosa, subtus nivea, rostro toto plumbeo-nigricante, naribus quadruple longiore. Habitat in Oceano Novam Hollandiam alluente. Lat. austr. XIX : 0, Long. occ. CCXIII. (Junii 6, 1770). Simillima Nectri Munda Mscr. sed quoad corpus multo minor. Rostrum longius est et angustius etc. Oculi nigri Iride cinerea Obs. Pena' Abdominis et Tectrices alarum superiorum erosa' Melior concinetur differentia inter banc & Nectrim Mundam Mscr. Longitude ab apice rostri ad finem cauda 1 ped. > inter apices alarum expansaru 2 do. > unc. Rostri If) This rather exhaustive review is absolutely necessary to bring into per- spective the complex and almost bewildering array of facts to be dealt with before the birds can be correctly named or properly located. With regard to the birds themselves, the results of examination of specimens from Norfolk Island, the Kermadecs, North Island of New Zealand, Chatham Islands New Zealand, West Australia, Gough Island, Cape Verde Islands, Canary group, Madeiras, Bermudas, the Bahamas, Montserrat, Reunion, Sey- chelles, Pelew Islands, Carolines, Samoa group. New Hebrides, and many islands of the Galapagos group, are herewith given. It should be noted that no specimens are available from Christmas Island, although collections have been made at that place. It would seem that this is due to the fact that in many localities these little Shearwaters breed in the 60 ALLIED PETREL. “ ofi-season ” — that is, they do not breed in the same months as the majority of the breeding birds, but occupy the same station when some other species of Pufjinus have completed their nesting. How far this is a law is not well known, but even in the North Atlantic many young are met with in March ! The nearest locality to Christmas Island from which recent specimens have been recorded would appear to be McKean’s Island, in the Phoenix group. I have not seen birds from there, but have examined a series from the Samoan group. Finsch and Hartlaub have given very full details of the bird from McKean’s Island in comparison with the form inhabiting the Pelew Islands which they associated with it. There is a fine series from the Pelew Islands in the British Museum and the Rothschild Museum, Tring, which show the birds to be quite constant in their characters. These birds are generally accepted as typical “ obscurus,^^ but, as I shall show later, they cannot be regarded as such. From a study of these, I have arrived at the following facts: The birds are brown-black, darker in their first plumage and becoming browner by wear- ing ; the lores are all dark, while the dark colour extends on to the sides of the breast, forming a patch ; the under-side of the primary- quills shows no white, being totally smoky-brown ; the under tail-coverts are all smoky-brown. The biU is short and stout, averaging 28 mm. in length and 9 in depth ; the wing varies from 194 mm. to 207. Specimens from the Caroline Islands agree very well with these in all the above characters. Samoan birds differ from those from Pelew in having a longer and thinner bill, and the lesser under tail-coverts white ; the bill averages 29 mm. in length by 7.5 in depth. The Phoenix group lie between Samoa and Christmas Island, and Hartlaub and Finsch describe their specimen from McKean’s Island as having the wing and bill shorter, yet the latter as stout as in the Pelew bird. It would not at all agree therefore with the Samoan specimens. At the same time they gave their measurements of the type of P. tenebrosus Pelzeln, which may be here reproduced : — Pelew specimens. Wing 7.2-7.7 in. ; culmen, exp. length, in. ; height 3|-4 in. McKean’s Island „ 6.11 „ „ „ 11 „ „ 4 „ P. tenebrosus Pelzeln „ 7.6 „ „ „ Ilf „ „ 3| „ Hartlaub and Finsch also noticed a single example from Fiji which they could not place, but which is obviously related to the preceding, inasmuch as they compared it with their P, auduboni, pointing out that it was smaller and had “ the under tail-coverts fuliginous-black P This latter character at once dissociates it from P. assimilis, where Salvin placed it. 61 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. In the British Museum is a beautiful skin from the New Hebrides collected by Cuming and of which it is noted on the collector’s original label, “ Young in first plumage.” It has a longer, heavier bill than the Samoan bird, which it otherwise resembles, and has also the tarsus longer. In that institution is also a bird supposed to have come from New Zealand, but whose history is doubtful. It seems quite possible that the locality is correct, as the specimen agrees very closely with the New Hebrides bird. The measurements of the latter are : Culmen (exp.) 30 mm., wing 195, tarsus 39, while those of the supposed New Zealand bird are : Adult, culmen (exp.) 31 mm., wing 210, tarsus 40.5. All the preceding have the general upper-coloration blackish, with a distinctly brown shade, and with these must be compared the forms inhabiting the Galapagos Archipelago. There would appear to be a,t least two forms found therein, those from Wenman and Culpepper Islands being larger throughout in all their measurements than those found on the southern islands of the group. In addition, the former have the under wing-coverts much less dusky, and the axillaries also less so, but never white ; this difference in size is seen in the measurements given of a series in the original description of the Galapagos birds ; it was observed in the specimens in the British Museum and confirmed by the large suite in the Rothschild Museum, Tring. Both forms are separable at sight from any of the Pacific forms by their dusky flanks and dark under wing-coverts and axillaries, and, as noted by Rothschild and Hartert, by “ the line between the white and brownish slate-colour generally more sharply defined than in P. obscurus.'^ In the South Pacific, instead of a brown-black bird, there occurs a very similar species which has the upper-coloration of a blue-black, and which was associated with the preceding under the specific Puffinus obscurus by Rothschild and Hartert in their revision of these birds. The earliest to be made known, was the form breeding on Norfolk Island, which differs from all those hitherto noticed in its blue-black upper-coloration, its white under tail-coverts, and in that the white of the under-surface extends up above the eyes, and therefore the lores are mostty white. At the present time few specimens are at hand from Norfolk Island, but long series are available from the Kermadec group. These latter agree well with the few* from the former locality, and I am therefore regarding them as typical. From Ncav Zealand has been recorded a larger race, and the few specimens I have seen bear this out, also differing in that the lores as regards the upper part are blue. The measurements of a good series from Norfolk Island and the Kermadec group show : culmen (exp.) 26-27 mm., wing 184-193, tarsus 37. From the Chatham Islands, New Zealand, I have examined a nice series which differ from the Kermadec form in that the bill is noticeably heavier and 62 ALLIED PETREL. stouter, the wing slightly shorter, the general coloration lighter, especially noticeable on the mantle and head ; the axillaries more or less splashed with grey, and the tarsus slightly longer. The average measurements are: culmen (exp.) 27 mm., wing 180-186, tarsus 39-41. The West Australian breeding bird is slightly smaller than the Kermadec form, and is generally of a lighter coloration above, the white advancing more on the forehead than in that form, and the young is conspicuously lighter. These last four forms are very close, and easily separable at sight from the Pacific brown-black birds. The difficulty in dealing with these birds does not show itself until the Atlantic and Indian Ocean forms are investigated, and it seems due to these that Rothschild and Hartert amalgamated all under the specific Puffimis obscums. The birds from Seychelles are brown-black above, and agree very closely with the Pelew Islands form, but are smaller ; the longer under tail-coverts are fuliginous, while some of the shorter are white ; the average measurements of eleven specimens give: culmen (exp.) 27.5 mm., wing 185-192, tarsus 36 mm. I have seen only two specimens from Reunion, and these both agree in having the under tail-coverts white, and apparently the coloration would be more blue than the Seychelles bird, but neither of the specimens is in perfect plumage. Through the courtesy of Mr. Eagle Clarke, I have been allowed to examine two birds obtained by the Scottish. Antarctic Expedition on Gough Island. These are very light blue-black birds, much lighter than any of the Australian forms except the Chatham one, which apparently has a shorter wing and tarsus. The measurements are : culmen (exp.) 27 mm., wing 190, tarsus 41. Breeding at the Cape Verde Islands is a puzzling race which seems almost to be related to both the blue-black and the brown-black birds ; but although it has been generally associated with the former, I would consider it better placed with the latter. They have brown-black backs ; the upper part of the lores all dark, the under side of the primary-quills duskjq and the under tail-coverts smoky-brown ; the average measurements of a good series are: culmen (exp.) 26.5 mm., wing 181-183, tarsus 35-36. I have only seen two specimens from the Canary group, and these are of the blue-black bird, whose measurements are : culmen (exp.) 26-27 mm., wing 182-186, tarsus 37-38. It is quite possible that race inhabiting this group is separable from the Madeira breeding birds, but longer series from the Canaries are necessary. A good number have been examined from Madeira and the Great Salvages, and these may be compared with the Gough Island bird. They are distinctly blue-black above, darker than the Gough Island form ; the lores are almost 63 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. all white, whereas in that form they are more or less blue ; the biU is thinner ; the long lateral under tail-coverts have the outer web slate, otherwise pure white (in the Gough Island bird the under tail-coverts are pure white) ; the under-side of the primary- quills shows whitish on the inner web, but the white is not so pronounced as in the Gough Island birds, which approach the ilustralian birds in this respect. The measurements are: culmen (exp.) (av.) 26 mm., wing 172-180, tarsus (av.) 35. In the West Indian Islands, Bahamas and Bermudas, there breeds another form which is obviously the brovm-black bird, when worn having a smoky- brown appearance, quite unlilte the blue-black bird at any stage. Though Rothschild and Hartert concluded that “ the wing is generally distinctly longer” than that of the Mid-Pacific form, I do not find this so, though their other separative characters I find constant. The lower half of the lores is white, and the bill constantly longer, the tarsus also longer ; my measurements being : culmen (exp.) (av.) 30 mm., wing 198-205, tarsus (av.) 39. In connection with the preceding must be considered a bird found in the Persian Gulf and thereabouts, which is represented in the British Museum by three specimens : one from between Gwader and Muscat, the second from the Mekran coast, and the third from Aden. These have the inner-wing mottled with smoky and the axillaries dark smoky-brown ; the lower half of the lores is white ; the sides of the breast do not show the brownish patch present in most of the brown -black birds to which this must be attached ; the shorter under tail-coverts are white, the longer smoky-brown. It will be noted that this form recalls the one inhabiting the Galapagos Archipelago, but is easily separated by its longer bill. The first noted specimen has the bill 34 mm. long by 10.5 deep, wing (moulting) over 185 mm., tarsus 37 ; the second bill (imperfect) 33 mm., the wing 198 mm., tarsus 37 ; while the Aden bird has the bill 31 mm. long by 8 deep ; wing 210, and tarsus 39. These measurements indicate that more than one form may be here confused, as these have all been referred to the same species, P. ’persicus Hume. It is unfortunate that investigation regarding the names to be applied to the preceding birds reveals much that is unsettling, and as I am attempting to clear up the confusion surrounding these birds, I am compelled to advocate many quite unexpected changes. Firstly, as to the oldest name for either the brovTi or blue-black birds, I am confronted with a quite novel proposition. I have given Gmelin’s description of his P. ohscura founded upon Latham’s Dusky Petrel, and it will be remembered that the latter noted a specimen was in the Leverian Museum which measured two inches less. This bird is still preserved, whereas the original type of Latham’s species is lost. Through the generosity of Dr. Sassi I have been allowed to examine the Leverian Museum 64 ALLIED PETREL. bird, the type of P. tenehrosus Pelzeln. It is, as concluded by all who have studied either the bird or Pelzeln’s good detailed description, a typical Mid- Pacific bnd, and from comparison with the series from the Pacific Ocean I should conclude it might have come from Christmas Island. It is nearer the Samoan form than the Pelew birds, though the solitary specimen does not exactly agree with the Samoan series. It appears to have been overlooked that, if this bird is a typical the type of P. dbscura would be atypical. As a matter of fact, it is certain that Procellaria obscura, given to a bird two inches longer, cannot be used for the bird two inches less. The lesser bird was considered to have come from King George’s Sound, North America, while the bigger bird “ inhabits Christmas Island.” I however conclude that the smaller bird is the Christmas Island one, so that the habitat of the larger would appear to be also incorrect. Tf this be accepted, as it undoubtedly must, then what was the bigger bird described by Latham ? There are birds two inches bigger than P. tenehrosus Pelzeln, which otherwise agree fairly with Latham’s account, and examination of one gives most interesting results. The idea that Latham had transposed the localities of his specimens, was suggested by the conclusion that the smaller bird might inhabit Christmas Island, and therefore that the west coast of North America was the habitat of the larger bird, the true P. ohscurus Gmelin. Investigation regarding the birds of that region gives the following. In the Proc, Acad. Nat. Sci. PTiilad. 1864, p. 139, Cones describes his Puffinus opisthomelas as follows : — P. Puff.no ohsGuro nec perdissimilis ; sed major, rostro longiore, robustiore, alis pedi- busque longioribus, cauda breviore, minus rotundata ; et tectricibus caudae inferioribus fere omnino fuliginoso-nigris. Hab. Cape St. Lucas, Lower California. A beautifully detailed description is then given, the “ P. ohscurus ” used for comparison by Cones being the West Indian bird. In the Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus., Vol. XIII., p. 133, 1890, Townsend introduced a new species, P. auricularis, thus : — Adult female ; Not unlike P. opisthomelas in general appearance. Bill and feet smaller ; colours of upper parts darker, nearly black ; black of head extending below eye to level of mouth ; black of wing extending well over edge of wing to the under-surface ; sides of neck mottled by the gradual blending of white and black. Wing 8.75 ; tail 3.15 ; culmen 1.20 ; tarsus 1.70. Habitat, Clarion Island. ^ Uo * . Comparison of the full details given by Coues with this latter description pointed to a confusion of ideas, which was borne out by examination of series of specimens from Clarion Island contrasted with another from Monterey, California. These latter are accepted as the true P. opisthomelas^ Coues, in the Monograph of the Petrels, and apparently also in the Check-List of the American VOL. n. 65 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. Ornithologists’ Union. But these do not agree with Coues’s very good descrip- tion, whereas Townsend’s Clarion Island bird does fully agree. Note that the Monterey bird was used by Townsend as P. opistho7nelas when he differentiated his P. auricularis. Firstly, Coues’ detailed description of the bill of his species agrees with the Clarion Island bird, and not with the Monterey one. Coues wrote : “ The nasal tubes are large and prominent, and rather long for this group, being more than a fourth of the culmen.” This is true of the Clarion Island bird, not of the Monterey bird. Coues wrote : “ The entire upper parts, the wings and tail, are of exactly the same shade of sooty black as obtains in obscurus.’’ This is true of the Clarion Island bird, but not of the Monterey one ; moreover, “ sooty black ” would scarcely be used for the latter bird, and certainly not by Coues, who was very careful in his colour- values when dealing with this group. All the succeeding details given by Coues confirm the above : “ there is no white on either eyelid ” ; “ the bend of the wing rather more decidedly mottled with the colour of the back ” ; “ the axillary feathers are more or less blackish towards the ends instead of being pure white.” “ These [under tail-coverts] feathers are entirely of a deep fuhginous black.” “ Bill along culmen 1.40 ; wing about 9.00 ; tarsus 1.80 ; mid-toe and claw 2.10.” Godman notes {Monograph of the Petrels^ p. 112) : “ In a pair of birds from Clarion Island, the axillaries, though white, have subterminal black spots.” “ Culmen ; 1.35 ; wing 9.0-9.2 ; tarsus 1.80 ; mid-toe 2.0.” From the above the only conclusion possible is that P. auricularis Townsend is the same as P. opisthomelas Coues ; and, confirming this conclusion, I find the following note by Anthony {Auh, Yo\. XVII., p. 249, 1900) : “About Cape St. Lucas Townsend’s Shearwater {Puffinus auricularis) is rather common.” Since the preceding was written further research supports my views : the figure given in the Monograph of the Petrels purporting to represent Puffinus opisthojnelas did not appear to have been made from a specimen of the Monterey bird, although on p. Ill was written, “The figure in the Plate has been drawn from one of the above specimens ” ; the specimens indicated are in the British Museum, and the figure obviously disagreed. The reason for the disagreement is explained by the following note by Buffer {Birds New Zealand, 2nd ed., p. 236, 1888) : “ Mr. Salvin has shown me a careful drawing by Keulemans from the type of P. opisthonnelas (obtained off the coast of Lower California) which was sent over from the Smithsonian Institute for the purpose of being figured in his forthcoming ‘ Monograph.’ ” The misstatement in the Monograph is due to the fact that Salvin left few notes regarding the birds from which figures were prepared by Keulemans. Elliot in the Introduction to his Birds North Ainerica, Vol. I., 1869, gives 66 ALLIED PETREL. a woodcut of the head of Pu-ffinus opistTiomelas of the natural size, apparently prepared from one of the type-specimens. This is certainly not referable to the Monterey bird. But I think that the name to be used for this species is Procellaria obscura Gmelin, as this bird agrees with Latham’s description in every detail, quite noticeable features being : the sides of it [the bill] horn-colour, otherwise black ” ; “on the sides of the neck brown and white mixed ” ; “ the edges of the middle wing-coverts are whitish.” This last-mentioned character is pro- minent in fuUy-plumaged specimens, though not mentioned by either Coues or Townsend. If Procellaria obscura Gmelin has to be used for any Petrel it must be preserved for the above-mentioned species, unless it can be utilised for the Sandwich Island bird described by Henshaw {Auh, Vol. XVII., p. 246, 1900) as Pu-ffinus newelli — of which I have not seen a specimen — as follows : “ Above, including upper-surface of wings and tail, clear and somewhat glossy-black. Border of under wing-coverts black. Beneath, including under tail-coverts, pure white. MaxiUa and edge and tip of mandible black ; rest of maxilla light brown. Tarsus and feet light yeUow, but black along the outer posterior side of tarsus, the outer toe and hah the middle toe. Wing 8.65 ; tail 3.75 ; bill 1.28 ; tarsus 1.80. Habitat, Ulani, Hawaiian Islands.” For the species described but not figured in the Monograph of the Petrels (pp. 109 et seq.) under the name of Puffinus opistho^nelas Coues, and of which Anthony {Auh, Vol. XVII., p. 247, 1900) notes : “ Extremely plentiful ofi the coast of California during the summer months, breeding rather commonly on Guadaloupe, San Benito Islands and Natividad Island,” I propose the new name of -n ■ Puffinus couesiy in honour of the greatest exponent of this group of birds. The acquisition of material from the Pacific points to the fact that Procellaria obscura Gmelin may after all have been procured at Christmas Island, but I purpose to deal in detail with this most interesting collection at a later period when I have obtained more material. In which case we might have — Puffinus obscurus obscurus Gmelin .. .. Christmas Island, » opisthomelas Coues . . . . Revillagigedo^ group. „ newelli Henshaw . . . . Sandwich Island. After long consideration I feel that the best course at the present time regarding the birds commonly referred to P. obscurus and P. assimilis is to recognise the two forms, the blue-black and the brown-black, as represent- ing two species, and not run them into one as Rothschild and Hartert did. 67 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. These latter pointed out the erratic distribution that would ensue from the recognition of two species, but it seems that the extraordinary recurrence of the blue and brown in the one species would be quite as strange. I would diagnose the two species thus : The one brown-black, wearing browner, almost black when young, lores mostly dark, inner web of primary- quills dark, under tail- coverts mostly dark, slightly larger and with a slightly longer bill ; the other blue-black, lighter when young with whitish tips to feathers, lores mostly white, inner web of primary-quills mostly white, under tail-coverts mostly white, slightly less and with a slightly shorter bill. The former inhabits the Mid-Pacific (Pelew Islands, Caroline Islands, Samoa Islands, Phoenix Islands, Fiji, New Hebrides), Galapagos Archipelago, Seychelles, Cape Verde Islands and the West Indies, Bahamas and Bermudas. The latter breeds at Norfolk Island, the Kermadecs, New Zealand, Chatham Islands, West Australia, ? Reunion, Gough Island, the Canaries, Madeira and ? Azores. It is quite puzzling to account for the presence of a brown bird at Cape Verde while a blue one is found at Gough Isle, the Canaries, Madeira, and brown again in the West Indies, whether one or two species are recognised. I have already indicated all the forms I have met with, so that it now remains only to determine the names to be used for these. I have shown that Procellaria dbscura Gmelin cannot be used for any of the birds here discussed. The earliest name absolutely applicable to either of these groups is Puffinus assimilis Gould, and as it was proposed for a blue-black it becomes the species- name for those forms. The next name is Lesson’s Puffinus Iherminieri, and as it was introduced for a brown-black bird that name must be used as the species-name for those forms. Forster’s Procellaria gavia was a blue-backed bird, and this name becomes available for the New Zealand form of P. assimilis. It seems strange that it should have been continually used for a bird with which the description disagrees so much in all the points in which it proves referable to the P. asshnilis bird. For the Pelew bird, with which I associate the Caroline specimens, Hartlaub’s name of minor is available. Bonaparte’s Puffinus haroli must be used for the Madeiran form, while his P. hailloni was proposed for a bird from the Isle of France. Finsch and Hartlaub’s Puffinus dicTirous given to the Phoenix Island bird may clash with P. tenehrosus Pelzeln, but no series are yet available. Giglioli and Salvador!’ s P. elegans is certainly applicable to the Gough Island bird. Nectris 7nunda, as introduced by Salvin in Rowley’s Ornith. Miscell.^ must be used for a bird answering Solander’s description, which is reproduced above, the type-locality being the first-mentioned, viz., lat. 48° 21' S., long. 93° W. 68 ALLIED PETREL. This form approaches the New Zealand one, but, according to the figure made hy Parkinson, has a thicker bill. Ridgway’s P. subalaris must be restricted to the lesser form inhabiting the Galapagos. Solander’s P. nugax, as here carefully described, is not a synonym of P. assimilis as generally included. The above embraces all the names definitely applicable to the forms of either species, and I would fix the nomenclature to be used as follows : — Puffinus assimilis assimilis Gould ; Norfolk Island ; Kermadec group. This form was recorded by Gray {Ibis, 1862, p. 244) from Lord Howe Island, but was not included by Hull as breeding on that island in his Birds of Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands {Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W. 1909, Vol. XXXIV., pp. 636 et seq., 1910). In the synonymy of this bird, Puffinus australis Eyton, has been included. This name first appears in literature in Gould’s Birds of Australia, and in the British Museum is a bird received from Gould which bears the label “ Puffinus australis, Ey. Mus., Salop : ikustralian seas.” This would seem to be the original, and belongs to the Norfolk Island form. Puffinus assimilis gavia Eorster ; New Zealand. Puffinus assimilis ke7npi, subsp. n. ; Chatham Islands, New Zealand. I have given the distinguishing features of this form in the preceding pages. Puffinus asshnilis tunneyi, subsp. n. ; West Australia. Will be more fully dealt with in the succeeding article. Puffinus assLnilis munda Salvin ; South Pacific Ocean. The breeding-place of this race has not been determined. Puffinus assLnilis, subsp. indet.; Reunion. The two specimens only examined do not permit the diagnosis of this subspecies, and I consider, until further series are to hand, that P. hailloni Bonaparte should be used for the Seychelles bird, although that locality is further from the Isle of France than Reunion is. It is to be hoped that no one will name the Seychelles race without carefully examining series from both localities, and therefore put the name upon a firm basis. Puffinus asswiilis elegans Giglioli and Salvadori ; Gough Island. Puffinus assLnilis baroli Bonaparte ; Madeira ; Canaries and ?Azores. As synonyms of this subspecies should be noted Puffinus gracilirostrfs Bona- parte (nude name), Puffinus godmani Allen, and Puffinus obscurus dtlanticus Rothschild and Hartert, all given to the Madeiran bird. The correct attachment of the names of the other group is more diflicult. Puffinus Iherminieri Iherminieri Lesson ; West Indies, Bahamas, and Bermudas. 69 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. As synonyms there are — P. floridanus Bonaparte, and P. audvhoni Hartlaub and Finsch. Pufjinus Iherminieri loydi, subsp. n. ; Cape Verde Islands. This form is separable from the preceding by its smaller size, and in that respect agrees with the forms I include under P. asshnilis. All writers who have handled specimens of this subspecies have noted its close resemblance to the P. Ihe/rminiefi group, though generally placing it with the P. assimilis birds. Pufflnus lher7ninieri hailloni Bonaparte ; Isle of France, Sej^chelles. For the present I prefer to use this name for the Seychelles bird, as specimens are not available from the type-locality. Pufflnus Ihenninieri 7ninor Hartlaub ; Pelew Island, Caroline Islands. Of this subspecies, P . optatus Hartlaub and Finsch seems to be the only synonym. Pufflnus Ihenninieri dichrous Finsch and Hartlaub; McKeans Island, Phoenix group; ? Christmas Island; ? Samoan Islands. Our ignorance of the forms frequenting these groups would seem to be best expressed by accepting the birds from these groups as being similar, and therefore classing P. tenebrosus Pelzeln as a synonym, with the proviso that it may represent the Christmas Island form, and that the Samoan birds are separable if the McKeans Island bird is a typical specimen of the Phoenix Island race. Pufflnus Iherminieri, subsp. n. ; New Hebrides, New Zealand (? accid.). This seems a well differentiated race, but I defer from naming it on account of the Procellaria nugax of Solander, as I will point out later. Pufflnus Ihenninieri nugax Solander ; Townsville ; Queensland. Details will be given in a succeeding article. Pufflnus Ihenninieri subalaris Ridgway ; South islands of Galapagos Archipelago. This form was described from Dalrymple Rock, off Chatham Islands, and specimens from Chatham Islands, Albemarle Islands, etc., agree. Pufflnus Ihenninieri becki subsp. n. ; Culpepper and Wenman Islands ; Galapagos group. Specimens from these islands are constantly larger, and have the under wing- coverts and axiUaries lighter than a good series from the southern islands of the group. Pufflnus {Iher^ninieri) persicus Hume. It seems probable that this form should be considered as only a subspecies of P. Ihenninieri, though the bill is appreciably longer than in any race of that species ; the wing-measurement however falls within the range shown in those races. 70 1.'- -r ^ . Tt. Jr »».. ' :• r. '. • • ^ '•■^ ti' ■,*iti"* t5?» - ■• . . ^. . V'- V U*r#.^<^v • '• ■ ^ J j’.g ^ -■ rW-‘' ■■ XJr;%;g| f ,^ ^^ '.1 \ M»', •; , m .' fc I'l. VII: 1.' I r,'- 'V ' - •• '• .,_‘v, ■ '■'J i. ■ ■■ ■ ■: ■. V .1 ' . t ' _ t 1 ■ , ■ ■. e- .1 ., .• T-VK.l. *A^ •- I F?:^fr SuTO. w L«?ri.. :a". 'i"’ ' W-S ir-'lv «;■■;'.» i-rL-i a?:- : ■ V’ ‘‘' j'H^. . ' ’' . ’ '• l|?l^!^^f ,’-.< .'V ■ . ' , ' I . ■ ^ • • * - * ^1 : •'. 'V' ■JiK '7^ ‘ •' .' k A. - i- J » ■;,. s v3iS*Y'Ib£j^.V , r v-'.^if Vis'-?' ■» • - 1 • jki I . H;-; I'^ii K; S' V- ;cJ . V, f ,' ■ I fj livs '■..I'-^WKv . J I £■ •rtW ■■ V ,., / :'.V.%AAjS I • j t 4« - * • •? . • . 2 flr* - • - -- tf-rVrV" fy.. • , ' i. ''-^^^’/■'^i!*^?-- V- trV-1 , , , 'ft' ''’%t! '"'^ 1^ :■ , vV. vr-Srf'. ' A* ' •A ! .;■ - -■ . ■ : V:' -W ' . \ ,j r>>-.* '. I ifS-'JyTiV c!l * ■ ^V*; V'*' ■a. I.. “ito" '/ -•* .*; ' f- i ii?: ' ff ^ ''^~ 'i.o ,* ii> J:A-iiA5:5 s^»r. Si^v ro:. •!l2- w: 1^;: tJ • i.' rK-T=r.3< ■it ?1'® iA'V's.v,' ;ai' 'ESA ii^'* y?': .A'i ym L'^'t^ .<5^ H % I I o • O C-( Q) 4) Ti "o a o K PUFFINUS ASSIMILIS . ( ALLIEU PETREL). Order PBOCELLARIIFOEMES No. 83. Family PROCELLABIIDM. PUFFINUS ASSIMILIS TUNNEYI. WESTRALIAN ALLIED PETKEL, (Plate 73.)* PuTFiNUS ASSIMILIS TXJNNEYi, subsp. n. ; West Australia ; T^pe no. 3776 in my collection. Puffinus nugax ? Campbell, Rep. Austr. Assoc. Adv. Science, 1890, p. 495. Puffinus assimilis Hall, Ibis, 1902, p. 206. Distribution. West Austraban seas. Adult male. General colour above bluish-black, including the head, back, wings and tail, the feathers having white or dusky bases ; entire under-surface white, including the under wing-coverts and under tail-coverts ; axiUaries white, with ash-brown subterminal spots to some of the feathers ; maxilla black, mandible blue ; iris dark brown, feet blue, webs yellow (J. T. Tunney). Total length 304 mm. ; culmen (exp.) 26, wing 180, tail 68, tarsus 37. Adult female. Similar to the adult male. Total length 294 mm. ; culmen (exp.) 25, wing 175, tail 66, tarsus 36. Nest. Usually at the end of a burrow, the length of which varies from one to three feet ; sometimes under a ledge. Egg. Clutch one ; surface smooth, pure white ; axis 48-51 mm., diameter 34-37. Breeding-season. July (eggs) (HaU). The type male figured and described was collected on Boxer Island, ofi Esperance Bay in West Australia, by Mr. J. T. Tunney on June 4th, 1906. They were caught in pairs in their burrows during the day, and appeared to be preparing them for nesting. The female described is the mate of the above male. I have no notes on the life-history of this bird. * The Plate is lettered Pufflnua assimilis. 71 Order PR0CELLARIIF0RME8 Family PROCELLARIID^. No. 84. PUPFINUS LHERMINIERI NUGAX. QUEENSLAND BLACK-AND-WHITE PETEEL. Nectris ntjgax, Solander MS. ; off Townsville, Queensland. DiSTRiBTJTioiir. Off Townsville, Queensland. Adult. Above sooty, under-surface snow-white, the bill wholly lead-black, the nares a fourth of its length. Very hke Nectris munda, but that the body is much less, the bill longer and narrower, etc. ; eyes black, iris grey. Length 1 foot ; expanse of wings 2 feet ; bill If inches. I HAVE already given copies of the original descriptions drawn up by Solander,* and here give a free translation of the one made of this bird. From the locality P. nugax Solander was supposed to be identical with P. assimilis Gould, and was even used by Bonaparte to replace that name. But the differences pointed out between his P. nugax and P. munda show that that view is untenable. P. munda was described from the South Pacific Ocean, and with it Solander associated a bird procured off the Kaipara, North Island of New Zealand. The coloration given by Solander of his P. munda is “ cinereo-nigricans ” and “ calybeato-nigricantia,” whereas the term used for P. nugax is “ fuliginosa ” ; the former at once suggests the P. asshnilis group, whereas the latter, being used in a comparative manner, indicates a subspecies of P. Iherminieri ; the biU-coloration further points to this conclusion. It is just possible that Solander met with an Australian breeding bird which has not since been noted ; this view would have seemed improbable were it not for many facts which I shall point out when dealing with species of Pterodroma. The time of the year (June 6th) points to it being a breeding bird ; it must always be remembered that this group of little Petrels breed in the “winter months,” and consequently escape the attention of casual ob- servers who are generally working in the “ summer.” There seems no possible reason why it should not be breeding in that neighbourhood, on some of the islets of the Great Barrier Beef. Hull, in the Emu, Vol. XI., p. 207, 1912, notes that he saw two small white-breasted Shearwaters off the New South Wales Coast, and suggests that * p. 60 onto. 72 QUEENSLAND BLACK-AND-WHITE PETREL. they were undoubtedly P. assimilis. In view of this no certainty can be achieved without specimens. The alternative is that the specimen Solander procured was a wanderer, and for that reason I prefer to withhold my decision until we have learnt more about Australian Petrels than we have at present. I have noted that a bird from the New Hebrides is in the British Museum, as also a specimen supposed to have come from New Zealand which I have regarded as representing an unnamed subspecies of P. Iheryninieri, but for the present would class them with this unique specimen. I would point out that the “ New Zealand ” specimen has the under tail-coverts whitish, the long lateral ones with the outer webs darker ; the New Hebrides bird has the longer tail- coverts all dark, and the shorter ones all white. Regarding Puffinus “ gavia ” {—reinholdi, mihi) the accounts of Reischek and Sandager show some discrepancies. Can it be that in New Zealand there is a breeding form of Puffinus Iherminieri which has been confused with P. reinholdi ? \ VOL. n. 73 Order PR0CELLARIIF0RME8 Family PROCELLARIIDM. No. 85. PUFFINUS REINHOLDI REINHOLDI. BROWN-BACKED PETREL. (Plate 74.)* PuFFiNUS EBiNHOLDi REINHOLDI, subsp. H. ; New Zealand ; Type no. 259 in my collection. Puffinus opisthomelas (not Cones) Finsch, Journ. fiir Ornith. 1870, p. 371. Puffinus gavius Hutton, Cat. Birds New Zeal., p. 45, 1871 ; Reischek, Trans. New Zeal. Inst. 1885, Vol. XVIII., p. 93, 1886 ; Sandager, ih. 1889, Vol. XXII., p. 289, 1890. Puffinus gavia (not Forster) Finsch, Journ. fiir Ornith., p. 256, 1872 ; Salvin, Ibis, 1888, p. 356 ; Buller, Birds New Zeal., 2nd ed., Vol. II., p. 236, 1888 ; Salvin, Proc. Zool. Soc. (Bond.) 1891, p. 627 ; Buller, Trans. New Zeal. Inst. 1892, Vol. XXV., 1893, p. 80 ; id., ib., 1894, Vol. XXVII., p. 124, 1895 ; Salvin, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., Vol. XXV., p. 381, 1896 ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 92, 1899 ; Campbell, Nests and Eggs Austr. Birds, p. 894, 1901 ; Buller, Suppl. Birds New Zeal., Vol. I., p. 99, 1905 ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 92, 1906 ; Reichenow, Deutsche Sudp. Exp., Zool., p. 489, 1907 ; Mathews, Handl. Birds Austral., p. 16, 1908 ; Godman, Monogr. Petrels, p. 120, 1908 ; North, Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., Vol. XXXIV., p. 49, 1909 ; Littler, Handb. Birds Tasm., p. 169, 1910. Distribution. Eastern Australian seas ; New Zealand. Adult male. Dark brown above, including the head, entire back, wings and tail, the feathers margined more or less with paler brown ; hind-neck somewhat paler, becoming ash-brown on the sides of the latter, hke the cheeks ; throat and entire under-surface white, including the under tail-coverts ; sides of breast and axillaries ash-brown, the latter tipped with white ; under wing-coverts white, ash-brown along the margin of the wing ; “ Bill dark grey, Hghter and more yellowish-grey on the under mandible, tarsi and toes pinkish flesh-colour, stained with blackish-brown along the front of the tarsus and on the outer edge of the toes, the webs darker ; iris blackish-brown.” (Buller). Total length 363 mm. ; culmen (exp.) 35, wing 213, tail 63, tarsus 42. Adult female. Similar to adult male ; culmen (exp.) 33, wing 209. Nestling. “ Obtained in the Hauraki Gulf on November 8th, covered with very long and thick down of extremely soft texture, and dark slate-grey on the upper-parts ; thick and close and of a paler grey on the under-parts, fading to whitish on the crop and fore-neck. Black feathers just beginning to appear on the wings.” (Buller.) Nest. “ At the end of a burrow, which is about two feet long, and about 4.5 inches in diameter. The chamber is 1 foot 6 inches long, and about 1 foot 8 inches high ; in this there is a deepening with a few leaves.” (Reischek.) Egg. Clutch one ; pure white ; axis 53 mm., diameter 39. * The Plate is lettered Puffinus gavia. 74 PUFFINUS GAVIA. ( SLA CK - BA CKED PETREL ) . THE BROWN-BACKED PETREL. Breeding-season. September (Mokohinou Islands, Sandager) ; October (Hautura Island. Reiscbek). Mr. Reischek* gives the following account of them on Hautura Island : “ They come ashore in September, to clean out their burrows or make fresh ones, which they accomplish by digging with the bill and extruding the refuse with then- feet ; they work during the day, and after sunset they leave for their ocean haunts, returning before sunrise. These birds breed in single pairs. The female hatches during the day when the male is generally out at the ocean, from which he returns after sunset, when the female leaves for the haunts, returning before sunrise, continuing this process till the young birds are a few days old, when both parents absent themselves during the day, but return after sunset to feed their young with an oily substance or matter which they disgorge into their bills. The young are full grown in March, when they leave the breeding resorts for the ocean. The adult bird makes a noise resembling the cackling of a fowl, especially before bad or wet weather.” On the Mokohinou Islands their habits are slightly different, as will be seen from Mr. Sandager’s accountf : — “ They lay in September in short burrows, the egg being easily reached without digging. No nesting-material, save a few feathers, is used. They begin to burrow in July, and do not work or remain in the burrow during the day. Some of the young depart at the end of December and the remainder in January.” BullerJ writes : “ They congregate in flocks, often of considerable size, and fly in a compact body, generally in a zigzag course, with a very rapid move- ment of the wings and not far above the water. Their flight is peculiar, too, in this respect, that they appear aU to turn at the same moment, like a company of soldiers, showing flrst the dark plumage of the upper surface and then the white under-parts as they simultaneously dip towards the water. “ Their habits are sociable, and flocks may often be seen in the daytime disporting themselves in the sea, making short flights just above the surface, then flopping into the water, splashing and chasing one another in their playful gambols, and when tired of their fun rising in a body, and rapidly disappearing from view. “ They seem to scatter at night. They fly low, but swiftly. Occasionally, perhaps once in several years, they appear in prodigious flocks.” \ The type-male figured and described was collected in New Zealand. * Trans. New Zeal. Inst. 1885, Vol. XVIII., p. 94, 1886. t id. 1889, Vol. XXII., p. 289, 1890. J Birds of New Zeal., 2nd ed., Vol. II., p. 237. 75 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. Of this bird, under the incorrect name P. gavia Forster, in the Monograph of the Petvels, is the comment (p. 120) : This is one of the most distinct members of the small group to which it belongs. It has a wing of from 7.9-9.0 inches in length, and must therefore be referred to the section of P. obscurusP From this it must not be concluded that this bird is a subspecies of P. “ dbscurusP the noteworthy distinguishing characters being its larger size, much longer bill, and absolutely shorter tail. I have given, in the article dealing with P. a. asswnilis Gould, a copy of the original description of Forster’s P. gavia, which proves at once the misapplication of Forster’s name. When the present bird was first recorded from New Zealand it was identified as P. opistho^nelas Coues, to which it certainly has some resemblance, whereas with it and Forster’s P. gavia there is little in common. It should be noted that in the Monograph of the Petrels, p. 120 et seq., another strange error has been made when treating of this species. On p. 122 an adult male is described, and on p. 123 an adult female is also detailed. Appreciable differences are noticeable from these descriptions, but, as is well known, the sexes are, practically speaking, alike in the genus Puffinus. The first specimen was unlocalised, save New Zealand, but agrees with birds from the Hauraki Gulf, North Island ; the second specimen was from the Snares Island, south of the South Island. The measurements of this latter are all larger, and at the Rothschild Museum, Tring, is preserved with that bird, another, marked as and collected at the same time and place ; a third also agrees, while the remainder of the series in that Museum are all quite similar to the first-mentioned bird. In the Monograph, p. 122, the colour is given as “ above sooty-black,” which seems to me quite wrong. I have called the colour “ dark brown,” but freshly-moulted specimens agree with Reischek’s description of “ glossy blackish-brown.” I have traced three definite records of this bird in Australian waters, the most recent being that by North {Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., Vol. XXXIV., p. 49, 1909), who exhibited : “ The skin of Puffinus gavia is that of an adult male picked up dead on Bondi Beach, after an easterly gale, in September, 1908.” I include this occurrence under the typical form, as the bird recorded by Salvin {Proc. Zool. Soc. (Lond.) 1891, p. 627) as having been captured alive in Victoria Park, Sydney, on August 2nd, 1891, certainly is a typical specimen ; it is now in the British Museum, where I have examined it. 76 Order PB0CELLABIIF0EME8 No. 86. Family PBOCELLABIIDM. PUFFINUS REINHOLDI HUTTONI. SNARES BROWN-BACKED PETREL. Puirmus REINHOLDI HiJTTONi, subsp. n. ; Snares Island, New Zealand ; Type in my collection. Distribution. South Australia (accidental) ; Snares Island (breeding). Adult male. Larger than P. r. reinholdi, with a longer bill and wing ; the brown on the sides of the neck encroaching on to the chest, where it almost meets, leaving the throat white ; the whole of the sides of the body smoky-brown, the flanks noticeably so ; inner wing white with darker shaft-hnes (none are seen in the typical form) ; axillaries brown. Oulmen 38 mm., wing 226, tarsus, 41. Adult female. Similar to the male. Nesting -habits, etc. Unknown. I HAVE pointed out that the Snares Island Petrel differs from the typical form, and it is most interesting to find that a bird in the British Museum sent from the Adelaide Museum as having been obtained at Adelaide, South Australia, is referable to this southern form. Order PROCELL ARIIFORMES No. 87. Family PROCELLARIIDM PUFFINUS PACIFICUS CHLORORHYNCHUS. WESTERN WEDGE-TAILED PETREL. PuFFiNUS CHLORORHYNCHUS Lessoii, Traite d’Omith., p. 613, 1831 ; Shark’s Bay, West Australia. Puffinus chlororhynchus Lesson, Traite d’Orn., p. 613, 1831 ; Pucheran, Revue Zool., 1850^ p. 633 ; Salvin, Ibis, 1888, p. 352 ; id.. Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., Vol. XXV., p. 372, 1896 (pars) ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 92, 1899 (pars) ; Campbell, Nests and Eggs Austr. Birds, p. 876, 1901 ; Hall, Ibis, 1902, p. 204 ; Mathews, Handl. Birds Austral., p. 16, 1908 (pars) ; Godman, Monogr. Petrels, p. 84, 1908 (pars) ; Littler, Handb. Birds Tasm., p. 163, 1910. Puifinus sphenurus Gould, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., Vol. XIII., p. 365, 1844 ; id., Birds Austr., Vol. VII., PI. 58, 1848. Thidlus cMororhynchus Bonaparte, Comptes Rendus Sci., Paris, Vol. XLII., p. 769, 1856. TTiiellus sphenurus id., Consp. Gen. Av., Vol. II., p. 201, 1857 ; Coues, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci.^ Philad. 1864, pp. 122, 142 ; Gould, Handb. Birds Austr., Vol. II., p. 466, 1865. Thidlus chlororhynchus Bonaparte, Consp. Gen. Av., Vol. II., p. 201, 1857 ; Coues, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad. 1864, pp. 123, 142. Procdlaria sphenura Schlegel, Mus. Pays-Bas, Vol. VI., Procell., p. 25, 1863. Procdlaria chlororhynchus id., ib. Zalias chlororhy^ichus Heine, Nomencl. Mus. Hein., p. 362, 1890. Distribution. West Australia (breeding). Adult male. Differs from P. c. royanus in its generally lighter colour, especially on tho • under-surface, and probably also in the coloration of the bill. Measurements about the same. Adult female. No differences have been recorded. Immature. Appear to be sMghtly lighter. Nest. At the end of a long burrow usually, sometimes under a cliff or small ledge. Egg. Clutch one ; pure white, minutely pitted ; two eggs collected on Houtmann’s Abrolhos measure — axis 59-60 mm., diameter 41-42. Breeding-season. November-December (Abrolhos Island, West Australia). 78 WESTERN WEDGE-TAILED PETREL. Mr. Tom Carter tells me he found this bird plentiful on the north-west coast, as far as Corrack, in the summer months. At night, when out in his cutter, he heard and saw them, but he never noticed them inside the reefs. They are quarrelsome birds, and when pulled from their burrows offer every resistance, biting and scratching with their claws, and unless the hand is heavily gloved it is dangerous to handle the birds. About half an hour after sundown they commence moaning, and get uneasy in their burrows, and shortly afterwards birds may be seen swiftly cutting the air in many directions. The moaning and infant-like cries of the wedge- tailed Petrel are a curious experience. After a ramble, one quiet night, I noted in my pocket book next morning that ‘ the whole island seemed groaning and travailing in pain with the noise of muttonbirds.’ Sometimes the roofs of the guano station are struck with terrible force by the birds during flight. About half an hour before sunrise they disappear underground, when all is quiet as far as they are concerned. The attitude of this petrel upon ground resembles a duck upon water, a squatting posture. When walking they are assisted by their wings, which gives the bird a waddling or lame gait. The burrows generally extend two or three feet in an oblique direction, rarely more than five feet. Sometimes they deposit their single egg in holes or fissures of rock, while more than once eggs have been taken from under bushes. The eggs, like those of the noddies and other birds, are excellent eating, not at all fishy in flavour as may be supposed.”* A stumbling-block to most students of this group has been the Procellaria ^acifica of Gmelin {Syst. Nat., p. 560, 1789) described as follows : — Pr. nigra, subtus obscura, pedibus nigro-maculatis. Pacific Petrel. Lath. Syn. III., 2, p. 416, n. 22. Habitat numerosissimis gregibus, subito nonnumquam submersis iterumque emergentibus circa insulam Euopoa aliasque maris pacific, 22 pollices longa. Rostrum plumbeum, apice aduncum ; nares obliquae, ovales, parumper elevatae ; pedes pallidi. This is simply a Latin diagnosis, based on the description of Latham (1785, p. 416) of his Pacific Petrel, from a specimen in the British Museum: — Length twenty-two inches ; breadth forty inches. The bill is two inches in length, of a lead-colour, and much hooked at the tip ; in the place of a tube the nostrils only appear ; they are situated obliquely, of an oval shape, a little elevated, and placed an inch and a quarter from the base ; the upper-parts of the plumage are black, the under dusky ; legs pale on the insteps, where they are marked with some black spots, and a few others on the toes and webs. Inhabits Euopoa, and other islands of the Pacific Ocean. In his Cat. Birds Trop. Isles Pacific Ocean, p. 55, 1859, Gray included it as Puffinus pacificus, inhabiting “ Euopoa and other islands of the Pacific Seas.” Coues (1866, p. 193) noted it as : “ Not identified with any other known species. * Campbell, Proc. Austr. Asaoo. Adv. Science 1890, Vol. II., p. 495. 79 THE BIRDS OP AUSTRALIA. A large Puffinus, from the island of Euopoa and (p. 194) : “ The name is unidentifiable, unless we regard it as expressive of a valid species.” I can trace no writer who has made a serious attempt to dispose of this obstacle. To me the position of the island of Euopoa seemed to be the key of the situation, as obviously the bird was a Pufflnus, and knowledge of the birds from the island of Euopoa would solve the problem. I have been unable to find any such island as Euopoa among the Pacific Isles in any recent atlas. A natural conclusion was that, inasmuch as the bird described was in the British Museum from the Pacific as early as 1785, it might have been brought back by Captain Cook. Consequently search through the records of his voyages should discover the position of this mysterious isle, but it did not. The Solander MS. seems to solve our puzzle, as the word “ Euopoa ” is there given as being the “ na7ne used hy the Pacific Islanders for a hlach Pufflnus reseynbling P. griseusP At least that is how I read the note given with the description of the latter bird, where I will point it out. My conclusion is, then, that the island of Euopoa is non-existent, and that Latham’s mistake has arisen through his misreading a label or misunderstanding a spoken communication regarding the Pacific Pufflnus. Having disposed of the erroneous locality, the identification of the Pacific Petrel seems simple. The description of the bill is undoubtedly that of a Pufflnus ; the length in proportion to the breadth shows it to have been a long-tailed bird j the colour of the feet is quite that of the P. chlororhynchus group, and the lead-coloured, much-hooked bill is met with in the form I named Pufflnus chlororhynchus iredali, which breeds at the Kermadecs. My description reads {Bull. Brit. Orn. Club, Vol. XXVII., p. 40, 1910) Differs from typical P. chlororJiyTichus in its generally larger size and darker colour, and in having a stronger lead-coloured bill. The bill of P. chhrorhynchus is flesh-colour with dark tips. The wing-measurements of the Kermadec bird are 315-317 mm., and of the Australian form 277-285 mm. Hab. Sunday Island, Kermadecs. I can see no valid reason whatever for the non-recognition of P. pad flea Gmelin, and propose to designate as the type-locality of that species, “ Pacific Ocean, breeding at the Kermadec Islands,” and sink my P. chlororhynchus iredali as on absolute synonym of Pufflnus pad ficus pad ficus Gmelin, and Pufflnus padflcus must be used as the species-name of the forms hitherto called P. chlororhynchus Lesson. Recently it has been suggested to prefer Gould’s name of P. sphenurus to Lesson’s P. chlororhynchus, and certainly the description given by Lesson is brief enough {Traite d’Ornith., p. 613, 1831): Pufflnus chlororhynchus. Bee 80 WESTERN WEDGE-TAILED PETREL. jaune a sa base, noir a sa pointe ; tarses jaunes ; plumage brun fuligineux ; ailes et queue noir mat.” The type of Lesson’s bird was obtained in Shark’s Bay, West Australia, by Quoy and Gaimard, in 1820, as pointed out by Pucheran in 1850. On com- paring the type (which Mr. Menegaux very kindly sent me over from the Museum d’Histoire NatureUe, Paris) with other East Australian shot skins, I found it to be lighter in coloration, and at first ascribed this to immaturity, but later I found that all West Australian birds were noticeably lighter than Eastern ones. The type of P. p. chlororhynchus measures : wing 277 mm., tail (imperf.) 127, tarsus 46, culmen (exp.) 37, middle toe 44. Lesson’s original description in itself was not sufficient to be quite sure what bird was meant, but the preservation of the type, of course, places it beyond all doubt. I have since noted that in the JE^nu, Vol. X., p. 203, 1910, footnote, A. J. C.[ampbell] has also observed this difference in coloration, as follows : “ The specimen I brought from Western Australia, which is in the National Museum, Melbourne, is similar, but slightly lighter coloured in plumage, no doubt due to being exposed in the case for 20 years.” This was written, on comparison with specimens obtained on the Capricorn group. Gould’s P. sphenurus was described from Houtmann’s Abrolhos, West Australia, thus: — Pu£&nus sphenurus, n, sp. All the upper-surface dark chocolate-brown, which gradually deepens into black on the primaries and tail ; feathers of the scapularies, which are very broad in form, washed with lighter brown at their tips ; face and throat dark brownish-gray, the remainder of the under-surface grayish-brown ; bill reddish fleshy-brown, darker on the culmen and tip ; legs and feet yellowish flesh-colour. Total length inches ; bill If ; wing 11| ; tail 6 ; tarsi 1| ; middle-toe and nail 2|. Houtmann’s Abrolhos, Western Australia. This name falls as an absolute synonym of P. p. chlororhynchus Lesson. The coloration of the bill of P. pacificus chlororhynchus seems stiff to be un- certain. Gould described the biff as reddish fleshy-brown, darker on the culmen and tip. Goues, with Gould’s specimens in front of him, wrote : “ The bill is flesh colour, tinged with brown ; much darker along the culmen and on the unguis.” Mr. Hall states that the biff is slate- colour, with the tip or nail black, and now Campbell and White aver that the Western form has the biff the same colour as the Eastern, which they caff “ dark horn or bone-brown.” As the characters of these dark Puffinus lie mainly in the bills, further investigations are necessary, and a series of birds studied. A good series in the Rothschild Museum, Tring, collected on Cousin Island, one of the Seychelles, confirm the constancy of these birds. Fourteen specimens. VOL. II. 81 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. eight males and six females, give wing measurements with a total variation of nine millimetres, viz. 277-286 mm., and no differences in the sexes whatever were observable to me. They differ from the typical form in being darker above and below, and in having the “ bill rose.” Godman notes this as being remarkable, but I simply think the colour, which is usually called by British collectors “flesh,” is meant. Certainly the French collector M. Thibault states the feet also are rose, and these we know in many Pufflnus are of the colour described variously as “ yellowish flesh-colour” (from skins), “flesh-colour,” “ fleshy- white,” or “fleshy-grey.” I propose for this Seychelles race the name Puffinus paciflcus hamiltoni, subsp. n. Salvin noted {Ihis, 1888, p. 352) : “ The Mascarene birds have perhaps a rather stouter bill, the colour of which in the skin is more of a fleshy-yellow.” This statement is made apparently on two specimens in the British Museum from Fouquet, Rodriguez, which have stout, light-coloured bills, and perhaps indicate another race. A specimen from the Society Islands has a longer bill than usual, almost as long as in P. c. iredali, but not as stout as in that form, and of dark colour. Finsch and Hartlaub {Beitr. Fauna Central Polyn., p. 245, 1867) give the following characters for a bird from McKean’s Islands, Phoenix group, which they called P. sphenurus Gould : “ Rostro rubente carneo, apice et culmine obscuri oribus ; pedibus flavescente-carneis. Long. c. 15'', rostr. 15 J" ; al 10 J'" ; caud. 4J" ; tars. 20".” A most perplexing factor in the study of this species is the forms grouped in the Monograph of the Petrels under Pufflnus cuneatus Salvin. This “ species ” has been ascertained to have a white-breasted phase, and Godman concludes that if “ P. chlororhynchus ” has also such a phase the two must be merged. The dark birds breeding on San Benedicto Island, off the coast of California certainly seem referable to Pufflnus paciflcus with subspecific rank, and there undoubtedly light-breasted birds are met with, though in the minority. Birds very similar (at present accepted as identical) to these light-breasted birds are met with breeding in the Marshall Group (whence P. cuneatus was described), in the Vulcan group, the Bonins, and the Sandwich Islands (Laysan group), where however the dark form only occurs as a very uncommon variation. The question automatically suggests itself : Can these light-coloured forms be due to climatic causes, or does interbreeding account for the San Benedicto birds ? Since the preceding was written, further study of the fine collection of these birds in the Rothschild Museum, Tring, has convinced me of the propriety of differentiating the forms lumped under P. cuneatus. 82 WESTERN WEDGE-TAILED PETREL. For the San Benedicto breeding-bird I propose the name Pufjinus pacificus alleni, subsp. n. The dark form is nearest P. p. pacificus, but has a grey throat, a longer tail, and the bill horn-colour, tip black ; the light birds are darker than the type of P. cuneatus, and have the bill less stout. For the Laysan breeding birds I introduce Pufjinus pacificus laysani, subsp. n. These differ from the type of P. cuneatus in their lighter coloration, especially the Hght ashy-grey mantle and rump, while the head and back are lighter brown. What the Kauai bird is like I do not know, as I have not seen examples. It appears referable to the P. pacificus group. The Bonin Island birds represent a form of P. cuneatus. It should be noted that P. huUeri will probably become merged with the P. cuneatus group when the breeding-place is discovered. In and around Australia we have representatives of three distinct species of large, all dark Pufjinus breeding : Puffinus tenuirostris hrevicaudus Gould, Pufjinus carneipes carneipes Gould, Puffinus pacificus chlororTiynchus Lesson, and P. p. royanus Mathews. There is no large white-breasted form of Puffinus native to Australia. In New Zealand another large, all dark Puffinus is added, P. griseus griseus Gmelin. At the south of South America, forms of P. griseus occur which range up the Pacific side, and also the Atlantic Ocean. In the North Atlantic however, large white-breasted Puffinus, such as P. gravis O’Reilly and P. Tcuhli Boie, appear to take the place of the all dark forms, and in the North Pacific something of the same nature seems to be occurring. The exact status of the dark Australian species of Puffinus is not well known, though they occur in the North Pacific as separable subspecies, as Puffinus tenuirostris tenuirostris Temminck, P. carneipes hakodate Mathews. But the P. pacificus group seems to be represented by light- breasted forms, at present all called P. cuneatus. Some of the white-breasted North Atlantic species seem to recur in the North Pacific, and Puffinus leucomelas Temminck is a very distinct light-breasted North Pacific species. The present position of our knowledge of this species may be sumrharized thus : — Puffinus pacificus pacificus Gmelin Kermadec Is. All dark. „ „ royanus Mathews East Australia „ „ „ cTilororhynchus Lesson West Australia ,, 83 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. Puffinus paciflcus Tiamiltoni Mathews 99 99 99 99 99 99 cunmtus Salvin knudseni Stejneger laysani Mathews alleni Mathews Seychelles All dark. Fouquet, Rodriguez „ Society Islands „ McKean’s Island, Phoenix group „ Marshall group Light-breasted Vulcan group Bonin Islands „ Kauai, Hawaiian group Laysan „ San Benedicto I., Majority California all dark The all dark birds from San Benedicto Island are separable from any other form of P. paciflcus by their more powerful bills, and it is suggestive that a distinct species of white-breasted Puffinus, P. hulleri Salvin, which has recently not uncommonly been met with in that locality, has even a larger, more powerful bill. 84 PUFFINUS CHLORORHYNCHUS. ( WEBGE - TAILED PETREL ) . Order PROGELLARIIFOBMES No. 88. Family PROCELLARIIDM. PUFFINUS PAOIFICUS ROYANUS. EASTERN WEDGE-TAILED PETREL. (Plate 75.)* Ptjpfintts PAomcTJS ROYANUS, subsp. n. ; East Australia ; T3rpe no. 252 in my collection. Puffinus cMororhynchus (not Lesson), North, Birds County Cumber., p. 114, 1898 ; Sharpe, Hist. Coll. Brit. Mus., Birds, p. 152, 1906 ; Godman, Monogr. Petreb, p. 84, 1908 ; HuU, Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W. 1909, Vol. XXXIV., p. 647, 1910. Pufjinus sphenurus (not Gould), North, Austr, Mus. Cat., No. 12, p. 377, 1889 ; Campbell and White, Emu, Vol. X., p. 201, 1910; Hull, ih., Vol. XI., pp. 99 et seq., 1911 ; id., ih., Vol. XI., p. 206 ; 1912. Distribution. Eastern Australia ; Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands. Adult male. General colour above sooty-brown, with pale margins of lighter brown to the feathers of the mantle, back, scapulars and wings ; under-surface dusky brown, with hoary-grey on the chin, throat, and fore-neck ; under wing-coverts and axiUaries similar to the under-surface of body ; “ BiU dark horn or bone-brown, tarsus and feet (living specimens) fleshy-white or yellowish flesh-colour, with black mottlings down the whole of the outer side of the tarsus and outer toe to the base of the last phalanx ; toes whitish ” (Campbell and White). Total length 420 mm. ; culmen 45 (exp. 37), wing 285, tail 135, tarsus 46. Adult female. Similar to the adult male. Nestling. “ About two weeks old ; Covered with down, the upper- and most of the under- surface ashy-grey, throat and upper-breast greyish-white ; bill black, with hom- coloured tip ; feet yellowish- white. Total length 6 inches. Broughton Island, 30th January, 1911.” (HuU.) About ten weeks old. “ True feathers on back and wings sooty-black, ashy -grey on the breast, throat darker ; biU black, feet and toes yeUowish-white. Total length 10 inches. Broughton Island, 13th March, 1911.” (HuU.) Nest. At the end of a burrow. Egg. Clutch one; white; axis 63 to 64 mm., diameter 41-42. Breeding-season. November (Lord Howe Island) ; September to December (SoUtar^ Islands). Mb. J. W. Mellob says he got these birds on Capricorn Island (off the Queens- land coast) in October, 1910. He found the ground riddled with their burrows. On the 13th the birds commenced to arrive on the North-west Island, and each * The Plate is lettered Puffinus chlororhynchus. 85 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. succeeding night brought more birds. They at once started to clean out their burrows. They go off to sea in the early dawn, and return at dusk. They make a peculiar whining or mewing noise when in their burrows, very like the noise of a cat. The flight is more hawk-hke than that of P. hrevicaudus, their long, thin-tipped wings giving them a more rakish appearance when on the wing. Dr. Ramsay, writing of these birds from the Solitary Islands as P. carneifes, states : “They are in great numbers during the breeding-season, which lasts from September till December. . . The birds arrived early in September, and at once betook themselves to excavating their nesting-holes, which are short burrows in the ground, about 6 in. in diameter, and 12 to 20 in. in length. In no instance was more than one egg obtained in a burrow ; the males and females assist in incubation; out of five specimens of birds taken from the burrows, four proved to be females. The eggs are apparently laid at night ; the birds arrive in countless numbers in the evening, and most of them, the males probably, or those not engaged in hatching, return to the sea at daylight in the morning. The average weight of the eggs is 2 oz. ; the lightest and smallest sent me weighed 1.5 oz.” The type figured and described is a male, found dead on Bondi Beach, near Sydney, on the 27th of March, 1904. A bird from Broughton Island, off New South Wales, kindly sent me by Mr. A. F. Basset Hull for examination, is very puzzling, as it has quite a small bill, the coloration of which, in the dried state, seems to be darker on the ungues, and not all uniform as given by Messrs. Campbell and White, though otherwise agreeing closely. In these dark Puffinus, series must be collected ; it is quite impossible to do anything with solitary birds. Mr. A. F. B. Hull,* writing on the Birds of Norfolk Island, says : “ The Wedge-tailed Petrel breeds on Nepean Island, which is so honeycombed that it is dangerous to walk over some parts, the thin crusts over the burrows being insufficient to support one’s weight. The northern slopes of Phillip Island are similarly riddled, and many birds breed in the shallow holes drilled in the slight soil covering the rocky islets to the north of the main island. I found a pair preparing their burrow on the Redstone in October, 1908. “ At Lord Howe Island it breeds on Goat Island in the Lagoon, Mutton Bird Island, and on the Admiralty Islets. Although I was too early to find any eggs, I surprised some birds in the act of cleaning out the old burrows, preparatory to laying.” In the same place (p. 648, 1910), Hull included Puffinus griseus Gmelin as an inhabitant of Norfolk Island, with which he identified Puffinus sphenurus * Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W. -1909, Vol. XXXIV., p. 647, 1910. 86 EASTERN WEDGE-TAILED PETREL. Crowfoot, and in the same journal (1910, XXXV., p. 784, 1911), wrote: “ I hope at some future date to procure more information as to the extent to which Puffinus griseus breeds on Norfolk Island. At present, the only data are Sir Walter BuUer’s expression of opinion that Dr. Crowfoot’s P. sphenurus [chlororhynchus] is P. griseus, and some eggs procured for me by a collector in December, which are certainly not those of P. chlororhynchus, but agree with the dimensions of those of P. griseus P In the Trans. New Zeal. Inst., Vol. XXVIII., p. 352, there is the correction by Crowfoot of BuUer’s guess that the Norfolk Island P. sphenurus was P. griseus, which correction is also printed in BuUer’s Suppl. Birds New Zeal., Vol. I., p. 105, and I have now before me one of Crowfoot’s Norfolk Island birds with Crowfoot’s label of P. sphenurus. This is undoubtedly P. chlororhynchus, but the solitary bird does not exactly agree with the Lord Howe and Barrier Reef birds ; but nothing further can be said owing to the bad condition of the specimen.* The eggs mentioned by Hull would probably belong to the form of P. carneipes breeding on Norfolk Island. How difficult it is to correlate the existing records is made obvious by the action of North, who, from a study of the specimens, has made the following determinations {Proc. Linn. Soc. N.8.W. 1911, Ahst. Proc. No. 291, Ap. 26th, p. v.) : “ Mr. North sent for exhibition a skin of Puffinus carneipes Gould, from Lord Howe Island, and of P. chlororhynchus Lesson, from South Solitary Island, on the northern coast of New South Wales. He concluded the former was the common breeding species on Lord Howe Island, and was the bird recorded by Dr. E. P. Ramsay, as Puffinus hrevicaudus Brandt (=P. tenuirostris Temm.), which latter he decided did not breed on Lord Howe Island, or in its vicinity. “ The latter (P. chlororhynchus Lesson) was one of the specimens recorded by Dr. Ramsay {Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W. 1879, Vol. III., p. 406), as P. carneipes.’^ If such misidentifications were made in this group by Dr. E. P. Ramsay, the most careful and painstaking ornithologist Australia has yet produced, not much credence can be given to many of the existing records. In view of this, the notes and references are here given for what they are worth. In the Monograph of the Petrels, p. 89, is written : “ The habits of P. chlororhynchus are similar to those of other members of the genus Puffinus, but I am unable to decide, in every case, to what species many of the Vecent notes published in Australian journals refer, as the ranges of P. chlororhynchus and P. tenuirostris are, in many parts of Australia, coterminous.” From the range of specimens I have examined I cannot endorse this statement, as I have not seen specimens of these two species from the same locality. The * Moreover, this is the identical bird described as a typical Puffinus chlororhynchus in the Monogr. Petrels, p. 89. 87 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. distribution of tbe dark Puf^nus round Australia is not well known, but where we have P . t. brevicaudus we have not P. p. chlororJiynchus nor P. p. royanus breeding. Apparently P. t. brevicaudus does not breed on the West Coast, nor does P. p. royanus breed in Bass Strait. It does not even seem certain that the forms of P. pacificus and P. carneipes breed alongside, save at Norfolk and Lord Howe Islands, and there these probably have definite areas, as the records suggest that the former breeds on the outlying islets while the latter is restricted to the main islands. Further research is most necessary to elucidate the various problems surrounding these dark Puffinus, their distribution and breeding habits. Interesting results are being produced by the efforts of Mr. Basset Hull, who gives the following note regarding this species (Pmzt, Vol. XI., p. 206, 1912) : “ This Shearwater is very plentiful on the New South Wales coast, and I have now authentic records of its breeding on the following islands : Montague, ToUgates, Five Islands, Bird Island, Big Cabbage Tree, Broughton, Solitary, Coff’s, Capricorn, and Raine Islands. This embraces nearly the whole eastern coast of Australia. I anticipate finding it still farther south, and it will be interesting to discover the point where P. tenuirostris meets P. sphenurusP PUFFINUS carneipe:s (FLESHY FOG TEL PETREL J : Order PROCELLARI I FORMES Family PROCE LLARII DJS. No. 89. PUFFINUS CARNEIPES CARNEIPES. FLESH-FOOTED PETREL. (Plate 76.) PuiTiNTjs Oarneipes Gould, Ann. Mag, Nat, Hist., Vol. XIII., p. 365, 1844 ; south-west coast of Australia. Puffinus carneipes Gould, Ann. Mag. Nat, Hist., Vol. XIII,, p. 365, 1844 ; id.. Birds Austr., Vol. VII., PI. 57, 1848 ; Salvin, Ibis, 1888, p. 355 ; BuUer, Birds New Zeal., 2nd ed., Vol. II., p. 234, 1888 ; id., Trans. New Zeal. Inst. 1892, Vol. XXV., p. 61, 1893 ; Salvin, Cat. Birds Brit, Mus., Vol. XXV., p. 385, 1896 ; Hall, Key Birds Austr. p. 92, 1899 ; Campbell, Nests and Eggs Austr. Birds, p. 880, 1901 ; Buller, Suppl. Birds New Zeal., Vol. I., p. 103, 1905 ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 92, 1906 ; Reichenow, Deutsche Siidp. Exp., Zool., p. 487, 1907 ; Mathews, Handl. Birds Austral., p. 16, 1908 ; Godman, Monogr, Petrels, p. 142, 1908 ; Grant, Ibis, 1910, p. 658 ; Littler, Handb. Birds Tasm., p. 165, 1910. Priofinus carneipes Bonaparte, Comptes Rendus Sci., Paris, Vol. XLII., p. 769, 1856. Nectris carneipes Bonaparte, Consp. Gen. Av., Vol. II., p. 201, 1857 ; Coues, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad. 1864, pp. 126, 143 ; Gould, Handb. Birds Austr., Vol. II., p. 465, 1865 ; North, Austr. Mus. Cat., No. 12, p. 361, 1889. Puffinus (Nectris) carneipes 'RdmsB^y,PTOQ. Linn. Soc. N.S.W.,Vol. 11., p. 202, 1877, Vol. III., p. 406, 1878. Distribution. West Austrahan seas. Adult male. General colour above sooty-black, somewhat darker on the head; the feathers of the back, scapulars, and wings with pale brown margins ; quills black, inner webs pale brown, the shafts paler at the base ; under-surface brown ; sides of the face and throat tinged with hoary-grey ; “ Bill flesh-colour ; culmen and tips of both mandibles brown ; iris brown ; feet flesh colour ” (J. T. Tunney)\ Total length 455 mm., culmen (exp.) 40, wing 310, tail 104, tarsus 54. Adult female. Similar to the adult male. Immature. Does not appear to have been described. Nest. At the end of a long burrow. Egg. Clutch one ; pure white ; axis 66-72 mm., diameter 47-48. Breeding-season. November to January. VOL. n. 89 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. In the Monogfa'ph of the Petfels, only one form of P. carneipes is recognised, of which it is written : “ After the breeding season in Australia, P. carneipes passes north to the seas of J apan, but has not yet been found in the intervening area, nor is it known to nest in its northern habitat.” The author of the Monograph did not have a typical specimen of P. carneipes at the time he wrote, but the J apanese specimens were obviously different from the Norfolk Island breeding birds, which he did have. I do not accept the idea that the Australian birds go to Japan, and moreover find that the West Australian bird is not the same as the Norfolk Island one. Whether the latter bird breeds on the east coast mainland of Australia is not known, as North has Just pointed out that the bird from the Solitary Island off New South Wales, recorded by Bamsay as P. carneipes, is not this species, but P. p. chlororhynchus. I expect we shall soon learn however from the researches of Mr. A. F. B. Hull, who is now interesting himself in this group with the most gratifying and unexpected results. Gould described this bird from West Australia as follows : — Pufflnus carneipes n. sp. The whole of the plumage chocolate-black ; bill fleshy-white ; the culmen and tips of the mandibles brown ; legs, feet and membranes yellowish flesh- colour. Total length 15 inches ; bill If ; wing 12 ; tail 5 ; tarsi 2 ; middle toe and nail 2^. Breeding on the small islands of Cape Leeuwin. I propose to separate the Norfolk Island form of this species on account of its larger size in every dimension, and especially its stouter bill, which must also have been differently coloured in life. Wing 322 mm., culmen (exp.) 45, tarsus 56. This form I name Puffinus carneipes hullianus, subsp. n., to mark the interest taken in the Norfolk Island avifauna by Mr. A. F. Basset HuU. % From P. c. hullianus, the Japanese birds are easily separable by their lighter coloration, the less stout bill, which was differently coloured in life, the coloration of the inner-wing, and the slightly longer wing and tail. All the specimens are quite constant in this respect. I name this subspecies Puffinus carneipes hakodate, subsp. n. The New Zealand breeding-bird is also probably different, in which case it should bear Solander’s name of carhonaria and be known as Puffinus carneipes carbonarius. Solander’s description, herewith given, shows the acumen of that great naturalist in a wonderful manner, as noted in the opening sentence of the ‘‘ Poto avis nigricans; media inter Nectres et Procellarias’^ : this, with his 90 FLESH-FOOTED PETREL. description of his varieties, proves that he could distinguish these dark Petrels, though they have since been confused by eminent ornithologists : — carbonaria Nectris tota nigricans, rostro albido apice nigricante, pedibus totis albidis. Habitat in Oceano Austr. iam alluente prope Insulam trium Regum : Lat. austr. Long occ. CLXXXVII (Dec. 24, 1769). Tota avis nigricans ; media inter Nectres & Procellarias. Rostrum albidum, apice nigrum. Mandibula superior basi e tubis narium ddatatis incrassata, convexa ; Lacuna inter nares excavata ; dein angustata, convexo-cultrata, latere sulco exarata, apice adunea. Nares tubulosi. Tuhi supra basin rostri dilatati, vix tertiam partem rostri adtingentes. Apertura' ovata', oblique truncata'. Mandibula inferior recta, apice adunea, utrinque exarata sulco angusto antice cutaceo. Oculi nigri. Iride brunneo-nigra. Pedes toti sordide albidi, remotiores quam in congeneribus et Tibia' minus compressa'. Ungues lanceolati, incurvi, sordide albidi. Longitude ab apice rostri ad extrem. cauda' 18 | inter apices alarum exp. 3 ped. 7 ) Vakietas. In Oceano australi, Lat. austr. XXXVIII 52, Long. occ. CLXXV : 30 capta, vel forte distincta species, quod adparet conferentibus Hu jus. Rostrum multo angustius, longius, totum nigricanti-plumbeum. Mandibula superior dorso planiuscula, subsulcata. Tubuli narium paralleli, vicini, lacuna obsoleta superne distinct!. Apertura' approximata', oblonga'. Lingua brevis. Oculi nigri. Pedes albicantes, extus nigricantes. Cauda pedibus paulo brevior. Avis supra fuliginosus. Collum tantummodo subtus et quidem anguste album. Eadem capta Maji 18. 1770 in Oceano Australi Novam HoUandiam alluente. Lat. austr. XXV : 33 Longit. occ. cujus cauda rotunda pedibus paulo longior erat. Gray, in the Genera of Birds, Vol. III., p. 648, 1844, places N. carbonaria Sol. MS., as a synonym of Pufjinus sphenurus Gould. The genus Nectris was introduced by Kuhl, and credited to Forster, but it was undoubtedly first proposed and carefully diagnosed by Solander for the southern slender-billed species of Puffinus, and it is interesting to know that he recognised that P. carneipes was an aberrant form. When we have series of young birds it will be a most delightful study to account for this southern fuliginous form, recalling the black and white North Atlantic forms grouped about P. kuhli. Nothing whatever has been recorded regarding the habits of this bird. The male bird figured and described was collected by Mr. J. T. Tunney, on Sandy Hook Island, south of West Australia, on November 16th, 1904. 91 Order PROGELLABIIFORMES No. 90. Family PROGELLARIIDM. PUPFINUS GRISEUS GRISEUS. SOMBRE PETREL. (Plate 77.) Procellaria grisea Gmelin, Syst. Nat., p. 564, 1789 ; New Zealand. Grey Petrel Latham, Gen. Syn., Vol. III., p. 399, 1785 ; id., Gen. Hist Birds, Vol. X., p. 174, 1824. Procellaria grisea Gmelin, Syst. Nat., p. 564, 1789. Daption griseum Stephens, in Shaw’s Gen. Zool., Vol. XIII., p. 246, 1826. Procellaria tristis Forster, Desc. Anim., ed. Licht., p. 205, 1844 ; Hatton, Ibis, 1872, p. 83. Puffinus rmjor (not Faber) Gray, Voy. “Erebus” and “ Terror,” Birds, p. 17, 1845. Puffinus tristis Gray, Ibis, 1862, p. 244 ; Buller, Birds New Zealand, p. 317, 1873 ; Sandager, Trans. New Zeal. Inst., 1889, Vol. XXII., p. 290, 1890. Pufjinus griseus Finsch. Journ. fiir Orn. 1874, p. 209 ; Salvin, in Rowley’s Omith. Miscell., Vol. I., p. 236, 1876 ; id., Ibis, 1888, p. 355 ; BuUer, Birds New Zeal., 2nd ed., Vol. II., p. 232, 1888 ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 92, 1899 ; Campbell, Nests and Eggs Austr. Birds, p. 893, 1901 ; Salvin, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., Vol. XXV., p. 386, 1896 (pars) ; Buller, Suppl. Birds New Zeal., Vol. I., p. 102, 1905 ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 92, 1906 ; Wilson, Nat. Antarct. Exp., Aves, p. 80, 1907 ; Mathews, Handl. Birds Austral., p. 16, 1908 ; Godman, Monogr. Petrels, p. 145, 1908. DiSTRiBUTioisr. Australian seas. Adult male. General colour above sooty-black, with darker shaft-lines ; some of the feathers of the wings show a tendency to hoary-grey, sides of face and throat also hoary-grey, which colour pervades the entire under-surface ; under wing-coverts mottled with white and brown, the shaft-streaks strongly pronounced. “ Bill wholly black, but with a narrow thread-like white line at the base of the upper bill. Iris very dark brown. Legs and toes black on the outer surface, but lilac or purple on the inner surface. Webs blackish. Claws black.” (Wilson.)* Total length 345 mm. ; culmen (exp.) 39, wing 299, tail 85, tarsus 60. Adult female. Similar to the adult male. Nestling. Covered with thick slaty-grey down (Buller). Nest. At the end of a burrow. Egg. Clutch one ; colour white ; axis 80 mm., diameter 49. Breeding-season. November (Snares Island) ; December to January (Sandager, Mokohinou Islands) ; as late as March (Buller, Island of Kapiti). * In the Plate the colour of the legs and bill are given according to Buller’s description, which appears absolutely wrong. From a study of the details of the soft parts of Petrels given by Buller, I feel convinced that the majority are written up from dead skins, though they have been accepted as prepared from living specimens. It is noticeable in this instance, but is apparent in many others quoted in the Monograph of Petrels. 92 PUFFINUS GRISEUS. (SOMBRE PETREL). SOMBRE PETREL. This is a common bird in New Zealand waters, and odd ones have been picked up on the beach at Bondi, near Sydney. From Buller’s* notes I gather that the young are about half-grown in February on the Island of Kapiti ; they were very fat, and on being held up by the feet oily matter ran freely from their throats. The old birds, on being taken hold of, fought fiercely with their bills. The young birds were full grown by April. This bird is at all times more nocturnal than diurnal, and when hovering overhead at night utters a frequent call-note, like “ Tee-tee- tee.” Mr. Iredale calls my attention to this note, telling me that members of the genus Pufjinus have not this latter habit, while generally all Pterodromm and Prion species do utter a Tee-tee-like note, and hence the common Maori name of Titi for the latter birds. Mr. Sandagert considers this a rare bird on the Mokohinou Islands : “ The burrow is from 4 ft. to 9 ft. in length, and formed in such a way that the nest is between 2 ft. and 3 ft. under the surface, so that to get at the egg a pick or spade must be employed. This has invariably been the case in all I have examined, no matter whether the burrows were situated on rising or compara- tively level ground. Long flax, growing in deep, light soil, is characteristic of the several breeding-places. In two burrows which I dug out in December, a bird was found in each, sitting on an egg just laid ; whilst in six others I found a pair of birds in each, but no egg, the birds being still engaged sinking their burrow, or bringing in rubbish, of which a large quantity is used for a nest. “ This species bites viciously if the hand is inserted in the burrow after it is partly excavated, and to handle it with any degree of comfort, unless it is at once killed, the long, sharp beak must be tied. The stomach of those I skinned contained a dark-green substance and several eyeballs (like those of a fish) half-an-inch in diameter, also beaks — possibly the remains of cephalopods. “ The young begin to leave in the middle of April, and by the end of May all are gone. It is worthy of note that the breeding time of this bird differs from that of any other species found here. Both birds, for a month previous to laying, remain in the burrow during the day. None have ever struck the lantern.” HuUJ records the taking of a solitary bird out of a burrow on Broughton Island in January, 1911, which he identifies as P. griseus, and notes th^t this would be the first record of this bird on Australian soil, the previous occurrences all being based on washed-up dead birds. *Birds. New Zeal., 2nd ed., p. 233, 1888. t Trans. N. Zeal. In8t.,No\. XXII., 1889, p. 290, 1890. J Emu., Vol. XI., p. 101, 1911. 93 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. The bird figured and described is a male, which was picked up dead on Bondi Beach, near Sydney, New South Wales, in March, 1904. In connection with the synonymy given in the Monograph of the Petrels, the following points should be noted : Procellaria grisea Gmelin was given to Latham’s description of a bird which was in the Leverian Museum, the habitat being given as the Southern Hemisphere, from 35° to 50° S. The original descriptions of Gmelin and Latham are here attached : — Gmelin, Syst. Nat., p. 564, 1789. Procellaria grisea, p. 564. Pr. fuliginosa, tectricibus alarum inferioribus albis, rostro fusco, pedibus anterius ex virescente cinereis. Dark Grey Petrel, Cook, it. I., p. 258. Grey Petrel, Lath. syn. III., 2, p. 399, n. 4. Habitat in hemisphaerio australi, inter 35° et 50°, 14-15 poUices longa. Alae cauda paulo longiores ; tectricum inferiorum scapi nigri. Latham’s description reads : — Dark grey Petrel, Cook’s Voy. I., p. 258. Lev. Mus. Size of a Jack-daw ; length fourteen or fifteen inches. Bill two inches long, and brown ; the whole plumage black, or sooty ; the under wing-coverts white, with black shafts ; the wings rather exceed the tail in length ; the forepart of the legs greenish blue. The specimen in the Leverian Museum has the chin and throat of a whitish colour. Inhabits the southern hemisphere, from 35 to 50 degrees. Seems much allied to the Black Petrel. Geo. Forster’s drawing No. 94 is pencilled Procellaria fuliginosa? and is the drawing of the bird from which J. R. Forster’s description of Procellaria tristis (Descr. Anhn., ed. Licht, p. 205, 1844) (not p. 23, as given in the Monograph of the Petrels), was prepared. The extract reads as follows : — Forster's Descr. Anim., p. 205, 1844. Procellaria tristis F. (Fig. pict G). Procellaria fuliginosa, rostro fusco, pedibus artice glaucis. Habitat in Oceano antarctico in lat 48° et ultra in austrum. Corpus magnitudine circiter Gorvi frugilegi L. Rostrum vix longitudine capitis, compressum, gracile, apice utraque, mandibula arcuata. Mandibula superior sulco a naribus obliquo, desinente ante curvaturam rostri ; inferior sulco parallels, coerulescens. Nares superae distinctae, tubulosae, longitudine ^ rostri, apice oblique truncatae, apertura ovali. Lingua brevis, lanceolata, acuta, marginibus postice retrorsum serratis. Palatum triplice serie retrorsum carinato-serratum Oculi submedii ; iride fusca. Pedes tridactyli, natatorii ; femora tecta ; genua nuda ; tibiae antice coerulescente, postico fusco- fuliginosae; membrana utrimque ad digitos interiorem et exteriorem decurrens. Ungues parum incuri ccerulescentes. Unguis brevis, niger, conicus, sessilis, loco digit! postici. Corpus fuhginosum totum. Remiges extus atrae, intus fuscae. Remix extima longissima, 1-10 sensim decrescentes ; reliquae multo breviores. Tectrices subtus albae, rachi nigra. Rectrices 12 atrae, cauda rotundata. 94 4 SOMBRE PETREL. Mensueae. Ab apice rostri in extremitatem caudae .. .. .. .. 17| unc „ „ extremum unguis digiti medii . . . . . . . . 18J „ Alae expansae . . . . . . . . • • • • • • • • . . 38 „ Rostrum longum . . . . . • . . • • • • • • • • 2 „ „ latum (transversim) . . . . • . ■ . • • • • i „ profundum s. crassum (deorsum) . . . . . . . . . . | „ That specimen was procured in 48° S. in the Pacific Ocean, near New Zealand. It would seem that this would be the identical specimen upon which Latham based his description, and I have therefore designated New Zealand as the type-locality of Procellaria grisea Gmelin. The following beautiful description of Solander seems worthy of record for two reasons : — fuliginosa Nectris supra nigricans, subtus fusco-cinerea, rostro pedibusque nigricantibus. Eu'opoa (Euapaa ? obs nomen a sono) Insularibus Oceani Paxjifico ? Fig. Picta. Habitat in Oceano Australi (a Chili occidentali) Lat. austr. XLVIII 27 Longit. occid. e Lond. XCIII (Febr. 15, 1769) Lat. austr. XXXVIII 10 Long. occ. CLXXI 5 (Octob. 2, 1769). Lat. austr. XXXV. 8 Long. occ. CLXXXVIII 30 (Jan 6, 1770). Lat. austr. XXXIX. 17 Long. occ. CCIV. 6 (Apr. 11, 1770). Corpus depressum, magis quam in Anatibus domesticis. Tota Avis supra fuliginoso- nigricans, subtus e fusco-cinerea, tectricibus inferioribus alarum albicantibus, rachidibus apicibusque cinereis. Rostrum rectum, compressum. Mandibula superior nigricans, superne prope basin e tubis narium ddatatis ampliata, crassiuscula, convexa, lacuna inter nares depressa, dein angustata, convexo- cultrata apice adunca ; utrinque a basi sulcus angustus sub tubo narium et exinde ad sinum oblique ductus. Nares tubulosi. Tubi vicini, supra basin rostro dilatati, vix tertiam partem rostri adtingentes. Apertura ovales, sublateralis, oblique truncata, seu non prominentes ut in Diomedeis. Mandibula inferior recta, pone apicum paulatu gibba, apice parum adunca linea longitudinali cutacea a basi ad gibberem notata, infra quam glauca alias nigricans. Oculi nigri. Pedes compedes. Femora brevissima, inferne nuda. Tibia ancipites, valde compressa, intus e glauco cahmlescentes, extus nigricantes. Digiti superne ca^rulescentes, inferne nigricantes, extimo etjam extus nigrican\te. Membrana connectens supra glauca infra nigricans, marginibus fuliginosis. Unguis compressus, unicus, brevis, niger, loco digiti postici. Avis mense Octobri duas uncias ponderosior. Longitudo ab apice rostri ad finem cauda 1 ped 8 ^ inter apices alarum expans 3 do. 4 f Rostri 2 \ Pondus 1 lb, 13 ) 95 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. We have here the first introduction of the word Euopoa, and also can see it is not meant as the name of an island, but as the name given to a bird similar to the one Solander has described. It will be noted that no specimen from any Pacific Island is included, hence the query whether it is the same bird or not. The bird figured is the Parkinson drawing No. 23, and is the bird obtained off the west of Chili, February 15th, 1769. The October bird, which was duas uncias ponderosior,” is one killed when approaching the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand. On January 6th, 1770, the voyagers were near Cape Marie van Diemen, New Zealand, and on April 11th, 1770, they were more than half-way across the Tasman Sea, approaching Bass Strait. All these birds would be easily referable to P. grisms Gmelin. In his Genera of Birds, Vol. III., p. 647, 1844, Gray included Puffinus pacificus (Gmel.), Nectris fuliginosus Sol. MS., Banks’ Icon. ined. t. 23, Proc. fuliginosa Kuhl, sp. 27. This shows at once that Gray had referred to the Solander MS., and noticing there “ Euopoa,” had concluded that Latham’s species was founded on Solander’ s bird. Salvin, in the Gat. Birds Brit. Mus., Vol. XXV., p. 399, 1896, included the above entry in his synonymy of jEstrelata macroptera (Smith), and in this error he has been followed by Godman in the Monograph, p. 176. The mistake is due to the fact of there being two species of Procellaria fuliginosa included in Kuhl’s Monograph. The first, Kuhl’s sp. 12, p. 142, founded on Banks’ tab. 19, is undoubtedly referable to Pterodroma macroptera (Smith). The second, Kuhl’s sp. 27, p. 148, was included in the section Nectris Forst., and diagnosed thus : — Sp. 27. Proc. fuliginosa. Nectris fuliginosa Banks tab. 23. (e) Cauda brevi, cuneiformi, alis longitudine caudae. ** Unguibus falcularibus. The beak fuscous, the lower mandible paler and bluish, the feet of the same colour. 15th February, 1769, lat. 48° 27 ; longitude 93 Banks. This is, of course, referable to P. griseus Gmelin, and accurately to the subspecies P. g. chilensis Bonaparte, as I would recognise at present three subspecies : — Puffinus griseus griseus (Gmelin) New Zealand ; Australian seas. „ griseus chilensis (Bonaparte) West American coasts (breeding ?) „ griseus stricklandi Ridgway Atlantic seas {‘t gama Bonaparte). In the Consp. Gen. Av., Vol. II., p. 202, Bonaparte introduced a new species as Nectris gama as follows : — “X. gama Bp. 1856 {Puffinus cinereus, juv.. Smith, nec Auct.). 111. South-Afr. ZooL, Av., t. 56, adult. Mus. Paris, a Verreauxio, 1832, ex Afr, m. et or. Cap. b. Spei. Madag. Pacif. Minor : brunneo -fuliginosa ; subtus valde dilutior ; crisso fusco ; rostro breviculo, gracili fuscescente, apice flavido ; pedibus congruis, fusco-rufescentibus, tarsis antice subflavis.” 96 SOMBRE PETREL. This species was placed in the synonymy of P.carneipes by Schlegel, who how- ever did not correctly determine the latter bird, as he united it with P. fuliginosus Strickland, which is P. griseus (Gmelin) of present-day authors. In 1864, Coues, unacquainted with Bonaparte’s bird, accepted Schlegel’s disposition of N. gama, but pointed out that Schlegel was incorrect in making P. carneipes Gould, and P. fuliginosus Strickland, refer to the same bird. The strangest feature of Coues’ s monograph is his treatment of P. carneipes. He states : “ An excellent suite of specimens of carneipes is in the collection of the Philadelphia Academy ” — but gives no details regarding its bill, interposing the species between N. amauroso^na Coues and N. tenuirostris Temm., of each of which a long description of the bill is given ; yet the bill of P. carneipes differs in toto from the bill of these two species. That something was wrong with the Philadelphia collection regarding Gould’s bhds seems proven by Coues’s disposal of Nectris hrevicauda {p. 127) as, “ This is a species with which I am autoptically unacquainted.” Yet he should have had a long suite of Gould’s birds of this species at hand. In 1866 (p. 192) Coues has the following note : “ P. 126, N. carneipes. On the authority of Dr. Schlegel, I placed cinereus juv. Smith, and ga^na Bp., as synonyms of this species. Mr. Gray considers them as referring to a species of Nectris, or rather Puffinus, not recognised in my paper, viz. P. tristis Eorst. I am entirely unacquainted with this bird if it be a valid species. Bonaparte and Schlegel make it the same as tenuirostris Temm.” Gray, in 1862, had recognised P. tristis Forster as applicable to the Auckland Island dark Puffinus, and correctly synonymised P. cinereus juv. Smith, as he had before him the specimen figured by Smith and which is still preserved in the British Museum, and accurately determined as referable to this species. If we accept Bonaparte’s name as applicable to Smith’s bird, then Gray would be quite right in adding it to the synonymy. His description however seems to be a mixture, the words “ rostro breviculo, gracili fuscescente, apice flavido,” recalling P. tenuirostris, while Salvin placed it in the synonymy of P. chlororhyncTius Lesson, in which he was followed by Godman in the Monograph. The localities given by Bonaparte also favour the view of confusion of species by that author. Whether Bonaparte’s name should be used for the Atlantic form of P. griseus or not seems open to doubt. Ridgway, in the Water Birds of North America, Vol. II., p. 390, 1884, proposed for the Atlantic form the name of P. strichlandi, and it would be the wisest course to accept Ridgway’s name. Bonaparte, in the place quoted, introduced another new form as Puffinus fuliginosus Strickland (var.) chilensis Bp. (curilica ex Chili, Nomencl. Mus. Berol.), Mus. Berol. et Lugdunens. ex Am. m. a. Lamarre Picot. Major ; rostro graciliore. VOL. II. 97 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. This name must be accepted at the present time in preference of N. aynaurosoina Cones (1864, p. 124), though later this latter name may have to be used for a North Pacific breeding form, the types of Coues’s species having been obtained at Cape St. Lucas, Lower California. I am not at all certain that the birds met with in such numbers at the extremity of South America are the same as occur ofi the coast of California. There always seem to be discrepancies in the dates that need adjustment, and the recent discoveries of Petrels breeding in the North Pacific seem to point to many yet to be made. 98 PUFFIN US BREVICAUDUS . ( SHORT - TAILED PETREL). Order PR0GELLARI1F0RME8 No. 91. Family PROCELLARIIDJB. PUFFINUS TENUIKOSTRIS BREVIOAUDUS. SHORT-TAILED PETREL. (Plate 78.) PuEEiNirs BEEVICAT7DUS Gould, Birds Austr., Vol. VII., PI. 56, 1847, Islands in Bass Strait. Pufjfinus brevicaudus Gould, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., Vol. XIII,, p. 365, 1844 (no description); id., Birds Austr., Vol. VII., PI. 56, 1847 ; Buller, Birds New Zeal., p, 315, 1873 ; Mathews, Emu, Vol. X., p. 319, 1911 ; id., Nov. Zool., Vol. XVIII., p. 4, 1911. Sooty Petrel, Davies, Tasm. Joum., Vol. II., p. 13, 1843. Nectris brevicaudus Bonaparte, Oonsp. Gen. Av., Vol, II., p. 201, 1857 ; Gould, Handb. Birds Austr., Vol. II., p. 459, 1865 ; North, Austr. Mus. Gat., No, 12, pp, 360, 1889. Pufflnus obscurus (not Gmehn) Elwes, Ibis, 1859, p. 397. Puffinus brevicaudus id., ib., p. 398 ; Finsch, Joum. fiir Omith., 1870, p. 371. Nectris brevicauda Coues, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad,, 1864, p. 127, Puffinus {Nectris) brevicaudus Ramsay, Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., 1877, Vol. II., p. 202. Puffinus tenuirostris (not Temminck) Finsch, Joum. fiir Omith. 1874, p. 210 ; Salvadori, Omith, Papua, Vol. III., p. 462, 1882 ; Buller, Birds New Zeal., 2nd ed., Vol. II., p. 230, 1888 (pars) ; Salvin, Ibis, 1888, p. 356 ; Hutton, Proc. Zool. Soc. (Bond.), 1893, p. 749 ; Salvin, Oat. Birds Brit. Mus., Vol. XXV., p. 388, 1896 (pars) ; Hall. Key, Birds Austr., p. 93, 1899 ; Campbell, Nests and Eggs Austr. Birds, p. 882, 1901 ; id.. Emu, Vol. V., p. 30, 1905 ; BuUer, Suppl. Birds New Zeal., Vol. I., p. 104, 1905 (pars) ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 93, 1906 ; Mathews, Handl. Birds Austral., p. 16, 1908 ; Godman, Monogr. Petrels, p. 149, 1908 ; Littler, Handb. Birds Tasm., p. 165, 1910. Distribution. Seas of East Australia ; Tasmania ; New Zealand? Adult male. Upper-surface sooty-black, including the head, entire back, wings, and tail, with pale margins to some of the feathers ; primary-quills pale brown on the inner webs ; secondaries inclining to hoary-grey, the whole of the under-surface sooty- brown, somewhat paler on the throat, and darker on the under tail-coverts ; under wing-coverts sooty-brown, becoming ash-brown on the greater series ; “ Bill dark slate, tarsus slate, eyes brown ” (Tregellas). Total length 390 ; culmen (exp.) 32, wing 280, tail 82, tarsus 52 mm. Adult female. Similar to the adult male. Nestling. Covered with brown down, paler on the under-surface. Nest. At the end of a burrow, which is sometimes 4 feet long. 99 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. Egg. Clutch one ; pure white, minutely pitted ; axis 67-71 mm,, diameter 45-46. Breeding -season. The end of November and December. Length of Incubation. Eight weeks (Campbell). Mr. Campbell* records two partial albinos. I HAVE already pointed out in the Nov. Zool., Vol. XVII., p. 4, 1911, that P. hrevicaudus-\ Gould must replace P. tenuirostris Temminck, as the Australian birds differ from those from Japan. The Japanese birds have a distinctly marked whitish throat and greyish under-surface, as is noted in the original description given herewith of that form : — Un peu plus grand que le Puffin manhs (P. anglorum) d’Europe, mais a bee plus grele, brun, marque en dessus de noir ; queue courte, fortement arrondie ; ailes tres-longues, depassent celle-ci de doux pouces. Tout le plumage des parties superieures, la face, les Joues et les cotes du cou d’une teinte brune noiratre, couleur de suie ou terre d’ombre ; menton blanc. Tout le reste des parties inferieures d’un gris blanchMre lave d’un brun clair; pieds brunatres. Longueur totale, douze pouces. Dans les mers au nord du Japon et sur les cotes de la Coree. The inside coloration of the wing is also different, being pale ashy-grey in the birds from Japan, and sooty-brown in Austrahan-shot specimens. The colour of the bills also differs, being horn-colour in the Japanese race and dark slate in the Australian bird. The measurements of birds from both localities are the same. Gould’s description of this bird reads : — The whole of the plumage sooty-brown, the under-surface much paler than the upper ; bill blackish-brown, tinged with olive ; the under-mandible with a longitudinal mark of vinous grey ; irides brownish-black ; outer side of the tarsi and outer toe brownish-black ; inner side of the tarsi and two inner toes vinous grey ; webs yellowish flesh-colour, becoming blackish-brown towards the extremity. The figure is of the natural size. Green Island, Bass Strait. P. hrevicaudus is not recorded from the Philippines, the only species of Pufjinus noted from there being P. leucomelas. Many writers, from Matthew Flinders to the present time, have noticed the enormous flocks of these birds that are met with at sea round the south-eastern coasts of Australia. Mr. Edgar Christian teUs me that these birds arrive on Phillip Island generally between the 15th and 22nd of November, and make their burrows in the sand-dunes on Cape Woolamai. At first a few odd ones appear, then the main body come, in thousands upon thousands of birds. As they arrive late at night, their dark bodies, darting and running about, resemble large rats ; at the same time they utter their harsh cry. * Emu, Vol. V., p. 30, 1905. t Although P. hrevicaudus is generally quoted as Brandt {Ic. Ross. Av., t. 6, f. 17), no trace can be found by me of the publication of such name. The earliest mention I can find of it in literature is by Gould, in the Birds of Australia, Vol. VII., PI. 56, 1847, when he used it to displace his own P. hrevicaudus, introduced in 1844, but with no description. 100 SHORT-TAILED PETREL. From the authors quoted in the synonymy, I gather that these birds con- gregate in immense flocks about September. At night they go to the islands where their rookeries are situated. They spend about ten days preparing their burrows, and then go to sea for about five weeks and apparently pair. About the 20th of November, at sunset, a few come back to the rookeries and lay, and during the evenings of the next few days the main portion have returned. As is to be expected when countless thousands of birds return to a limited area, confusion seems to reign, birds darting about everywhere, uttering their harsh cries, others fighting, others again contented in their burrows. Many birds are forced to lay their eggs under bushes. The birds are out at sea all day, and only return to land at dusk. Early in the morning they leave for the sea. As they cannot rise from the ground, they have regular “ taking off ” places, which are well-trodden tracks up the cliff. When the bird reaches the top it simply drops over, if it is calm or the wind is blowing from the sea. If the wind is from the land, the birds take a sharp run against it, flapping their wings till they feel themselves off the ground. A great many birds do not sleep in the burrows, but out in the open ; and they do not put their head under their wing. Both birds are usually in the burrow at night, but seem to take turns at incubating the egg during the day. The young are able to fly by the end of April or early in May. Ten days before this the parents have left them, and gone to sea till the next season. Mr. A. J. Campbell says, before the young go to sea they swallow a quantity of sand or gravel. It is just before they can fly that the young bird is sought after and cured. When properly cooked they are said to be good-eating. Sometimes the bird is driven far inland, and Mr. Frank S. Smith tells me one was shot about thirty miles from the sea. Mr. J. W. MeUor says these birds sit very tight, and are removed from the egg with difficulty, and the hen bird is fed by the male while laying operations are going on. The male goes to sea all day, and when he returns feeds his mate with a greenish substance like pulverised sea-weed. This appears to be partly digested in the male’s crop first. They are very plentiful on all the islands of South Australia and Victoria, where they breed in November and December. Sometimes the burrow is five feet long. At nightfall the returning birds blacken the sky, and as each male returns to its sitting mate, th^ cooing and gurgling sound is started, which increases as the night advances into a perfect pandemonium, and decreases as early morning draws near and the time for the male bird to depart for the open sea. Mr. T. H. Tregellas writes me regarding P. t. hrevicaudus, which he observed on Phillip Isle, Bass Strait, in March : 101 THE BIRDS OE AUSTRALIA. “ Tile young at this time were clothed with dark greyish-brown down, a few feathers Just beginning to show through the down. The colours of the legs, feet, and bill were much the same as the body colour, which varied a shade or two, but the nearest description was brownish-grey. The young, he concluded, were about eight to ten weeks old, and did not attempt to fight. Old birds were commonly found in the burrows, in which he concluded they stayed while feeding their young in the adjoining burrows. “ At nightfall the birds came in to feed their young in thousands from every direction, flying very often direct into their burrows. He states that they rise with alacrity from even ground and run with facility.” This is of much interest, as it has been generally conceded that all Petrels have difficulty in rising from the ground, and also that they do not run about easily. Is it possible that the “ Short tails ” have less difficulty in rising through this feature ? Other observers have aU declared, however, that these birds require assistance in rising, as shown by the other accounts quoted. The bird figured and described is a male collected on Phillip Island, Victoria, by Mr. Tom Tregellas, on the 4th of March, 1911. What is the bird Buller recorded from New Zealand* as P. tenuirostris ? It has obviously nothing to do with this species. In the Monograph of the Petrels, p. 150, is written : “ Prom Sir Walter Buller we learn that this Shearwater is very abundant on the coasts of New Zealand, breeding inland, sometimes at a distance of fifty miles. The birds return annually in large colonies, and repair to their old burrows. There is said to be an extensive nesting ground in the Kaimanawa Ranges in the Taupe-Patee country {Birds New. Zeal., p. 315, 1873).” But this was contradicted by Captain Hutton {Ibis, 1874, p. 41), who said the only occurrence was one recorded by Buller himself (from the Waikanae Beach) as Procellaria atlantica. But later, writing upon a specimen from the Kermadec Islands, Hutton {Proc. Zool. Soc. (Lond.), 1893, p. 749) stated : “ This species is not uncommon in the North Island of New Zealand. ” This may have been simply a slip, as I have seen no examples from New Zealand, and the specimens labelled tenuirostris’^ which I have examined proved to be the New Zealand form of P. carneipes. In connection with this species, and also P. carneipes, the Japanese form have been confounded. In the Mono- graph of the Petrels, p. 150, it is noted that : “It probably occurs along the western coast of North America, on passage, as it has been found in great numbers near Monterey, in California, in December, by Mr. Maillard. He believed that these Shearwaters were late migrants on their way to their breeding habitat in the Southern Hemisphere.” * Suppl. Birds New Zeal., Vol. I., p. 104, 1905. 102 SHORT-TAILED PETREL. But it does not seem logical for a moment to suggest that birds met with in California in December, could possibly be identical with birds breeding in November in southern Australia. The localities negative such an assertion as well as the time, for the southern Australian breeding-birds arrive in October, and at the present time all the known breeding localities of P. t. hrevicaudus are in southern Australia. Stejneger records P. tenuirostris from the Commander Islands {Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus. 1887, Vol. X., p. 125, 1888), as “ not common, but probably breeding,” and in the British Museum are three specimens from Bering Island, all collected by Captain Barrett-Hamilton in May. Examination of these specimens points to their being breeding birds. All the P. carneifes I have yet seen that have been procured in Japanese waters have been obtained in May- June. I conclude this also breeds somewhere in the north, and it should be recorded that under P. leucomelas, a species which has not been found breeding in the Southern Hemisphere, Godman wrote {Monograph of the Petrels, p. 73) : “ It will be noticed that the above records refer to the occurrence of P. leucomelas in Corea and the Japanese Islands in the months of May and June ... We may infer that it was breeding in these northern islands.” If this inference is permissible in this case a coincident suggestion must be admitted in the exactly parallel cases (as far as their occur- rences in Japanese waters are concerned) of P. tenuirostris and P. carneipes. 103 Order PR0CELLABIIF0BME8 No. 92. Family PBOCELLABIIDM. PUFFINUS TENUIPOSTRIS INTERMEDIUS. SOLITARY PETREL. PuPFiNTJS INTERMEDIUS Hull, Emu, 1911, Vol. XI., p. 98 ; Cabbage Tree Island, Port Stephens, New South Wales. Adult male. “ General colour above blackish-brown, feathers of the back narrowly mar- gined with lighter ; crown of the head black ; throat, sides of the neck, and entire under-surface greyish-brown ; the shafts of the breast-feathers black ; bases of all the body -feathers grey, darker towards the tip ; wing-coverts and secondaries blackish- brown, margined with lighter ; primaries darker ; under wing-coverts ashy -grey, with black shafts ; rump and upper tail-coverts black, broadly margined with dark grey ; outer tail-feathers sooty black, the central feather distinctly longer than the others. “ Bill lead colour ; tarsi lead colour in front, bluish behind ; toes black ; interdigital membrane bluish-black above, darker beneath ; iris black.” “Total length 17 inches; wing 10.5, tail 3.5, biU 1.25, tarsus 2, middle toe and claw 2.5.” “ Compared with Puffinus hrevicaudus (Gould), this bird is larger (4 in. longer), more robust, has a stouter bill, and is generally lighter in colour. It differs from P. griseus (Gmelin) in its slightly smaller size, much smaller and slighter bill, darker colour, and the absence of the white under wing-coverts.” “ The type specimen was taken at Cabbage Tree Island, Port Stephens, New South Wales, December 4th, 1910.” The above is the original description given by Mr. Hull of this newly discovered Petrel. I have not seen the unique specimen yet, but herewith offer some notes on two specimens which I have, and which may help to provide a solution to the problem of this subspecies. From the Barrier Reef I received a specimen of P. hrevicaudus, and the inadequacy of collecting solitary specimens was once more impressed upon me when I noted the strange look of this bird. It differed at sight from the Bass Strait birds in its lighter coloration underneath with a noticeably grey throat, and in having the under wing-coverts ashy-grey with darker shafts. In this matter it approaches the Japanese form, with which of course Hull did not compare it, but from which it would appear to be separable by the color- ation of the bill. Of course, having only the one specimen, I could do no more than indicate the observed differences, and ask for a series to prove the solution. However, from Phillip Island, Bass Strait, I received a number of P. hrevicaudus, and though eight were typical P. hrevicaudus showing no variation, the ninth 104 SOLITARY PETREL. agrees in almost every detail with my Barrier Reef bird. This, of course, puzzled me, and I was compelled to leave the problem, when I received the Emu^ wherein Mr. Hull had described P. intermedins. The description given seems to fit my strange birds fairly well, but instead of providing a solution it seems to me to have intensified the puzzle. There are thus three specimens, so far known, that do not seem to be typical hrevicaudns, one from the Barrier Reef, one from Cabbage Tree Island, New South Wales (where P. hrevicaudus does not seem to breed), and the other from amongst Phillip Island breeding P. hrevi- caudus. I suggest that P. intermedins is the Barrier Reef breeding form of P. tenuirostris and that Mr. Hull’s specimen is a straggler, apparently non-breeding, and that the Phillip Island one is also a non-breeder that had straggled south and gone with the breeding P. hrevicaudus. The only other solution would be that it was simply an individual variation, but in view of the facts I do not dare to accept this. Collection of series would certainly settle this point, but because these Petrels are so very common, and the collection of large series would make no visible impression upon their numbers, none are made. To me it seems an absolute impossibility to decide such questions as the above without ample series. I cannot understand Mr. Hull’s statement in his description, that his P. intermedins is 4 inches longer than P. hrevicaudus. Surely this is a slip, or the make-up of the skin. \ VOL. n. 105 Genus— P R0GELLARIx4. Procellaeia Linne, Syst. Nat., ed. X., p. 131, 1758 Priofinus Hombron and Jacquinot, Comptes Rendus Sci., Paris, Vol. XVIII., p. 355, 1844 Majaqueus Reichenbach, Natur. Syst. Vogel, p. iv., 1852. (Also spelt Majaquens.) Adamastor Bonaparte, Comptes Rendus Sci., Paris, Vol. XLIII., p. 594, 1856 CyiimtoholusllemQ, Nomencl. Mus. Hein., p. 363, 1890 Type P. cequinoctialis. Type P. cinerea. Type P. cBquinoctialis, Type P. cinerea. Type P. cequinoctialis. Similar to Pufflnus, but the bill higher, less slender, the nasal tube raised in front, the openings just visible when looked at straight from above. First primary longest. Number of rectrices twelve. Tail rounded. I have included in this genus the species referred to the monotypic genus Priofinus. It seems to be a connecting link between Procellaria and Puffinus, but there is no character save colour which will separate it from the former, whereas the nature of the nasal tube dissociates it from Puffi7ius, with which it has sometimes been united (c/. Ridgway, Man. North Amer. Birds, 2nd ed., p. 55, 1896). In making this attachment I would quote Forbes’s account {Rep. Voy. Challenger P Zook, Vol. IV., p. 59, 1882): ‘‘The remaining genera, (Estrelata* (=Pterodroma), Puffinus, Adamastor (=Priofinus), Majaqueus =Procellaria) and Bulweria are also apparently closely related to each other, the first and last-named being perhaps least so,” and (p. 60) “Puffinus and Adamastor ( = Priofinus) are more closely connected together than they are with Majaqueus (=:Procellaria), easily distinguishable by its more normal nostrils, less compressed tarsi and specialised (? Adamastor) syrinx.” This would seem exactly the opposite to my conclusions, but note the doubt with regard to the specialised syrinx ; and when we carefuUy regard the nostrils and the compression of the tarsi I feel my proposition is nearest the truth. Coues’s Monograph of the Procellariidce in the Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad., 1864 and 1866, is a monument of careful and accurate work, and regarding these birds he wrote (1864, p. 117) : “ Its bill (P. cinerea), however, is almost identical with that of Majaqueus {=Procellaria),'' and “ It {Majaqueus) is most nearly allied to Adanmstor, the bills of the types of the two genera being almost identical.” No other conclusion can be arrived at from an unprejudiced examination of these birds. * The correct name for the genus commonly known as CEstrelata is Pterodroma. Details regarding the necessity of this alteration will be fully given in the next Part of this work dealing with the species of that genus. 106 Key to the Species, A. General colour black. Larger; culmen over 60 mm. a'. With white markings on the head and throat . . . . . . . . . . P. h'. The white markings confined to the throat 6. Smaller ; culmen under 50 mm., no white markings on head or throat B, General colour grey above, white below . . a. conspicillata, p. 108. P. a. steadi, p. 114. P. parhinsoni, p. 116. P. cinerea, p. 119. 107 Order PR0CELLAR1IF0RME8 No. 93. Family PROCELLARIIDM, PROCELLARIA ^QUINOCTIALIS CONSPICILLATA. SPECTACLED PETREL. (Plate 79.)* P EOCELLARIA CONSPICILLATA Gould, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., Vol. XIII., p. 363, 1844 ; Australian seas. Procdlaria conspicillata Gould, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., Vol. XIII., p. 362, 1844 ; id., Birds Austr.,Vol. VII., PI. 46., 1848 ; Reichenow, Deutsche Siidp. Exp., Zool., p. 483, 1907. Majaqueus conspicillatus Bonaparte, Comptes Rendus Sci. Paris, Vol. XLII., p. 768, 1856 ; Coues, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad., 1864, pp, 118, 142 ; Gould, Handb. Birds Austr., Vol. II., p. 445, 1865. Fulmarus conspicillatus Gray, Haiidl. Gen. Sp. Birds Brit. Mus., Vol. III., p. 108, 1871. Fulmarus [Majaqueus) conspicillatus Ramsay, Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., Vol. II., p. 202,. 1877. Cymatoholus conspicillatus Reichenow, Nomencl. Mus. Hein., p. 363, 1890. Majaqueus cequinoctialis Salvin, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., Vol. XXV., p. 395, 1896 (pars) ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 93, 1899; Campbell, Nests and Eggs Austr. Birds, p. 897, 1901 ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., 2nd ed., p. 93, 1906 ; Mathews, Handl. Birds Austral., p. 17, 1908 (pars) ; Godman, Monogr. Petrels, p. 169, 1908 ; Littler, Handb, Birds Tasm., p. 172, 1910. Majaqueus conspiceLlatus Scott and Sharpe, Rep. Princeton Univ. Exped. Patagonia, Vol. II., p. 143, 1910. Distribution, Australian seas. Adult male. General colour above and below sooty, the feathers margined with brown ; a band of white commences on the chin and extends backward along the cheeks to the sides of the head, but is not joined on the occiput ; another band extends from the chin, in front of the eyes, across the crown of the head. “ Nostrils and sides of the mandibles yellowish hom-colour ; culmen, tips of both mandibles, and a groove running along the lower mandible black ; feet black ” (Gould). Total length 476 mm. culmen (exp.) 53, wing 368, tail 115, tarsus 66. Adult female and young. Unknown. Nest, Egg, and Breeding-season. Unknown. * The Plate is lettered Majaqueus cequmoctialis. 108 MAJAQUEUS vEQUINOCTIAT.IS . ( STECTACLEn PETREL). SPECTACLED PETREL. When the author of the Monograph wrote, he included all the forms of P. oequinoctialis under that name, and concluded that the white markings on the head and throat were liable to variation. I am convinced however that the opposite is the truth, and that these birds are liable to scarcely any variation, and herewith give details of my researches. Procellaria cequinoctialis was introduced by Linne in the 10th ed. Syst. Nat., p. 132, 1758, for the bird beautifully described and figured by Edwards, Vol. II., PI. 89. Linne’s description reads: “ P. [rocellaria] fusca immaculata, rostro flavo. Habitat ad Cap. b. Spei.” This description is correct, as Edwards figures a totally brown-black bird with no white markings on the chin or head ; he, moreover, gives a detail figure of the bill, where again no white is shown. As locality, Edwards wrote : “I am of opinion it is from the seas about the Cape of Good Hope. I could not gather any more certain account of its place.” As the figure is undoubtedly of this species, and no form has yet been discovered without any white on the chin, it is difficult how to treat the name. It has been suggested that the artist has overlooked the white chin, but that would only be possible if there were very little white under the chin. This is the case in two forms, the New Zealand one and the Falkland or South Georgia form. As Edwards’s bird did not come from New Zealand, but from the South Atlantic, the only course open is to restrict the name to the Falkland Islands or South Georgian breeding subspecies. It should be noted that both Dr. Kidder and Mr. R. Hall assert that they saw birds without any white on the chin at Kerguelen, but neither procured such a specimen. As the Kerguelen bird has more white under the chin than the Falkland Islands bird, I suggest the above, rather than use the name cequinoctialis for the Kerguelen form. How many breeding ''forms of this species may be later differentiated it is impossible to forecast, as, so far, we have not found all their breeding -localities. We have not yet the least idea where P. a. conspicillata breeds. All I know is that aU the specimens I have handled have been from Australian seas, save one which was said to have come from the Cape. Yet Giglioli and Gould both state this form was very common near the Falkland Islands, which, of course at once indicates that a spectacled form breeds somewhere near the FaUdands, yet the specimens I have examined from the Falklands, South Georgia, and the extremity of South America, have all been birds with a very Wall chin-spot. Hutton moreover in the Ihis, 1867>p^ 187, wrote : “ The var. conspicillata of Gould was seen only between lat. 35° "^52' S. long. 18° 46' W., and lat. 35° 40' S. long. 4° 28' W. I saw this bird in all stages of plumage, from that described by Linn^us to that figured by Mr. Gould as P. conspicillata. 109 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. Those seen between Tasmania and New Zealand were probably another variety, if not a distinct species ; they appeared smaller than the normal form, and had a white band all round the bill from the chin to the forehead, but none round the eyes. The bill seemed to be quite black. In appearance and manner of flight they seemed to me to connect P. mquinoctialis with P. inacTopteraP What is the solution of the puzzle ? The common bird in the Cape seas has rather a large chin-spot, the white extending on to the lower cheeks. This may be the Kerguelen breeding bird. I propose to treat it as such, but it is quite possible that two forms meet in the Cape seas, as Kerguelen breeding birds have the chin white, but the white does not extend as much as in some of the Cape seas birds. The Antipodes and Auckland Islands breeding bird has a very minute chin-spot, in some cases almost absent. The South American birds agree most closely with the Auckland Islands birds, but are larger. The form under consideration (P. a. conspicillata), which has been a bone of contention for so many years, is a very distinct one. It is quaint that all the birds, though supposedly variable, should have exactly the same markings. Gould and Reichenow have figured it exactly the same as every bird I have yet seen. It may be that there are two breeding forms of this, because I do not consider it reasonable to suppose that the form commonly met with in Australian seas, would be the same as the Falkland Islands form which Giglioli and Gould write of. At least, in face of the material I have handled, that would seem impossible. Instead of variation, from the measurements taken it appears these birds are most wonderfully constant in size of wing, in character of throat-spot, in coloration ; and it seems that the coloration of the bill will definitely fix each race. At least each observer of a different race has noted a different coloration of the bill. I tabulate hereafter the races I purpose to recognise. P. a. cequinoctialis Linne. Probably breeding at the Falkland Islands or South Georgia. The type-figure has no white chin-spot, but typical birds have a small white chin-spot confined to the interramal space. The bill coloration is pale yellow, and probably the following is an exact description taken from a Gough Island specimen : “ Yellowish bill, with the basal part of the culminicorn, the margins contiguous to the latericorn, and its tip black, the distal plate and the narrow median plate of the mandible black.” no SPECTACLED PETREL. P. a. mixta, subsp. n. ; Type no. 3748 in my collection ; Cape seas. Probably the breeding bird of Kerguelen Islands and Crozets. With a larger amount of white on chin and sides of face, but no white on head as in P. a. conspicillata, from which form it is easily separated by its much darker coloration and stouter bill, as well as lack of head markings. The bill is, according to Giglioli, “ Pale yellow without blackish tips to mandible,” while Nicoll gives it as “ Greenish-yellow, and with black streaks on both mandibles,” and Carter says “Yellow, culmen and tip black.” This specimen was collected by Mr. Tom Carter on the 26th April, 1909. Regarding the Kerguelen bird. Hall writes {Ibis, 1900, p. 21) : “ One of our Kerguelen birds had yellowish-blue horn-colour predominating over most of the bill, with a ridge of black along the lower mandible, and one- third of the upper mandible from the nostril was also black. The sitting birds in three cases had white chins only, while a fourth had white blotches on the cheeks. Throughout our sojourn on or near the island I did not see a typical Spectacled Petrel. I may mention that, like Dr. Kidder, I saw birds flying about without any of the white on the chin which is characteristic of the species ” — and noted one looked exactly like the New Zealand M. parJcinsoni. I have just noted that Buller records seeing this latter species near these islands. It may be that such a bird without a chin-spot breeds somewhere in this locality of which no specimens have yet been procured. The length of this bird’s wing is about 374 mm ; it is remarkable how constant these birds are, four birds measured at random giving .374, 374, 374, 375 mm. Ill THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. P. a. steadij subsp* n. ; Type no. 10,165 in my collection; New Zealand seas. Breeding on Antipodes and Auckland Islands. Fully dealt with in next article. P, a. conspicillata Gould. Australian seas. Breeding-place unknown. The male figured and described was collected at sea on the 19th March, 1862, by Mr. Leach, who gave me the specimen. In the Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., Vol. XIII., p. 362, 1844, Gould wrote as follows : “I have some specimens in my possession of a Petrel which I observed to be very abundant in the Atlantic and Pacific, and which have a broad stripe of white crossing the forehead, passing down before and beneath the eye, and 112 SPECTACLED PETREL. then turning upwards, nearly meeting at the occiput, the bill short and compact, and the middle toe and interdigital membranes quite black. In consequence of these dijSerences I had intended to characterise these birds as distinct from P. cequinoctialis under the name of P. conspicillata from the white markings of the head.” Though here stated to be abundant in the Atlantic, as above noted, all the specimens save one, I have seen were from Australian seas, and as Gould figured this form as the Australian bird in his Birds of Australia four years later, I have selected, as the type-locality for P. conspicillata, Australian seas. P. a, hrdbournei, subsp. n. ; west coast of South America. Breeding-place unkno™. Agreeing with P. a. steadi in having a white chin-spot, but larger throughout ; the colour of the bill in life not yet recorded, except by Solander, as below. Wing 399 mm. This is the form described by Solander as ProceUaria fuliginosa as follows : — fuliginosa ProceUaria tota fuliginosa, mento albo, rostro cereo suturis nigris., Fig. Piet. Habitat in Oceano Antarctico a Terra del Fuego australi. Lat. austr. gr. LVIII (Feb., 2, 1769) in Oceano austr. (Pacifico). Lat. austr. gr. XLIV : 35, Long. occ. CIX 2 (Febr. 23, 1769). Mother Carey’s Duck. Avis magnitudine Anatis domestica', tota fuliginosa capite fere nigro. Ala' longa', angusta', concolores. Cauda brevis, rotundata, nigricans. Rostrum sordide e viridi-flavescens, seu colore cera' cruda', suturis omnibus nigris. Mandihula superior in medio ante tubum nasalem nigra. TuRus narium tertiam partem rostri vix adtingens, superne late convexus, bilocularis. Dissepimento ad orificium dilatatum extenso. Mentum sub angulo maxilla' inferioris album. Pedes cauda longiores, toti nigri. Ungues lanceolati. Digitus posticus sessilis. Longitude ab apice rostri ad extremit. cauda' 20'! inter apices alarum expansar : 4 ped 7| > unc. rostri 2|3 Pondus 2f libr. The “Fig. Piet.” refers to Parkinson’s Drawing No. 19, which is merely a pencil drawing with the white interramal patch simply indicated b^ a line. Without any description to guide him. Gray concluded that the figure represented a bird without any white at all on the chin, and when he received such a bird from New Zealand he named it after the artist, ProceUaria parkinsoni Gray, and cited as equivalent this drawing (see under that species). VOL. n. 113 Ord£r PR0CELLARI1F0RME8 Family PROGELLARIIDM. No. 94. PROCELLARIA ^QUINOOTIALIS STEADI. NEW ZEALAND WHITE-CHINNED PETREL. Pbocellabia ^quinoctialis steadi, subsp. n. ; Antipodes Island, New Zealand. Majaqueus cequinoctialis Buller, Trans. New Zeal. Inst., 1892, Vol. XXV., pp. 62, 80, 1893 ; Hutton, ib. 1894, Vol. XXVII., p. 177, 1895 ; BuUer, Suppl. Birds New Zeal., Vol. I., p. 109, 1905 ; Godman, Monogr. Petrels, p. 169, 1908 (pars). Adult male. General colour above sooty-black with brown edges ; interramal space only more or less white; “ Bill with sides of the upper mandible and the tubes blue, the culmen and unguis black, the lower edge of the lower mandible flesh-colour ; legs and feet black ” (Hutton). Total length 510 mm. ; culmen 56, wing 388, tail 122, tarsus 67. Adult female. Agrees in coloration and size. Young. According to Hutton, identical in coloration. Nest. “ Breeds in holes made in the side of a slope, these holes being hollowed out into a eircular chamber at the end ” (Hutton). Egg. “ White ” {id.). Breeding-season. “December” {id.). I HAVE included this subspecies in the Australian List, as there is a specimen in the British Museum, supposed to have come from Tasmania, which is undoubtedly the Antipodes Island breeding bird. It is a bird which could be reasonably expected to be driven as far north as Tasmania, and from the general Australian records of Majaqueus cequinoctialis I cannot conclude whether P. a. conspicillata is always intended. The inclusion of this bird will draw atten- tion to the fact that such a race may be met with. What can be the Majaqueus cequinoctialis of Hull {Proc. Linn. Soc. N.8.W. 1909, Vol. XXXIV., p. 649, 1910) recorded as a visitor to the seas adjacent to Lord Howe Island? As a synonym is given Majaqueus gouldii Hutton, of Ramsay. Ramsay could surely never have intended P. a. conspicillata by this identification, and he most probably intended Pterodroma 7nacroptera gouldi which is an altogether different bird. It will be seen how difficult it is to deal with the existent Australian records of birds of this order. 114 NEW ZEALAND WHITE-CHINNED PETREL. Captain Hutton,* writing of this Petrel found breeding on Antipodes Island, observes that : “ All the birds on this breeding station had white chins, and none had any white markings on the face. The legs and feet are black. The bill, when fresh, had the sides of the upper mandible and the tubes blue, the culmen and unguis black, the lower edge of the lower mandible was flesh- colour. “ The old birds were sitting on fresh-laid eggs in December, while in the following May the young birds were fully fledged, although still in their nests. These young birds had the plumage in every respect similar to that of the adult.” The bird figured in White’s Journ. Voy. New South Wales, p. 252, PL 1790, as Procellaria fuUginosa appears to be the form frequenting the Cape seas, but as White says absolutely nothing about where he observed or procured it we cannot, of course, decide anything. The constancy in measurements of these birds is again noticeable when breeding birds are examined. Six specimens from the Auckland and Antipodes Islands in the Rothschild Museum give the wing-measurement as 382, 382, 382, 384, 386 mm., the sixth moulting. The specimens in the British Museum are between the extremes, being 383, 385. Note. — Forster described Procellaria nigra (Descr. Anim., ed. Licht., p. 26, 1844) from a specimen apparently like my P. a. mixta. His name was however proposed as a substitute name for Linne’s P. cequinoctialis. I have treated it as such, and not as recog- nisable as a different name to be used for a different race. The type-locality of Forster’s P. nigra would therefore be Falkland Islands. * Trans. New Zeal. Inst. 1894, Vol. XXVII., p. 177, 1895. Ord£!r PEOCELLABIIFOBMES No. 95. Family PROCELLABIIDM. PROCELLARIA PARKINSONI. BLACK PETREL. (Plate 80.)* Procellabia parkinsoni Gray, Ibis, 1862, p. 245, New Zealand. Procellaria 'parlcinsoni Gray, Ibis, 1862, p. 245 ; Buller, Birds New Zeal., p. 302, 1873 ; Reischek, Trans. New Zeal. Inst., 1885, Vol. XVIII., p. 87, 1886. Pufjfinus parkinsoni Pelzeln, Reise Novara, Vogel, p. 144, 1865. Majaqueus parkinsoni Hutton, Ibis, 1869, p. 351 ; id., Trans. New Zeal. Inst. 1870, Vol. III.> p. Ill, 1871 ; Buller, Birds New Zeal., 2nd ed., Vol. II., p. 242, 1888 ; Salvin, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., Vol. XXV., p. 397, PI. V., 1896 ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 93, 1899 ; Campbell, Nests and Eggs Austr. Birds, p. 899, 1901; Buller, Suppl. Birds New Zeal., Vol. I., p. 109, 1905 ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 93, 1906 ; Mathews, HandL Birds Austral., p. 17, 1908 ; Godman, Monogr. Petrels, p. 174, 1908 ; Littler, Handb. Birds Tasm., p. 173, 1910. Fulmarus parkinsoni Gray, Handl. Gen. Sp. Birds Brit. Mus., Vol. III., p. 108, 1871. Distribution. Australian and New Zealand seas. Adidt male. Entire plumage, both above and below, sooty-black, with no white on the head; bill yellow, culmen and tip black, iris hazel, feet black. Total length 545 mm; culmen 42, wing 348, tail 110, tarsus 54. Adult female. Similar to the adult male. Total length 530 mm. ; culmen 40, wing 337, tail 101, tarsus 52. Nest. A few leaves placed at the end of a burrow (Hutton). Egg. Clutch one ; pure white ; axis 72 mm., diameter 51. Breeding -season. November and December. The only definite record I can trace of this bird’s occurrence is that of Masters {Proc. Linn. 8oc. A.N.IV. 1878, Vol. III., p. 21), who exhibited a specimen shot near Sydney Heads, and noted it was the first record. This species has a much smaller bill than P. cequinoctialis, and never has any white on the head or throat. From specimens of P. cequinoctialis it can always be distinguished by its smaller bill and smaller size generally, and entire absence of white on the throat. * The Plate is lett ered Majaqueus parkinsoni. 116 MAJAQUEUS PARKINSON I . (BLACK PBTP.EL). BLACK PETREL. Gray characterised this species as follows : — Procellaria parkinsoni, G. R. Gr. Procellaria fuliginosa, Banks, Icon 19 Puffinus aequinoctialis, pt. G, R. Gr. List of Anseres B.M., p. 160 Taiko of the natives. Hab. New Zealand (Miss R. Stone). This species differs from the Procellaria cequiiiociialis in being smaller in all its propor- tions ; the bill is nearly one -third less than that of P. cequinoctialis ; the body is sooty- black throughout, being without the white on the mentum ; the tips of the mandibles are inclined to black. I have explained the inaccurate attachment of the “Banks, Icon 19,” to this species (see p. 113). Captain Hutton* found this bird breeding on the Little Barrier Island, at an altitude of 1,500 feet and more above the sea ; several specimens were sitting on their nest, but only one egg was found. It nested under the roots of trees. The entrance to the hole is irregular in shape (but generally just large enough to admit the hand). Some of the holes were 3 ft. long, and each was enlarged at the end where the bird was sitting, with its beak turned towards the entrance. Mr. A. Reischekf writes : “ This Petrel is gregarious, and I have seen them in large flocks together, resting on the water. Their power of flight is marvellous.” [During a storm] “ they cruised about, dipping the points of their wings at intervals in the water, then suddenly swooping down through the foam- ing waves for their prey, rising from the next wave, and repeating their former action. From July to November these birds are always out at sea. In November they come ashore to their breeding-places, on the top of high and steep moun- tains, which they choose for the purpose of easier flight, as they have difiiculty in ascending from the level ground. They are expert climbers ; I saw them, by the aid of their sharp claws, their bills, and wings, climbing up trees out of the perpendicular, from whence they flew away. In November, 1882 ” [on the eastern slope, and near the centre of the Little Barrier or Hauturu Island, situated north of Auckland, at about 2,300 feet above sea-level, on a steep precipitous ridge], “these birds were cleaning out their old burrows. They dug with their bills, and removed the earth by a backward motion of their feet, till the burrow was cleansed. In most cases I found them working, in others the burrows were clean. Some burrows were in loose soil, others under the roots of trees and under stones ; also in hollow trees. “When they have finished cleaning out the burrows, which process male and female accomplish together, they remain quietly till the last rays of the sun * Trans. New Zeal. Inst. 1870, Vol. III., p. Ill, 1871. t*. 1885, Vo]. XVIIL, p. 87, 1886. 117 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. have disappeared, then they come out, pick up a few leaves or grass, and go back into the burrows ; this they repeat several times, an^ always on entering the chambers they make a peculiar noise together. After dark both come out, rise and circle round, calling until they attract others, and when a large flock is assembled they fly away to their haunts on the ocean, returning before day- Hght. At this season, before they lay, they are very fat. When caught they eject a lot of oily matter. When the female lays, the male separates from her during the day, while she is hatching, and remains in a separate burrow of his own not far away. The female alone sits on the egg. “ I watched these birds by moonlight, and have seen the male come out of his burrow and fly away ; returning after a time, and circling round in the air, he swooped down to the burrow of the female, striking the ground with a force that could be heard some distance. He stopped outside a little, then entered, and I heard a whispering noise. After this a bird came out and flew away, return- ing after a time to the same burrow, and in a few minutes once again emerged and flew away, but returned before daylight, and using the same precautions on entering as before. Then one bird came out and went to the second burrow. The bird in the burrow which contained the eggs was a female, the male being in the other burrow. “As soon as the young birds are a few days old, the parents leave them in the burrow from before sunrise till after sunset, while they go to seek food. The old birds leave and return several times in a night. If they find their burrows disturbed they will not go in.” The bird figured and described is a female, collected on Little Barrier Island, near Auckland. 118 PRIOFINUS CINEREUS ( GjRUY petrel ) Order PROCELLAEIIFORMES Family PROCELLARIIDM. No. 96. PROCELLAEIA CINEREA. GREY PETREL. (Plate 81.)* Procellabia CINEREA Gmelin, Syst. Nat., p. 563, 1789 ; Antarctic Circle. Cinereous Fulmar Latham, Gen. Synops. Birds, Vol. III., Pt. n., p. 405, 1785. Procdlaria cinerea Gmelin, Syst. Nat., p. 563, 1789 ; Buller, Birds New Zeal., p. S05, 1873 ; Reichenow, Deutsche Siidp. Exp., p. 554, 1907. Procellaria gelida Gmehn, Syst. Nat., p. 564, 1789. Procellaria melanura Bonnaterre, Tabl. Encycl. Method. Omith., Vol, I., p. 79, 1790. Puffinus cinereus Stephens, in Shaw’s Gen. Zool., Vol. XIII., p. 227, 1826. Procdlaria JicBsitata (not Kuhl) Forster, Descr, Anim., ed. Idcht., p. 208, 1844 ; Gould, Birds Austr., Vol. VII., p. 47, 1848 ; Hutton, Ibis, 1865, p. 285. Priofinus “cinerea"’’ Hombron and Jacquinot, Comptes Rendus Sci., Paris, Vol. XVIII., p. 355, 1844. Priofinus cinereus Jacquinot and Pucheran, Voy. Pole Sud, Ois., PI. 32, figs. 9-14, 1844 ; Baird, Brewer and Ridgway, Water Birds North Amer., Vol. II., p. 375, 1884 ; Salvin, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., Vol. XXV., p. 390, 1896 ; Hall, Ibis, 1900, p. 22 ; Campbell, Nests and Eggs Austr. Birds, p. 893, 1901 ; Sharpe, Rep. “Southern Cross.” p. 142, 1902 ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 93, 1906 ; Buller, Suppl. Birds New Zeal., Vol. I., p. 106, 1905 ; Eagle Clarke, Ibis, 1907, p. 329; Wilson, Nat. Antarctic Exp., Aves, p. 81, 1907 ; Mathews, Handl. Birds Austral., p. 16, 1908 ; Godman, Monogr. Petrels, p. 155, 1908 ; Littler, Handb. Birds Tasm., p. 170, "1910. Adamastor typus Bonaparte, Consp. Gen. Av., Vol. II., p. 187, 1857. Procdlaria adamastor Schlegel, Mus. Pays-Bas, Vol. VI., Procell., p. 23, 1863. Adamastor cinereus Goues, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad. 1864, pp. 119, 142 ; Buller, Birds New Zeal., 2nd ed., Vol. II., p. 241, 1888. Adamastor cinerea Gould, Handb. Birds Austr., Vol. II., p. 446, 1865. ,y Puffinus mdanurus Coues, Key North Amer. Birds, p. 330, 1872. Fulmarus {Adamastor) gelidus Ramsay, Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W. 1877, Vol. II., p. 202. Priofinus mdanurus Ridgway, Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus. 1880, Vol. III., p. 209. Distribution. Australian seas (Southern Ocean). * The Plate is lettered Priofinus cinereus. II9 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. Adult male. General colour above ash-grey, including the feathers of the back, scapulars, and upper tail-coverts ; the long scapulars and wing -coverts a little darker than the back, and show the shaft- streaks ; bastard- wing and primary-coverts ash-brown ; primary-quills hoary-grey, paler on the inner webs, outer web of the first primary blackish ; shafts white towards the base ; secondaries hoary- grey, more or less white on the basal portion ; tail for the most part brown with hoary-grey on the outer webs of the feathers and becoming whitish towards the base ; head and sides of the face darker than the back, and inchning to black or slate-grey ; throat and under surface of the body white ; the long under tail-coverts ash-brown with pale edges ; axillaries and under wing-coverts also ash-brown, some of the latter have pale edges ; “ Bill perfectly black on the ridge, changing to horn- colour on the hook and having a black fine down the middle of the lower mandible, widening out on meeting the unguis, which is dull horn-colour, remainder of bill yellow ; legs and feet greyish flesh- colour, shaded with dark on the heel and on the outer sides of the tarsus and toes ; interdigital webs yellowish with grey edges, iris dark brown ” (Buller). Total length 425 mm. ; culmen (exp.) 45, wing 335, tail 112, tarsus 55. Adult female. Similar to adult male. Nest. “ Oup-shaped structure, in a large chamber at the end of a burrow ” (Hutton). Egg. Clutch one ; pure white ; axis 70 mm., diameter 50 (White). Breeding-season. October to December ; Macquarie Island {id.) . Captain F. W. Hutton* writes : “ This bird combines the appearance of a Procellaria with some of the habits of a Puffinus. Its feathers fi.t very close, and have a glossy look. Like all other Petrels, it flies with its legs stretched straight out behind, and, as in this bird they are rather long, they make the tail appear forked. Its cry is something like the bleating of a lamb. It is very common at sea from May to August, but retires to Kerguelen’s Land and other places in September or October to breed. Each pair burrows horizontally into wet peaty earth, from two to eighteen feet. They seldom leave their burrows in the daytime, and when one happens to do so it is at once hunted by a ‘ Nelly ’ ” [one of the larger Petrels], “ although no such jealousy exists at sea. From this habit of flying only by night it is called ‘ Night Hawk ’ by the sailors. Mr. Harris’s party, when wrecked on Kerguelen’s Land, used to dig these birds out of their burrows and eat them ; and in order to save useless digging, for their spades were only made from the staves of old casks, they would hold one to the mouth of a hole and make it cry out, when, if another was inside, it would answer. This bird is by far the best diver of all the sea-going Petrels. It seems even fond of it, and often remains under water for several minutes, when it comes up again, shaking the water off its feathers like a dog. Sometimes I have seen it, as it flies past, poise itself for a moment in the air at a height of about twenty or twenty-five feet above the sea, and, shutting its wings, take a header into the water. It dives with its wings open, and uses them under water much in the same manner as when flying.” * Ibis, 1865, p. 285. 120 GREY PETREL. Th.6 bird, figured and described is a male, collected near New Zealand on the SOtli September, 1905. With regard to the forms of this species, I am unable to diagnose them, though such are surely existent. The series available are all sea-killed birds, none being known from any breeding-station, though, as above, it is supposed to breed on Kerguelen for one place. These sea-killed birds, procured at various times and places, show differences, but as they also show much wearing, nothing can be done at present. It is possible again that the bill will give good differential characters, but nothing much has been recorded regarding this feature. I herewith give some notes which will aid to the designation of forms at some future time. Coues, in 1864, separated two forms which he called Ado/tnastoT cinereus Gmelin and A. gelidus Gmehn. As recently as 1896 Ridgway accepted these forms in his second edition of the Manual of North American Birds, p. 58, separating the latter as having the “ lower parts white, including the under wing-coverts and tail-coverts.” I have seen no specimen from any locality with white under wing-coverts as yet. Ridgway also makes P. gelidus to be a much larger bird than his P. cinereus, the former having a wing of 15 inches against the latter’s 12.25-13.50 inches. I have failed to find any bird with a wing measuring anything like 380 mm., so cannot at all place Ridgway’s P. gelidus. As a matter of fact, the latter name could not be used for any form, as the following will show. Godman, in the Monograph of the Petrels^ discussed Gmelin’s P. cinerea and P. gelida, and rejected the idea of their identity, but accepted Forster’s P. hcBsitata as a synonym of P. cinerea. Gmelin’s P. cinerea was described as follows : — Gmelin, Syst. Nat., p. 563. Pr. cinerea subtus alba, cauda nigra, rostro flavicante, pedibus caerulescentibus. Cinereous Fulmar. Lath. Syn. III., 2, p. 405, n. 10. Habitat intra circulum Antarcticum, glacialis magnitudine, 20J poUices longa ; victus multifarius, praesertim sepia. Rostri suturae nigrae ; irides cinereae, rarius totius color pallide caeruleus ; vertex et irons reliquo capite paUidior ; pectus et abdomen interdum nigra ; cauda rotundata ; membrana digitos connectens flavescens ; digiti et ungues pallidi. Latham’s description being : — Cinereous Fulmar. Br. Mus. Size of the Fulmar : length twenty inches and a quarter. Bill yellowish, with black sutures ; irides ash-colour ; all the upper-parts of the plumage dusky ash-colour ; the crown of the head, and forehead, palest ; beneath, from chin to vent, white ; tail, rounded in shape, black ; the under-parts of the feathers pale ash-colour ; legs blueish ; webs pale yellow ; toes and claws pale. We have seen a variety of this with a pale blue bill, and the breast and belly of a deep dusky black. This species chiefly inhabits the parts within the Antarctic circle. Many seen in the lat. of 48 degrees. The food is various ; the bills of the Cuttle-fish have been found in its stomach. VOL. n. 121 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. Forster’s drawing No. 92, upon which the description of Forster’s P. hcesitata was based, is absolutely the source of Latham’s description of his “ Glacial Petrel,” which Gmelin named Procellaria gelida, the original descriptions being here given : — Forster’s Procellaria hcesitata. Procellaria supra cinerea, subtus Candida, rostro flavescente et nigro, pedibus coerules- centibus, palmis flavls Habitat in lat. 48° Oceani pacifici antarctici. Diu mecum haesitavi, an non haec Procellaria eadem esset cum Proc. 'pujjino, at magnitude et varii characteres evincunt, banc diversae esse speciei Corpus magnitudine Proc. glacialis vel paulo maius Rostrum capite brevius, compressum, apice aduncum. Mandibula superior sulco oblique a naribus ad curvaturam apicis ; inferior sulco parallelo, ante curvaturam desinente. Nares superae, tubulosae, septo distinctae, emarginatae, truncatae. Nares et pars superior mandibulae superioris nigra, apex paUide-flavus, pars inferior mandibulae superioris usque ad sulcum ab ipsa basi flavescens; pars inferior mandibulae inferioris infra sulcum flavescens, supra sulcum et apice nigricans. Lingua brevis, spatulata, marginibus postice retrorsum serratis. Palatum triplici ordine carinatum et retrorsum serratum. Oculi super! ; iride nigra. Pedes ut in congeneribus antecedentibus coerulescentes antici, postice nigri, membrana inter digitos flava Caput cum genis, cervice, dorso, uropygio et crisso, remigibus et rectricibus cinerea. Gula, iugulum, pectus, abdomen Candida Remiges 1-10 sensim decrescentes, prima longissima, nigrae ; scapis basi albicantibus ; reliquae 11-30 breves. Alae infra cinereae. Rectrices 12 ; cauda rotundata, nigra Mensue^. Ab anice rostri ad Alae expansae . . Rostrum longum profundum latum Pedes cum femoribus . . Digitus medius ab ungue postico 201 18 „ 51 2 1 J5 ^4 Procellaria gelida. Gmelin, Syst. Nat., p. 564. Pr. nigra, vertice, facie, cervice, humeris et abdomine cinereis, mento, gutture et pectore albis, rostro flavo, pedibus caeruleis. Glacial Petrel. Lath., Syn. III., 2, p. 399, n. 5. Habitat intra circulum Antarcticum, potissimum inter glaciem, 19 poUices longa. Narium tubus, margo utriusque mandibulae, dorsum superioris, apexque inferioris nigra ; digit! subtus albi ; ungues nigri. Latham’s description being : — Glacial Petrel. Length nineteen inches. Bill an inch and three-quarters, yellow ; the tube which covers the nostrils, top of the upper mandible, and end of the lower, black ; the edges of both are of the same colour ; the top of the head, taking in the eyes, and the hind part of the neck, to the shoulders, pale blueish ash-colour ; the rest of the upper-parts dusky Hack ; chin, fore- part of the neck, and breast, white ; from thence to the vent pale ash colour ; legs and webs blue ; claws black ; sole of the foot white. Inhabits the Antarctic Circle with many other species ; chiefly found among the ice. 122 GEEY PETREL. Forster’s drawing No. 92 is unfinished, as are most of Forster’s drawings, only the essentials being filled in at the time, and hence Latham’s imperfect description of the bird. This drawing is undoubtedly that of the bird called P. cinerea, and has been accepted by all writers who have studied it. Godman suggested (p. 156) that the original type of Latham’s Cinereous Petrel was the identical bird from which Forster’s drawing No. 92 was made. I think this a most reasonable proposition, and as we know that that bird was killed in lat. 48° S. Pacific, I designate New Zealand seas (48° S.) as the type- locality of Procellaria cinerea Gmelin ; and as P. gelida Gmelin depends upon the same bird it becomes an absolute synonym of P. cinerea Gmelin. Godman also noted (p. 156) that Latham’s description of a second Cinereous Petrel {Gen. Synops., Suppl., Vol. II., p. 335, 1801) does not refer to this bird. I have recognised the description as being based on the Watling drawings. Nos. 280-1, which have been recently discussed by Iredale {Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W. 1910, Vol. XXV., p. 779, 1911). Misled by the idea that the Norfolk Island Puffinus had been correctly identified as P. griseus, and also by the colour of the soft parts of that species given in the Plate in the Monograph, Iredale identifies these drawings with that species. I, however, would in preference suggest that these have been made from P. carneipes hullianus, but in the present imperfect state of our knowledge of these Pufflnus, we can only consider this identification tentative. Coues, in 1864, fixed the identity of P. cinerea Gmelin, following Lawrence and Bonaparte ; previously it had been used by European authors generally for the species now known as Pufflnus griseus Gmelin. A reminder of this misusage persists in the Monograph of the Petrels, where, on p. 159, treating of this bird under the name Priofnus cinereus, a long extract is given from Darwin’s account of his P. cinerea off South America. That quotation undoubtedly refers to Puffnus griseus Gmelin, as can at once be recognised by one familiar with these birds in the Southern Hemisphere. This bird was met with off New Zealand by Solander, who described it as follows : — pallipes Procellaria supra cinerea, subtus alba, pedibus palmisque albidis, rostro plumbeo ; lateribus albidis Habitat in Oceano australi. Lat. austr. XXXVII : 10, Long. occ. CLXII ; 5 (Octob. 2, 1769) Caput supra e fusco-cinereum, subtus album Cervix, Dorsum & Uropygium cinerea ' Gula, Jugulum, Pectus, Abdomen & Femora alba Crissi penna' breviores tota' alba', longiores apice cinerea' Ala' longa' cinerea', supra obscuriores Cauda utrinque obscure cinerea, rotundata, pedibus brevior Rostrum compressum, apice aduncum 123 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. Mandihula superior supra rimam cutaceam lateralem e nigro-cornea, inferne autem & sub tubo narium cereo-albida Tubus narium tertiam partem rostri non penitus adtingens, nigricans, supra convexus, bilocularis Dissepimentum parum retusum Apertura' obovata', superne angustiores Mandihula inferior e plumbeo-albida, rima longitudinali, cutacea, nigricante Oculi nigricantes Pedes & Digiti albidi, extus parum e fusco glauci Palma tota albida, margins parum fuscata Ungues lanceolati, extus nigricantes, basi albidi Loco digiti postici, Unguis sessilis, albidus, apice nigricans Longitude ab apice ad finem cauda' 20 1 inter apices alarum expans. 49 / Pondus 2 libr. 5 unc. It is interesting to contrast these most beautiful, detailed, and accurate descriptions of Solander and Forster with the well-meant but almost useless ones given by Latham. In all of these Solander diagnoses, the facts are carefully and correctly placed in such a manner that I can scarcely meet with any doubts in determining them absolutely. I would also point out that the drawing made by Ellis on the third voyage. No. 41, is a good representation of this species, and though it was said to be ascribed to Diomedea by Salvin, Cat. Birds. Brit. Mus., Vol. XXV., p. 441, by Sharpe {Hist. Coll. Brit. Mus., Vol. II., p. 203), Salvin at the place quoted does not mention it. The bill is carefully drawn, and immediately forbids the attachment to Diomedea. The mistake is the more incomprehensible when we see among these Ellis drawings, beautiful detailed figures, almost life-size, of the bills of Macronectes and Diomedea, showing that the artist was fully aware of the peculiarities of the bill- formation of these different genera of Petrels. I have noted the discrepancy between the descriptions given by Bonaparte in the Consp. Gen. Av. and the synonymy offered relating to Nectris gama, and here again, regarding his Adamastor typus (p. 187), we meet with such. The synonymy concludes with “ ex Mar. antarcticis, Australia ” ; then follows, “Mus. Lugdun. et Paris, a Nebouxio, ex Mar. cequatorial,’’^ while “rostro nigricante, lateribus et apice fiavidis, pedibus flavicantibus,” seems to agree with this bird, though what “ Juv. capite dilutiore, maculis tantum fuscentibus,” may refer to cannot be decided. I have pointed out above that Darwin’s P. cinerea is not this bird, but refers to Puffinus griseus (Gmelin), and therefore the description of the soft parts given in the Monograph (p. 160) ex that source should be removed to the latter bird. 124 Genus — P RIOCELLA. Priocella Hombron and Jacquinot, Comptes Rendus Sci., Paris, Vol. XVIII., p. 357, 1844 . . . . . . Type P. antarctica. This genus, generally placed alongside Thalassoica close to Puffinus, is to me a very near relation of Fuhnarus. In coloration and general features they resemble each other, the most apparent difference being in the bills. In Priocella the biU is more slender than in Fuhnarus, but it seems to be comparable in exactly the same way as the bills of the Prions are. I would conclude that Priocella would bear comparison with Fuhnarus exactly as Thalassoica would with Daption, and as I shall presently show, the Prions do to each other. When juveniles of all stages are available I anticipate that, in conjunction with the bony internal structure, we will be able to make a definite classification, but in view of our knowledge of the Prions I consider the preceding to be a more natural attachment than the disposition of these anomalous genera in the Monograph. \\ 125 Order PR0CELLARIIF0RME8 No. 97. Family PROCELLARIIDM. PEIOOELLA ANTAECTICA. SILVER- GREY PETREL. (Plate 82.)* Fulmartjs antarcticus Stephens, in Shaw’s Gen.Zool., Vol. XIII., p. 236, 1826; Cape seas. Fulmarus antarcticus Stephens, in Shaw’s Gen. Zooh, Vol. XIII., p. 236, 1826. Procellaria tenuirostris (not Temm.) Audubon, Orn. Biog., Vol. V., p. 333, 1839 ; Cassin, U.S. Expl. Exp., p. 409, 1858. Procellaria glacialoides Smith, 111. Zool. South Africa, Aves, pi. 51, 1840; Gould, Birds. Austr., Vol. VII., pi. 48, 1848 ; Buller, Birds New Zeal., p. 301, 1873. Priocella garnotii Hombron and Jacquinot, Comptes Eendus Sci., Paris, Vol. XVIII., 357, 1844. Procellaria garnotii Gray, Gen. Birds, Vol. III., p. 648, 1849. Priocella garnotii Jacquinot and Pucheran, Voy. Pole Sud., Zool., Vol. III., p. 148, 1853. Thalassoica glacialoides Bonaparte, Consp. Gen. Av., Vol. II., p. 191, 1857 ; Ooues, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad. 1866, p. 30 ; Gould, Handb. Birds Austr., Vol II., p. 467, 1865. Thalassoica polaris Bonaparte, Consp. Gen. Av., Vol. II., p. 192, 1857. Thalassoica tenuirostris id., ib. ; Sharpe, Phil. Trans. Eoy. Soc., Vol. 168, p. 123, 1879. Procellaria smithi Schlegel, Mus. Pays-Bas., Vol. VI., Procell., p. 22, 1863. Fulmarus glacialoides Gray, Handl. Gen. Sp. Birds, Vol. III., p. 105, 1871. Fulmarus tenuirostris Ooues, Key North Amer. Birds, p. 328, 1872. Priocella tenuirostris Eidgway, Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus., Vol. III., p. 209, 1880. Priocella glacialoides Baird, Brewer and Eidgway, Water Birds North Amer., Vol. II., p. 373,. 1884 ; Salvin, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., Vol. XXV., p. 393, 1896 ; Campbell, Nests and Eggs Austr. Birds, p. 897, 1901 ; Sharpe, Eep. “ Southern Cross,” p. 145, 1902 ; Buller, Suppl. Birds New Zeal., Vol. I., p. 108, 1905 ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 93, 1906 ; Clarke, Ibis 1906, p. 170 ; Lonnberg, Fauna St. Georgia, p. 83, 1906 ; Clarke, Ibis, 1907 ; p. 335 ; Eeichenow, Deutsche Siidp. Exp., Zool., pp. 480, 552, 1907 ;. Wilson, National Antarct. Exp., Aves, p. 84, 1907 ; Menegaux, Exp. Antarct. Franc., p. 54, 1907 ; Mathews, Handl. Birds Austral., p. 17, 1908 ; Godman, Monogr» Petrels, p. 165, 1908 ; Littler, Handb. Birds Tasm., p. 171, 1910. Thalassceca tenuirostris Sharpe, ed. Bayard’s Birds South Africa, p. 767, 1884. Thalassoeca glacialoides Buller, Birds New Zeal., 2nd ed., Vol. II., p. 228, 1888. * The Plate is lettered Priocella glacialoides. PRIOCELLA GLACIALOIDES . 31 L V.ER - GREY PETREL ' . SILVER-GREY PETREL. Tlialassoem glacialina Heine, Nomencl. Mus. Hein., p. 362, 1890. ThalasscBca tenuirostris Oustalet, Missn. Scient. Cap Horn, p. 162, 1891. Thalassceca {Priocella) glacialoides Saunders, Antarct. Manual, p. 236, 1901. Distribution. Australian and New Zealand seas (Antarctic Regions, North America). Adult male. Upper surface, including the mantle, back, wings, and tail blue-grey, becoming paler and inclining to white on the hind-neck ; bastard-wing dark grey, some of the feathers white on the inner webs ; primary-coverts dark grey with pale tips ; primary- quills dark grey with whitish tips, the greater portion of the inner webs white, inner primaries paler grey towards the base ; secondaries grey on the outer webs and white on the inner ones, the innermost secondaries like the back ; middle tail- feathers like the back ; the outer ones white on the inner webs, the outermost entirely white ; fore-part of head, sides of face, throat, and under surface of body pure white ; “ MaxUla and mandible tipped with black, the middle portion of the bill flesh-coloured, and the base and nares cobalt-blue. The feet are pale flesh-colour, the webs washed with yellow, and the claws black. The iris dark brown, and the pupil black.” (Dr. Pirie.) Total length 482 mm.; culmen 45, wing 340, tail 132, tarsus 49. Adult female. Similar to the adult male. Nest. At the end of a burrow in the sand (Nunn, Kerguelen Island). Egg. Unknown. Though, comparatively speaking, a somewhat common bird, no series are available from breeding-localities, and the observed differences cannot yet be correctly interpreted. The nomenclature of the species needs notice. In Vol. XIII. of Shaw’s Gen. Zool., p. 236, 1826, Stephens included the — Antarctic Fulmar. Fulmarus antarcticus. Fu. albus, dorso medio canescente, alis nigricantibus. White Fulmar with the back hoary in the middle, the wings dusky. Procellaria glacialis /?. Lath., Ind. Orn., 2. 823. Fulmar Petrel. Lath., Gen. Syn., 6. 405a. Latham says of this bird : “ Size of the last (the Northern Fulmar) ; beak black, stout and much curved at the end ; head, neck, body, and tail white, between the wings pale ash-colour ; the whole of the wing dusky-black ; legs dusky. Inhabits the Antarctic Ocean, pretty far to the south.” “ This appears to me to have sufficient character of discrimination to constitute a distinct species, exclusive of its locality ; and its black beak and deep brown wings well distinguish it from the preceding species.” It has been conceded by all ornithologists that this description pei^tains to the present bird, but Stephens’s name has been rejected on account of the prior Procellaria antarctica Gmelin. As these two are not congeneric, both specific names must be used. It should be noted that when Stephens proposed his Fulmarus antarcticus, he was fully aware of Gmehn’s species, which he placed in his new genus Daption (p. 242). 127 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. Smith beautifully described this bird under the name Procellaria glacialoides {111 Zool South Afr., Aves, pi. 51, 1840) some fourteen years afterward, as here given : — P. supra cineracea, subtus alba ; capite cerviceque albis, flavo-cinero-tinctis ; remigium primarium tectricibus, remigibus primariis secondariisque extern^ bruuneo-rubris, intemfe ultimis duabus albis ; cauda pallide ciaerescente ; corporis lateribus antice et postice griseo- caeruleo-tinctis. Rostro supra puxpureo-caeruleo, infra subcarneo ; mandibularum apicibu® livido nigris. Pedibus livido-griseis. Oculis rubro-brunneis. Longitude a rostri apice ad basin caudae 13 unc. 6 lin. ; caudae 5 imc. 3 lin. Cape Seas. And under this name it has been generally known. 128 Genus — P TERODEOMA. Pterodroma Bonaparte, Comptes Eendus Sci., Paris, Vol. XLII., p. 768, 1856 Type P, 7nacroptera. (Also misspelt Petrodroma.) jEstrelata id., ih. . . . . . . . . . . . . Type P. hasitata. (Also spelt (Estrelata.) Rhantistes Reichenbach, Nat. Syst. Vog., p. iv., 1852 . . Type P. coohii. (Not of Kaup, 1829.) CooTcilaria Bonaparte, Comptes Rendus Sci., Paris, Vol. XLIII., p. 994 (footnote), 1856 . . . . Type P. coohii. Tarsus much less compressed than in the genus Puffinus, the anterior edge more rounded. Claws sharply pointed. Bill less elongated, comparatively shorter and higher than in Puffinus. Nasal tubes close together but separated, openings more or less slightly directed upwards. Tail composed of twelve rectrices, fairly long, and more or less wedge-shaped. VOL. n. 129 THE BIEDS OF AUSTRALIA. In the Monograph of the Petrels the family Puffinidce Procellariidce) is divided into two subfamilies— and Puhnarince, and in the former the genus Pterodroma (there called (Estrelata) is included. The apparent diagnostic characters used for separating Pterodroma and Puffinus are so slight, that it would seem reasonable to accept their close relationship. As a matter of fact, the members of the genus Pterodroma furnish a splendid example of convergence, as they prove essentially to be true Fulmars. They will con- stitute one of the most remarkable instances of the value of the study of young birds — a study which has been too long neglected by working ornithologists. As I have already pointed out, the nasal tubes in the genus Puffinus are developed independently on the sides of the culmen, and as the bird grows older the culmen- ridge becomes flattened, until the nostrils appear to lie on the top of the culmen Pterodroma.* Puffinus.* with a thick septum between. In the adult stage the bill of Pterodroma closely resembles that of Puffinus ^ but in the juvenile the nasal tubes are seen to already he on the culmen, and to be contained in a tube separated by a septum. In this matter they agree with Fulmarus and their much nearer alliance to that genus than to Puffinus cannot be denied. I concluded that there was no subfamily distinction available among the members of this family, judging from the adults, and certainly not that made use of by Godman in the Monograph of the Petrels. From further investigation it would seem that Puffinus is obviously well differentiated from Pterodroma and Fulmarus, and that it is probable Procellaria should be associated with Puffinus, while the other genera included in the Monograph in the subfamily Puffininoe should be attached to Pterodroma and Fulmarus. The members of the genus Pterodroma are known by the presence of their short stout bills which are always black, and by the coloration of their legs and feet. In the wholly-dark species these are wholly black, but in some cases these have light-coloured legs with only the outer half of the toes and webs dark ; this is the rule in all the other members of the genus. It is a remarkable fact that the general appearance of these birds has caused the recog- nition of a genus which at the present time seems well-constituted and compact, * The drawings of the downy young are made from specimens about the same age. 130 PTERODEOMA. and for this I think Cones is to be thanked, as very shortly after Bonaparte had proposed three new genera, Pterodrmna, ^strelata, and Coohilaria, he (Cones) — thongh he wonld probably now be ranked as a genns-splitter — carefnlly investigating the species, recognised one genns only for the forms Bonaparte had placed in the above three. For the genns-name he accepted ^strelata, and fnlly detailed his reasons for that acceptation. Since his time j^strelata has been commonly nsed, apparently withont anyone making any attempt at confirmation, thongh from Cones’s detailed remarks snch was necessary. The history of the names is as follows : In the Coynptes Rendus Sci., Paris, Vol. XLII., p. 768, 1856, Bonaparte pnt forward a classification of the Petrels, and splitting np Procellaria introdnced two new genera Pterodroma and JEstrelata and inclnded Rhantistes ; these cover species now generally accepted as congeneric, the only erroneons inclnsions being species incorrectly identified, snch as flavirostris Gonld and desolata Gmelin. In the following volnme, p. 994, Bonaparte pnblished an article dealing with “ Corrections ” to his Conspectus parts already pnblished, and to other previonsly-finished papers. In that place he pointed ont that following Reichenbach he had nsed Rhantistes, bnt reference to the anthor of that genns (Kanp) had shown its invalidity, and therefore for the genns Rhantistes Reichenbach (not Kanp), he introdnced Coohilaria. The sncceeding year his part of the Conspectus dealing with Petrels was issned, and therein of conrse Bonaparte incorporated all his latest mformation ; we therefore find the genns Mstrelata has been improved by the elimination of Gonld’ s flavirostris ; Coohilaria is nsed instead of Rhantistes, and Pterodroma is nnchanged. When Cones came to work on this gronp he recognised that Bonaparte’s three genera wonld be better nnited, and selected as the name to be nsed for the three, Mstrelata, becanse it appeared first in the Conspectus Gen. Av. This work he considered to have appeared prior to the Comptes Rendus paper in Vol. XLII. ; this misnnderstanding was dne to his overlooking the paper in the forty-third volnme of that periodical, which wonld have indicated to him his error in accepting the date on the foot of the pages in the Consp. Gen. Av. as of any valne. The date on p. 185 is 1st December, 1855, and as it foUows the date on p. 177, November 1st, 1855, and is followed on p. 193 by 1st Jannary, 1856, it wonld seem qnite a reasonable conclnsion that the parts had been issned as dated. Bnt on p. 185 is inclnded a qnotatipn of a species pnblished by Tschndi in 1856, and Bonaparte himself in the Comptes Rendus Sci., Paris, Vol. XLIII., p. 594, noted that Tschndi’ s paper was not pnblished nntil Angnst 1856, so that we have at once proven the inaccnracy of the dates in the Consp. Gen. Av. Reference to Wiegmann’s Archiv. fiir Naturg., 1857, pt. n., p. 60, shows that the part of the Conspectus dealing with Petrels 131 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. was not published until 1857. Consequently the first introduction into scientific literature of the generic names Pterodro7Ym and JEstrelata is that in the Co7nptes HeTidus Sci.f Paris, Vol. XLII., p. 768, 1856, and in that place the genus Pterodro7na appears first, being genus No. 4, while ^strelata, is genus No. 11. Consequently the genus-name to be used is Pterodro7n(x. To those who would demur to this change, I would point out that the acceptance of ^strelata was made by Coues upon the very same principle as I now follow, and therefore no argument is possible. 132 Key to the Species. A. Larger; wing over 290 mm. a\ Dark above and below. a". Uniform sooty above ; grey face. a"'. Larger ; wing 310-320 mm. . . P. macroptera gouldi, p. 134. 6'". Smaller ; wing 300-310 mm. . . P. macroptera alhani, p. 139. h". Slate-grey above ; distinctive white mottlings on the face . . . . P. melanopus, p. 141. V. White head and under-surface . . . . P. lessonii leucocephala, p. 153. B. Smaller ; wing under 250 mm. ; under- surface white. c'. Head and back light grey . . . . P. coohii coohii^ p. 166. d'. Head black, back dark grey . . . . P. coohii leucoptera, p. 171. Note. — ^As P. mollis cannot be considered an Australian bird, it is not included in the above key. 133 Order PR0CELLARIIF0RME8 Family PROCELLARIIDM. No. 98. PTERODROMA MACROPTERA GOULDI. EASTEEN GEEY-FACED PETEEL. (Plate 83.)* ^STEELATA GOULDI Hutton, Ibis, 1869, p. 351 ; New Zealand. ^strelata gouldi Hutton, Ibis 1869, p. 351. Procellaria macroptera Smith ? Gould, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., Vol. XIII., p. 362, 1844. Pterodroma macroptera Gould, Handb. Birds Austr., Vol. II., p. 449, 1865. JEstrelata gouldi Hutton, Ibis 1869, p. 351 ; id., Trans. New Zeal. Inst. 1869, Vol. II., p. 79, 1870. Procellaria gouldii Einsch, Journ, fiir Ornith., 1870, p.372; Buller, Birds New Zeal., p. 308, 1873 ; Reischek, Trans. New Zeal. Inst. 1885, Vol. XVIII., p. 90, 1886 ; Sandager, ib. 1889, Vol. XXII., p. 292, 1890. Fulmarus atlanticus Gray, Handl. Gen. Sp. Birds, Vol. Ill,, p. 107, 1871. Procellaria fuliginosa Buller, Birds New Zeal., p. 304, 1873. Pterodroma atlantica Ramsay, Proc. Linn, Soc. N.S.W. 1877, Vol. II., p. 202 ; id., Tab. List Austr. Birds, p. 24, 1888. (Estrelata fuliginosa Buller, Birds New Zeal., 2nd ed., Vol. II,, p. 221, 1888. Majaqueus gouldi id., ib., p. 245. Majaqueus gouldii Ramsay, Tab. List Austr. Birds, p. 24, 1888. (Estrelata fuliginosa Salvin, Ibis 1888, p. 360 ; Buller, Suppl. Birds New Zeal., Vol. I., p. 118, 1905. Pterodroma gouldii Ramsay, Tab. List Austr. Birds, p. 24, 1888. (Estrelata macroptera Salvin, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., Vol. XXV., p. 399, 1896 (pars) ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 93, 1899 ; Campbell, Nests and Eggs Austr. Birds, p. 902, 1901 ; Ogilvie- Grant, Ibis 1905, p. 554 ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 93, 1906 ; Mathews, Handl. Birds Austral., p. 17, 1908 ; Godman, Monogr. Petrels, p. 176, 1908 (pars) ; Littler, Handb. Birds Tasm., p. 173, 1910. (Estrelata gouldi BuUer, Suppl. Birds New Zeal., Vol. I., p. Ill, 1905. Histeibution. East Australian and New Zealand seas. Adult male. Sooty-black above and below ; forehead, lores, chin, and throat greyish ; bill and feet black ; iris hazel. Total length 392 mm. ; culmen 36, wing 320, tail 135, tarsus 41. Adult female. Similar to the adult male. Immature nestling. Greyish-black down (Sandager). Nest. “ In large chamber at end of a burrow, lined with a few leaves and grass ” (Reischek). Egg. Clutch, one ; pure white ; axis 68 mm., diameter 50. Breeding-season. June ; September (Reischek). *The Plate is lettered (Estrelata macroptera. 134 CESTRELATA MACROPTERA f Of/EAT- WINGED PETREL ) . EASTEEN GEEY-FAGED PETREL. As Captain Hutton says, “ This bird when on the wing, looks very hke a huge Swift.” From Mr. A. Eeischek’s notes* I gather the following : These birds are common along the New Zealand coast. They are seen in large flocks at sea, where they remain from March till August, in the latter month they come ashore to their old breeding-places, which they use annually as long as they are not molested. They breed in colonies, and their burrows are sometimes very close together. Their breeding-resorts are always on the cHffs along the coast, and some are very difficult to approach. They are dug nut even in hard sandy formation or clay. In August the male and female begin to clear out their old burrows, or dig fresh ones. The entrance is from 6 to 10 inches in diameter, the passage in most cases winding and from 2 to 4 feet. The nesting-chamber is from 1| to 2 feet wide, and from 6 inches to 1 foot high ; in it is a deepening with a few leaves and grass, which forms the nest. In the beginning of September the female lays one white egg (very seldom two) which she alone hatches. The male roams about the ocean in the daytime — sometimes I have found them ashore, in a separate burrow from that of the female. After sunset, thick clouds of these Petrels swarm round the cliffs, uttering the melancholy sound “ Ohi ! ohi ! ” Each one circles round its burrow several times before it goes down to it ; they stop for a moment before entering. They go to and from their burrows several times a night. When the young is hatched the female stops for a few days with her chick in the burrow ; after that both parents leave every morning before sunrise, and stay at sea all day, returning after sunset. Before entering the burrow they chcle round, then swoop down to the entrance and call, and when answered by the young they enter. If both birds come to the burrow together, one stops outside tiU the other reappears. When feeding the chick, they make a whimpering noise. Male and female rear the young, which are full grown by February. When collecting specimens for preservation, care must be taken to tie the bill, otherwise the oily discharge from the bird spoils the feathers. In July and August of 1882 hundreds of these Petrels were washed ashore in the islands of the East Coast, probably killed during a severe storm. I never found them inland. Mr. Sandagerf writing about this bird from the Mokohinou Islands says : “ This Petrel begins to burrow in March, and continues to do so up to the middle of June, when more or less nesting- material is carried in, both birds i>eing invariably found in the burrow during the day from May up to the time of laying. The burrow, which is seldom deep or long, is generally situated * Trans. New Zeal. Inst. 1885, Vol. XVIIL, p. 90, 1886. t ib. 1889, Vol. XXII., p. 292, 1890. 135 THE BIEDS OF AUSTRALIA. amongst the flax, or on the open ground, where it is sufficiently soft and free from stone. The young which are greyish-black when in down, begin to leave during the last week of December, and by the 7th January all but a few stragglers have departed. In December, 1886, 1 saw an albino. It was a young bird of a uniform dirty white colour.” The bird figured and described is a male, and was collected near New Zealand. The first note of this species in literature is when Forster {Cook's Voyage, p. 51, 1777) noted “ a new Petrel ofi Cape of Good Hope.” The first name ever given to it was Procellaria fuliginosa by Forster in the Tagehuch Entdek. reise Sudsee, p. 35, footnote, 1781, where however no description was given, so that Forster’s name has to be ignored as nude. This reference does not seem to have been hitherto published, but was pointed out to Mr. C. Davies Sherborn by Dr. C. W. Richmond in a letter, as having been omitted from the Index Ani7nalmm. Mr. Sherborn’s indication of such a name induced me to procure the book, of which no copy exists in the British Museum (Natural History) Library. A figure was drawn by George Forster, probably from this same specimen, but J. R. Forster’s detailed description was not published until 1844. In the meanwhile, Kuhl in 1820 used P. fuliginosa ex the Banksian drawings for this species, but it was at that time preoccupied by Gmelin’s use of the same name for a different species. Previous to Forster’s acquaintance with the Atlantic form, it seems certain that Solander had examined specimens from New Zealand waters, but that they were confused with similar-looking dark Petrels from some of the Pacific islands. I note this when treating of Solander’ s P. 7nelano'pus, The first name to be correctly given for this species is Procellaria 7nacro'ptera, by Smith in the Ulus. Zool. South Africa, Aves, pi. lii., 1840, who diagnoses it thus : — P. obscur^ rubro-bruimea ; rostro nigro ; pedibus brunneis. Longitude ab apice rostri ad basin caudae 11 unc. 6 lin ; caudae 6 unc. Cape seas : rare. He then gave a very detailed description, but his wing-measurement I cannot reconcile with the facts. In the Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., Vol. XIII., 1844, Gould proposed a new species, Procellaria atlantica (p. 362), thus : “ Male ; the whole of the plumage deep chocolate-black ; bill and feet jet-black. Inhabiting the Atlantic. Total length 15 J inches; bill, If; wing, 11|; tail, cuneiform, 5; tarsi, 2f ; middle toe and nail, 2|. It is the P. fuliginosa of Forster’s drawings No. 93B., and the P. fuliginosa of Lichtenstein’s edition of Forster’s MSS., p. 23,” 136 EASTERN GREY-EACED PETREL. He then followed with — Procellaria macroptera Smith? (Grey-faced Black Petrel). I think that a bird I killed in the seas off Van Diemen’s Land, where it was tolerably abundant, and which differs from the last in being of a larger size, having much longer wings and a grayer face, may be identical with the P. 7nacroptem of Smith, and I therefore retain it under that appellation with a mark of doubt, in preference to assigning it a new name.” It was really obvious that the Atlantic bird should have been referred to Smith’s name. It may be that Gould was misled by the different measure- ments, but here again Gould’s figures are not faultless, as he makes the tarsus loTiger than the middle toe and nail. Every specimen I have examined has the tarsus shorter than the middle toe alone. However, Gould’s error was at once corrected by Hutton, who, in the Ihis, 1869, p. 351, described MstrelaUi gouldi as follows : — Bill compressed, much higher than broad, black. Legs and feet black. Upper parts of body with wings and tail sooty -black, some of the wing-coverts with brownish tips ; under parts dark brown. Forehead, cheeks, and chin silvery -grey, shading off gradually into the black ; the grey does not reach to the eye. Tail moderately long, cuneate ; wings, when folded, reaching about half-an-inch beyond the tip. Length, 16,75 inches ; wing, from carpal joint 13,5 ; tail 5, graduation 1.4 ; bill, from gape 1.6, chord of culmen 1,2 ; height at base .7, width .6 ; tarsus 1.6 ; middle toe and claw 2.6, outer do. 2.5, inner toe 2.15. New Zealand seas. This bird was also described in the Trans. New. Zeal. Inst. 1869, Vol. II., p. 79, 1870, where Hutton wrote : “ (This) is undoubtedly the bird that Mr. Gould refers to as ‘ the dark Petrel with a grey face,’ which he shot off the coast of Tasmania, and which he suggests might be the Procellaria 7nacroptera of Dr. A. Smith.” It should be noted that Ramsay included both P. 7nacroptera and atlantica in the Australian List in 1877, and more recently still Buffer in the Supplement included (1905) both (JEstrelata fuliginosa and (E. gouldi in the New Zealand avifauna. In the Monograph of the Petrels, despite both Gould and Hutton’s separa- tion on account of the grey face, both forms are lumped, and it is written : “ The grey face which Gould insisted upon is of no value as a character. I imagine that the grey tint on the face and throat in this bird is a sign of adult plumage, and it is quite certain that it fades and bleaches.” \\ Unfortunately the big majority of the specimens upon which this conclusion is based are quite valueless, as they are unlocalised. The few accurately labelled specimens available show that Hutton’s character of a grey face holds for the Australian birds, and that Gould’s character of longer wings is also right. Hutton also gives wing-measurement 13.5 inches (= 342 mm.), a figure I have VOL. n. 137 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. not seen reached by any specimen, while Smith’s measurement of the wing of 13.75 inches for the Atlantic bird seems palpably wrong. I find that all the specimens from the Australian and New Zealand seas are larger and have grey faces, while the bill is also stouter. Salvin in the Ihis 1888, p. 360, admitted, “ and though they are rather larger and (especially the New Zealand specimens) have stronger bills” — yet lumped the Atlantic and Pacific forms. It should be noted that Gould remarked that this bird was abundant in Tasmanian seas ; in view of the discovery of the next race, it seems possible that this bird has a Tasmanian islet breeding-resort, at present unknown. 138 Order PR0CELLARIIF0RME8 No. 99. Family PROGELLARIID^. PTERODROMA MAOROPTERA ALBANI. WESTERN GREY-FACED PETREL. Pterodboma MAOROPTERA ALBANI Mathews, Austral Avian Record, Vol. I., p. 30, 1912 ; Rabbit Island, West Australia. ASstrelata macroptera Ogilvie-Grant, Ibis 1910, p. 186 ; Carter, ib., p. 658. Distribution, West Australian seas. Adult male. Differs from P. m. gouldi in its smaller size and lighter coloration. Adult female. Similar to the male. Immature, Nestling, Egg, Breeding- seasm. Unknown. The discovery of this race is due to the fact that an English collector, Mr. G. C. Shortridge, visited Rabbit Island, off Albany, West Australia, and investigating a breeding-colony of Little Penguins, found one of the burrows locally ascribed to the Penguins to be tenanted by a pair of these birds, hitherto unrecorded from West Australia. These specimens were recorded by Grant in the Ibis and commented upon by Carter. Upon writing to my friend Mr. Tom Carter, he made a trip to Rabbit Island, and also procured specimens. Upon measuring these they were smaller than my New Zealand skins, and careful criticism has enabled me to separate them. They have the grey face of the Eastern form and are larger than the Atlantic birds. It will be noticed that regarding the preceding race, Sandager and Reischek’s accounts of their breeding-times do not agree, Reischek stating that the birds come to land in August and lay in September, the young being fuU-grown in February, while Sandager writes that they begin to burrow in March, apparently laying in the middle of June, and the young leave at the end of Decemlfier and beginning of January. Apparently the West Australian bird approaches in its habits closely to Sandager’s account, as Shortridge’s specimens were taken out of a burrow on April 1 9th, 1905, and Carter’s on June 24th, 1911. The type described was collected by my friend Mr. Tom Carter. 139 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. I propose to recognise three races: — Pterodroma macroptera macroptera Smith ; Cape seas, breeding at Tristan d’Acunha. Smaller ; no grey face, small bill. Pttrodroma macroptera alhani Mathews ; West Australian seas, breeding. Larger ; grey face, large bill. Pterodroma maeroptera gouldi Hutton ; East Australian and New Zealand seas, breeding in New Zealand. Largest ; grey face, largest bill. 140 Order PR0CELLARIIF0RME8 No. 100. Family PROCELLARIIDM. PTERODROMA MELANOPUS. BROWN-HEADED PETREL. (Plate 84.) Procellaeia melanoptjs Gmelin, Syst. Nat., p. 562, 1789. North America is an error ; I designate Norfolk Island. Procellaria melanopus Gmelin, Syst. Nat., p. 562, 1789 ; Vieillot, Nouv. Diet. d’Hist. Nat., Vol. XXV., p. 420, 1817. Procellaria solandri Gould, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., Vol. XIII., p. 363, 1844. Procellaria phillipii Gray, Ibis 1862, p. 246. Pterodroma solandri Gould, Handb. Birds Austr., Vol. II., p. 450, 1865 ; Ramsay, Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., Vol. II., p. 202, 1877 ; ih., Tab. List Austr. Birds, p. 24, 1888. JSstrelata solandri Coues, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad. 1866, p. 148 ; Giglioh and Salvador!, Ibis 1869, p. 66 ; Reichenow, Deutsche Siidp. Exp., Zool., p. 485, 1907. Fulmarus solandri Gray, Handl. Gen. Spec. Birds Brit. Mus., Vol. III., p. 107, 1871. (Estrelata solandri Salvin, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., Vol. XXV., p. 410, 1896 ; Campbell, Nests and Eggs Austr. Birds, p. 907, 1901 ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 94, 1906 ; Godman, Monogr. Petrels, p. 219, 1908 ; Littler, Handb. Birds Tasm., p. 176, 1910. (Estrelata solanderi Mathews, Handl. Birds Austr., p. 17, 1908. (Estrelata neglecta Hull, Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., Vol. XXXIV., p. 649, 1910 (pars). (Estrelata montana id., ih. 1910, Vol. XXXV., p. 785, 1911. Petrodroma [sic] solandri Mathews, Nov. Zool., Vol. XVIII., p. 203, 1912. Distribution. East Austrahan seas ; Lord Howe Island (breeding), Norfolk Island (? extinct ; formerly breeding). Adult (type of P. solandri Gould). Back, scapulars, and upper tail-coverts slate-grey with dark edgings to the feathers ; lesser wing-coverts, bastard-wing, and primary- coverts dark brown ; primary-quills also dark brown on the outer webs and at the tips, paler on the inner webs, and becoming white at the base ; median and greater coverts slate-grey, the secondaries similar but pale brown on the inner webs and whitish at the base ; tail dark brown with hoary -grey on some of the outer webs of the feathers, pale on the inner webs and also at the base ; head and neck all i^ound sooty-brown, the feathers having white bases give a scalloped appearance on the forehead and sides of face ; breast pale sooty-brown, becoming dull slate-grey on the abdomen, under tail-coverts, and sides of the body ; the feathers on the sides of the body slightly edged with white at the tips like the axillaries ; under wing- coverts dark brown, the greater under wing-coverts dull white like the base of the primaries. Total length 450 mm. ; cuhnen, from base of feathers on forehead, 40 ; wing 296, tail 128, tarsus 41. 141 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. Nestling. With the type of 0. montana, Mr. Hull kindly forwarded me a bird which still retained the grey down on the abdomen. This specimen shows the characteristic mottling of the face, and agrees entirelj^ in coloration with the adult, save that the shades appear lighter or darker than they do in the adult, owing to the wearing ; thus the secondary wing-coverts are lighter, while the median coverts show darker, the lesser again appearing lighter, etc. The dark tips to the feathers of the under surface are somewhat paler. N esting- place. “ In burrows, some as much as six feet in length, and mostly constructed where the ground was wet. No nest was found in the open, but plenty existed under the overhanging boulders in inaccessible positions.” (Hull, Lord Howe Island.) “ In burrows ” (Hunter, Norfolk Island). Nest. “ Was a large accumulation of cutting grass, in which the egg was almost concealed ” (Hull, Lord Howe Island). Egg. “ One egg only is laid at a sitting. Those procured are mostly stout oval in form, some being more pointed than others ; colour soft dull white, with large, shallow irregular pittings . . . 2'6-2'4 by 1'96-1’86 . . . Average dimensions of eight eggs 2'52 by 1’9.” (Hull, Lord Howe Island.) “ They lay but one egg, and that is full as large as a duck’s egg ” (Hunter, Norfolk Island). Breeding-season. “ July and August ” (Hull, Lord Howe Island), “ Eggs, June 3rd, 1910” (Hull, Lord Howe Island). “ Most of the females taken in May were with egg ” (Hunter, Norfolk Island). The re-discovery of this long-lost Petrel is one of the most interesting events in the annals of Australian ornithology, and is entirely due to the enterprise and research of Mr. A. P. Basset Hull, whose investigations into the Petrel a\dfauna of East Australia are bearing such rich fruit. Having described (Estrelata montana^ Mr. Hull sent me the type-specimen for examination and report, especially requesting comparison with the Norfolk Island specimens obtained by Mr. Crowfoot, if I could by any means trace the same. It is with the greatest pleasure than I am now enabled to give a full account of the history of this bird, and I must point out that it is only by carefully and slowly working that such a complete exposition can be achieved. Intricate matters such as this cannot be dealt with unless time is allowed, and every facility granted. I am sure that the results attained will be recognised as worthy of the time expended. Had it not been for the receipt of Mr. Hull’s specimen, it is very probable that no such recognition would have been achieved. In the Gen. Synops. Birds, Vol. III., pt. n., p. 408, Latham described a bird said to inhabit North America as follows : — Black-toed Petrel. Lath. Length thirteen inches ; bill an inch and a half long, black ; all round the base of the bill, the chin, and throat, pale silvery grey, marked with minute dusky specks ; top of the head, and all the upper parts of the plumage, wings, and tail, dusky black, inclining to hoary on the back ; tail roimded at the end ; wings and tail even ; the under-parts of the body hoary ash-colour ; legs very pale ; the webs for one third the same, the rest to the end black ; joints of the toes black. Said to inhabit North America. 142 BROWN-HEADED PETREL. Gmelin gave a Latin translation {Syst. Nat., p. 562, 1789) with the name Procellaria melano'pus, thus : — Pr, nigra subtus cana, pedibus pallidis, capistro, mento gulaque pallide argenteis minutim maculatis. Black -toed Petrel. Lath, syn., III., 2, p. 408, n. 12. Habitat circa American! septentrionalem, 13 poUices longa. Vertex, cauda, rotundata, et alea totae obscure ni^ae ; dorsum ex atro paulispercanescens ; membrana digitos connectens parte sui ulteriore, digitorumque articuli nigri. Coues’s verdict as to this species was, “Not identifiable, except opiniona- tively. Evidently some species of ^strelata, said to come from North America, which would make it referrible [stc] to jPj. hcesitata. Description applies in most respects to mollis, Gould.” Gray, in his List Spec. Birds Brit. Mus., pt. ni., p. 164, 1844, had used Procellaria mdanopus Gmelin for specimens which were apparently birds like P. mollis Gould, as he includes in his synonymy P. crepidata Sol. MS., P. mollis Gould, and P. grisea Kuhl. Bonaparte, in the Consp. Gen. Av., Vol. II., p. 190, 1857, had however recognised P. mollis Gould, to which he doubtfully added as a synonym P. crepidata Sol. MS. ; P. grisea Kuhl he placed in the synonymy of P. inexpectata Forster while he included P. solandri Gould as valid, and as a synonym noted melanopus Natterer ex. Gm., an Soland ? Coues’s treatment of this latter species was the only possible one under the circumstances: its recognition as quite distinct from anything else. Gould’s description, in the Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., Vol. XIII., p. 363, 1844, is here given : — Procellaria Solandri, n. sp. Head, back of the neck, shoulders, primaries and tail dark brown ; back, wing-coverts and upper tail-coverts slate-grey, each feather margined with dark brown ; face and all the under surface brown, washed with grey on the abdomen ; bill, tarsi, toes and membranes black. Total length, 16 inches ; bill. If ; wing, 12 ; tail, 5| ; tarsi, | ; middle toe and nail, 2|. Bass’s Straits. One specimen killed on March 13, 1839. and the comment made : — Mr. Natterer thought that it might possibly be identical with the bird figured in Banks’s drawings, and to which Dr. Solander has affixed the term melano'pus, an opinion in which I cannot concur. Note again Gould’s measurements : Tarsus f in ! Coues, accepting this as being correctly given, notes that it must be an aberrant species. From the date of Gould’s description to the present time, the status of his P. solandri has been one of uncertainty. ^ In Phillips’s Voy. Bot. Bay, p. 161, 1789, is given the following description of the Norfolk Island Petrel : — Length sixteen inches ; biU one inch and a half long, black and very hooked at the tip ; the head as far as the eyes, the chin and throat, waved, brown and dusky white ; the rest of the body on the upper parts of a sooty brown, the under of a deep ash colour ; the inner part of 143 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. the quills, especially next the base, very pale, nearly white, and the wings, when closed, exceed the tail by about an inch ; the tail is much rounded in shape, and consists of twelve feathers, of the same colour as the upper parts of the body ; the legs are pale yellow, the outer toe black the whole length, the mid^e one half-way from the tip, the webs also correspond the outer one being black, except just at the base ; and the inner one black for about one-third from the end ; the claws black ; the spur, which serves in place of a back toe, is also black. This inhabits Norfolk Island, and burrows in the sand like a rabbit, lying hid in the holes throughout the day, and coming out of evenings in quest of food. This bird appears to differ so very little from the dark grey Petrel of Goo¥s Voyage, Vol. I., p. 258, that it is not improbable It may prove to be the same species. This is described in the General Synopsis of Birds, Vol. VI., p. 399, under the name of Grey Petrel ; as also another species, on p. 400, by the name of White-breasted Petrel, differing only in the breast from our specimen. The figure given — “A. Latham, del.” — represents a Pterodroma with the forehead, chin and throat wavy dark and light, and the legs coloured as described. To this description was given the name Procellaria phillipii by Gray {Ibis, 1862, p. 246) thus : — Norfolk Island Petrel, Phill. Bot. Bay, pi. p. 161. Procellaria alba, var. Lath., Ind. Orn., II., p. 822. Procellaria mollis, Gould ? Hab. Norfolk Island. Twenty-six years afterwards Salvin noted : “ Were it not for the colour of the feet, I should have little hesitation in referring Phillips’s bird to (E. solandri Gould” {Ibis, 1888, p. 358). The succeeding year North, in the Austr. Mus. Cat, No. 12, p. 416, 1889, wrote : — iEstrelata phillipii G. R. Gray. This species, figured in Governor Phillips’ Voyage to Botany Bay as the Norfolk Island Petrel, and subsequently described by G. R. Gray as Procellaria phillipii, Dr. Metcalfe informs me is very difficult to procure on account of its nocturnal habits, and is only to be obtained about January, when it resorts to the west side of the Island to breed, depositing a single egg at the end of a burrow in the sandy soil. During a period of ten years he has only obtained two birds and three eggs, one of the latter of which he has kindly forwarded. It is ovoid in form, of a dull white, the surface of the shell having numerous shallow pittings, although smooth to the touch and presenting a glossy appearance. Length 2.14 by 1.62 inches. In the Monograph of the Petrels, (Estrelata solandri Gould is included (p. 219), and the then unique type (pi. 61) figured. This appeared in 1908. The first name noted in the synonymy was Procellaria melanopus Natterer {nec Gm.), but nowhere does any explanation appear as to what P. melanopns Gmelin was supposed to be. Godman there suggested that 0. solandri might be a dark phase of some other species, possibly 0. lessoni. The Plate given is faulty, inasmuch as it does not fairly represent the mottling round the bill, which is however thus described : “ The base of the forehead, lores and cheeks white, mottled with brown spots . . . under surface of body dusky brown, slightly mottled with white spots on the throat.” 144 BEOWN-HEADED PETEEL. Though I had many times examined the Banksian drawings I had never noted the name melanopus on any, so I made another search, without success. It was this note of Natterer that instigated the persistent inquiry which led to the recognition of the Solander MS. dealing with the Petrels, and the description of Procellaria inelanopus Solander is here given : — melanopus Procellaria nigricanti-fusca subtus pallidior, cauda rotundata nigrieante, pedibus totis atris Habitat in Oceano australi vulgo Pacifico nuncupate , Lat. austr. XXXVI 49 Long, oce. CXI 30 (Martii 3, 1769) Lat. austr. XXV 21 Long. occ. CXXIX (Mch. 21, 1769) Lat. austr. XXXV : 6 Long. occ. CLXXXVIII 30 (Jan. 7, 1770) Lat. austr. XXXIX 17 Long. occ. CCIV : 6 (Apr. 11, 1770) Mother Carey’s Rook Tota avis supra e nigro-fuliginosa, subtus e cinereo-fuliginosa ; area utrinque inter- oculos & basin mandibula' superiores adhuc pallidior Ala' longa' Remigihm primoribus basi intus albidis Tectricibus inferioribus etjam basi pallidis Pena abdominis alba', apice tantummodo fuseescentes Cauda rotundata tota nigricans, longitudine pedum OcuU nigri Rostrum nigrum, compressum apice aduncum Mandihula superior utrinque a tubo narium ad sinum sulco duplici exarata, apice adunca absque sinu profundo Tubus narium convexus, supra quartam tantummodo partem rostri extensus bilocularis Dissepimentum longitudine tubi Apertura' ovales Mandibula' inferior utrinque notata Vitta angusta, cutacea, longitudinali, antice prope gibberem dilatata Pedes nigri Palma tota atra Ungues nigri, acuti ; postico sessili Magnitude Procellaria velificantis Mscr Longitude inter apieem rostri ad extr cauda' 15 do. do. alarum expans 39 Pondus 14 ►unc. The first locality given is due south of Easter Island, the second close to Pitcairn Island, the third off the Kaipara, North Island of New Zealand, and the fourth in the Tasman sea approaching Bass Strait. The first two examples would seem to be referable to some dark form of Pterodroma, perhaps P. neglecta Schlegel, or maybe some other at present undescribed bird breeding about Easter Island or Pitcairn Island. The sbeond two appear to have been specimens of P. ^nacroptera gouldi Hutton, though to that bird the words “ Eemigibus primoribus basi intus albidis ” do not apply. It should be noted that the fourth locality is quite close to the type-locality of Gould’s P . solandri, but the distinctive mottling round the base of the bill VOL II. 145 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. is not noticed, whereas “ area utrinque interoculos and basin mandibula superiores adhuc palbdior,” is one of the noticeable features of P. m. gouldi Hutton. This brings us down to the paper by Mr. Hull on the Birds of Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands {Proc. Linn. 8oc. N.S.W. 1909, Vol. XXXIV., pp. 636-693, 1910), wherein is included (Estrelata neglecta Schlegel for the Big Hill Mutton- bird of Lord Howe Island, and thereunder classed the Lord Howe, Norfolk Island, and Kermadec Islands breeding birds, and reasons for differing from such classification fully given. Hull pointed out that the Lord Howe bird differed from any descriptions of (E. neglecta he could see, and suggested that from known data the Norfolk Island bird was also quite separable. I am glad to say that Hull’s conclusions in this matter are perfectly accurate, and that his researches have led to most gratifying results. In the succeeding volume of the Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W. 1910, Vol. XXXV., pp. 773-782, Iredale gave some notes on these birds, and on pp. 783-787 Hull continued notes on these Petrels. Iredale’s conclusions being based on incorrect identifications, can now be disregarded, and I propose to review the same facts from the later knowledge we now possess. Hull’s paper however put forward many suggestions which now seem to be well founded. He pointed out that the burrowing habit of the Norfolk Island Petrel and the size of the egg obtained by Dr. Metcalfe, at once indicated the distinctness of (E. phillipi and (E. neglecta. He added : “ Dr. Metcalfe obtained two specimens of the Norfolk Island bird, one of which, I believe, was forwarded to Dr. Crowfoot. If the present whereabouts of either or both skins could be ascertained, and an examination made, I feel sure that the question would be set at rest.” He also stated that he could see no signs of a burrowing Petrel on Mount Pitt, Norfolk Island, and suggested its extermination or removal to some more secure breeding-place. He then described (Estrelata montana (p. 785) from Lord Howe Island, pointing out that this might be identical with (E. phillipi ^ but that the “ rusty black ” of Hunter was not exact, otherwise the description agreed. The type was kindly forwarded to me, and I agreed that it seemed quite distinct from anything I knew. Upon commencing to monograph this group I had, of course, to carefully examine and describe the unique type of Gould’s P. solandri. It seemed somehow familiar, but it was not until some time after looking at Mr. Hull’s bird, that I recognised that the two were identical. I had not figured the unique type of P. solandri, as it had been recently done in the Monograph, and I was prejudiced by the suggestion that it was the dark phase of some well-known species. Examination of Mr. Hull’s specimens dispelled that at once, and the subsequent inquiry into literature 146 BROWN-HEADED PETREL. convinced me of the propriety of calling the bird Pterodro'tna melanopus Gmelin, and the designation of the type-locality Norfolk Island. Now for the explanation of my synonymy : The description by Latham of a bird in the Leverian Museum is applicable in every detail, save size and habitat ; the latter was quite unknown, and the former is of little consequence in many of Latham’s descriptions. Note that it is smaller in this case exactly as in that of the Grey Petrel, and that both these birds were deseribed from the Leverian Museum, so that it may have been due to the manner of setting them up. The character, “ all round the base of the bill, the chin, and throat pale silvery grey, marked with minute dusky specks,” is diagnostic of the bird described by Gould as P. solandri and Hull as 0. montana. Note again the description, “ upper parts . . . dusky black, inclining to hoary on the back,” “ the under parts of the body hoary ash-colour.” These details seem quite sufficient to absolutely fix the identity of Gmelin’ s P. melanopus with the Norfolk Island Petrel. In the description in Philhps’s Voyage, which was also drawn up by Latham, we find the distinctive features noted, “ the head as far as the eyes, the chin and throat, waved, brown and dusky white,” “the upper parts of a sooty brown.” It will be noted that the slate-coloration of the back is not here included, otherwise the description is quite clear. Gould’s description of his P. solandri states, “ back slate-gray, each feather margined with dark brown,” and makes no mention of the mottling on the face, which is however quite a noticeable feature. In Phillips’s Plate the legs and feet are shown parti-coloured, as they are described by Latham. In the Watling drawing No. 282, which undoubtedly represents this species, the distinctive mottling is shown, and the feet are given as parti-coloured. Gould’s P. solandri had the feet all black, and Salvin laid too much stress upon this latter feature, or he would have collated much of the synonymy here given. My friend Mr. Tom Iredale, tells me that this was one of the points he was interested in with regard to the Kermadec Island Petrel, and found that though practically all the light birds had parti-coloured feet, and the majority of the dark birds all-dark feet, quite commonly all-dark birds were met with which had parti-coloured feet. The truth of this is evidenced by the type of 0. montana Hull, as that specimen shows fully the parti-coloured feet which the author describes thus : “ Tarsi and first Joint of inner toe horn-colour.” The only conclusions possible are those shown in my synonymy, viz. : — P. melanopus Gmelin, Norfolk Island=P. solandri Gould, Bass Strait= P. phillipii Gray, Norfolk lsland=0. jnontana Hull, Lord Howe Island. But now comes another most interesting feature of this problem and its solution. Mr. Hull quite correctly pointed out that Dr. Metcalfe’s eggs from 147 THE BIEDS OF AUSTRALIA. Norfolk Island indicated a species different from 0. neglecta, and certainly more from O. montana Hull, and decided that examination of Dr. Metcalfe’s specimens would settle that point. After much search I have been able to discover the destination of the two specimens obtained by Dr. Metcalfe, both of which passed into the possession of Dr. Crowfoot, and through the generosity of that gentleman I have received one of these. This bird has nothing to do with P. melano'pus Gmelin, but is a close ally of P. neglecta Schlegel, an altogether different species. As Godman suggested, P. melano'pus Gmelin is very closely allied to P. mae- roptera Smith, but not by its dark plumage as considered by him, following Reichenow, but by it heavy bill, long wings, square-cut primaries, etc., and when subgenera are used must be placed in the typical subgenus. P. neglecta has a much weaker bill, and the Norfolk Island specimen has a bill considerably slighter than the typical specimens of P. neglecta. Whether P. melanopus still breeds on Norfolk Island remains undecided, but it may well be that the persistent persecution of the early colonists forced them to abandon that island, and take refuge on Lord Howe Island instead. What we now know is that Dr. Metcalfe’s bird was not P. melanopus Gmelin, and that no recent specimen of the latter species is known from Norfolk Island, though the bird breeding now on Lord Howe Island is undoubtedly the same as the one that formerly bred on the former island. My Plate is drawn from the type-specimen of 0. monta'na Hull, whose description I here reproduce for comparison with mine taken from the type P. solandri Gould : — General colour above slate, feathers of the back broadly margined with darker, shafts darker ; feathers of the crown of the head brown, each with a narrow subterminal grey band ; forehead brown, the sides of the feathers broadly margined with white ; lores, feathers brown, wholly margined with white ; throat slaty-grey, visible bases of the feathers white, producing a mottled appearance ; cheeks and sides of head brown, under surface ashy-brown, darker on the neck and abdomen, lower neck feathers broadly margined with paler shade ; bases of all the body -feathers pure white ; wing-coverts, primaries brown, faintly margined with grey ; secondaries brighter brown, margined with lighter ; primaries with quills black, except at the extreme base, where they shade gradually to white ; outer webs black ; inner web next to the quill blackish-grey, then shading from white at the base and for half the length of the feather to greyish-black at the tip ; secondaries slate, quills black ; outer web faintly margined at apical end with pale grey, inner web greyish-white at base, blackish along quill extending diagonally to the edge of the feather, which is faintly margined with white ; under wing-coverts slate, bases and margins of feathers white ; rump and upper tail-coverts slate, margined with darker, becoming less dark and succeeded by a narrow white outer edge ; outer tail-feathers dark slate, quills brown, basal hah of inner web with narrow margin extending to apical end of outer web white ; central tail-feathers almost uniform slaty-brown, with white bases, narrow edge and tips white ; bill black ; tarsi and first joint of inner toe horn-colour. Total length 17.6 in.* ; wing 11.6 ; tail 5.45 ; bill, 1.37 ; tarsus, 1.68 ; middle toe and claw 2.45 ; wing extends 0.75 in., beyond the tail. Mount Gower, Lord Howe Island. * The discrepancy in measurements is due to the different ways of taking such. Note those of 0. solandri in the Monograph, p. 220, where the tarsus is wrongly given as 1.2 inches. 148 BBOWN-HEADED PETREL. All that is known regarding the habits of this bird on Lord Howe Island is contained in Mr. Hull’s two papers, above noted : — It breeds on Mount Gower ... in fairly large numbers . . . frequenting the top and south-western slope, at an altitude of over 2,000 ft. above sea-level. Formerly, it is stated, this bird bred lower down, but the pigs drove them to less accessible situations . . . [But later] One of these slopes known as the “Lower Road” about 300 feet above sea level, was the locality from which my bird and eggs were taken, but breeding places are found right up to the plateau at the top of the mountain. Concerning the habits of the bird on Norfolk Island, the only account is that in Hunter’s Historical Account of Port Jackson, etc., pp. 181 and 315: — . . . There are also a species of birds which burrow in the ground like rabbits where they hatch their eggs and rear their young ; they are web-footed, which is rather extraordinaiy, and their bill is like that of other sea-fowl, but they have not the least fishy taste, and their flesh is very fine. These birds never quit their holes till sunset, from which time until midnight . . . the air is full of them ; they afforded us many fresh meals. In the month of April we foimd that Mount Pitt, which is the highest ground on the Island, was during the night crowded with birds. This hiU is as fuU of holes as any rabbit warren ; in these holes at this season these birds burrow and make their nests, and as they are an aquatic bird they are, during the da3rtime, frequently at sea in search of food. As soon as it is dark they hover in vast flocks over the ground where their nests are. Our people (I mean seamen, mariners and convicts) who are sent out in parties to provide birds for the general benefit, arrive upon the ground soon after dusk, where they light small fires which attract the attention of the bir^, and they drop down out of the air as fast as the people can take them up and kill them. When they are upon the groimd the length of their wings prevents them being able to rise, and until they can ascend an eminence they are unable to recover the use of their wings. For this purpose nature has provided them with a strong, sharp and hooked bill, and in their heel a sharp spur, with the assistance of which, and the strength of their bill, they have been seen to climb the stalk of a tree sufficiently high to throw themselves upon the wing. This bird, when deprived of its feathers, is about the size of a pigeon, but when clothed, is considerably larger, for their feathers are exceedingly thick ; they are webb-footed, and of a rusty black colour. They make their holes upon the hills for breeding their young in ; they lay but one egg, and that is full as large as a duck’s egg. They were at the end of May as plentiful as if none had been caught, although for two months before there had not been less taken than from two to three thousand birds every night. Most of the females taken in May were with egg, which really fills the whole cavity of the body, and is so heavy that I think it must fatigue the bird much in flying. This Bird of Providence, which I may with great propriety call it, appeared to me to resemble that seabird in England called the Puffin ; they had a strong fishy taste, but our keen appetites relished them very well ; the eggs were excellent. As a footnote is added, “ For a further discription, and an engraving of this bird, see the Norfolk Island Petrel in Phillips’ Voyage, 4to edition.” I think this is the most suitable place to deal with Gmelin’s Procellaria alba and Solander’s P. sandaliata, as these have been mixed up with P. pMllipii Gray and P. neglecta Schlegel. \ Latham {Gen. Syn. Birds, Vol. III., pt. ii., p. 400, 1785) described the White-breasted Petrel as follows : “ Length sixteen inches. Bill one and a half inch long, hooked at the tip, and black ; the head, neck, and upper parts of the body, dusky brown, nearly black ; on the throat a whitish patch ; breast, belly and vent, white ; under tail coverts cinereous and white mixed ; 149 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. tail rounded at the end ; legs black-brown ; the fore parts of the toes half way black ; the outside of the exterior toe the same for the whole length ; webs black ; spur behind blunt. “ Inhabits Turtle and Christmas Islands. In the collection of Sir Joseph Banks.” Upon this description Gmelin {Syst. Nat., p. 565, 1789) based his Procellaria alba, thus : — Pr. ex fusco nigra, gulae area, pectore, abdomine et crisso albis, tectricibus caudae inferioribus ex cinereo et albo mistis. White-breasted Petrel, Lath. Syn. III., 2, p. 400, n. 6. Habitat in insulis Turturum et nativitatis Christi, 16 pollices longa. Rostrum nigrum ; cauda rotundata ; pedes ex atro fusci ; digiti anteriore dimidia sui parte cum membrana connectente nigri. Bonaparte appears to have been the first to introduce Solander’s P. sandaliata into literature, and he regarded it as a possible synonym of P. mollis Gould. Coues, not having access to the Banksian drawings or MS., accepted Bonaparte’s conclusion, but noted that Gmelin’ s P. alba was “ Evidently a species of jEstrelata, and probably some one of the plumages of Lessoni.^^ This latter remark of Coues was made through his belief that species of uEstrelata ( = Pterodro7na) varied in plumage from young to adult, thus : “ In general the younger the bird the more uniform, or more tending to fuliginous are its colours ; while in adult life light and dark colours occupy distinct areas, and are quite trenchantly defined.” We now know that this is not the case, and that the young assume the adult garb in the nest. In the Handl. Gen. Spec. Birds, pt. iii., p. 106, 1871, Gray accepted F. albus Gmelin for specimens from Raoul Island, including as habitat Turtle and Christmas Islands ; also noting F. neglectus Schegel as unknown to him from Sunday Island, Kermadec Islands. But Sunday Island is another name for Raoul Island, which is the main island of the Kermadec (=Kermdee [sicl Gray) group. Gray noted (p. 107) F. ? sandaliatus Sol. as a distinct species, but wrongly gave as its range Pacific Ocean. Salvin, in Rowley’s Ornith. Miscell., Vol. I., p. 232, 1875, working through the Parkinson drawings, indicated the source of Solander’s P. sandaliata as being drawing No. 20, and from the diagnosis given in Solander’s copy of Linnaeus’s Syst. Nat., concluded that it referred to 0. ar^ninjoniana Giglioli and Salvadori, and also that it might have been the basis of P. alba Gmelin ; in which case the original habitat given must be ’wrong, as 0. arminjoniana was a South Atlantic bird from the whereabouts of Solander’s P. sandaliata. Inasmuch as there 150 BROWN-HEADED PETREL. ■was still uncertainty, Salvin refused to displace 0. arminjoniana by P. alha GmeUn. I have seen no argument against this identification, but in the Monograph of the Petrels, p. 226, 1 find the White-breasted Petrel and Norfolk Island Petrel of Latham placed with doubt in the synonymy of 0. neglecta Schlegel, along with P. phillipii Gray, and though the latter name had priority it was not used, yet for the Kermadec Island Petrel the vernacular of Phillips’s Fulmar was deliberately utilised. Herein is shown the reason for the introduction of the White-breasted Petrel in connection with the Norfolk Island Petrel. It is tolerably certain that Latham drew up the description of the latter species in Phillips’s Voyage, and therein it is compared with Latham’s White-breasted Petrel. Accordingly, in his Index Ornith., Vol. II., p. 822, 1790, when he accepted Gmelin’s P. alba for his White-breasted Petrel, he added as var. a Latin translation of the description of the Norfolk Island Petrel. Although the description of the White-breasted Petrel agrees somewhat with 0. arminfoniana, I do not think it was based on that bird. And now the detailed description made by Solander, which I herewith reproduce, proves that P. sandaliata is also not applicable to that, but is a beautifully accurate one of the bird afterwards described by Schlegel as P. incerta : — sandaliata Procellaria corpore supra fusco-nigricante subtus albo, coUo cinereo, cauda rotundata utrinque nigricante, pedibus albidis, palma antice nigra Fig. Picta. Habitat in oceano America' australis, Latit. austr. gr. XXXVII (Dec. 22, 1768) Mother Carey’s Hen Caput & Gollum undique cinerea Dorsum e fusco-nigricans, ut Ala' qua' subtus pallidiores Pectus, Abdomen & Venter alba Crissus cinereus Cauda brevis, rotundata, nigricans Rostrum nigrum Mandibula superior in medio depressa, apice adunca, a basi ad sinum utrinque sulco exarata Tubus narium brevis, vix tertiam partem rostri adtingens, superne convexus intus bilocularis, seu quasi e duobus cylindris compositus, quodtamen extus nonadparet Pedes albidi Membrana conectens antice nigra Ungues omnes nigri, obliqui ; posticus brevis sessilis Pondus 20 Longitude ab apice rostri ad finem cauda' 171 inter apices alarum expans 3 ped 6 rostri cauda Remigis longissima' 12| unc. 151 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. In the Handl. Gen. Spec. Birds, pt. m., p. 106, 1871, Gray included under his own F. pJiillipii (which he had proposed for the Norfolk Island Petrel of Philhps’s Voyage), specimens collected at Chesterfield Group by Macgillivray, and as a doubtful synonym, noted agilis Sol. As this name appears in literature, I append Solander’s description : — agilis Procellaria supra nigricans, subtus nivea, cauda, cuneata, nigricante, pedibus albidis, palma nigra basi alba Habitat in Oceano austral vulgo Pacifico dicto, Lat. austr. XXXVI 49 Long. occ. CXI 30 (Martii 3, 1769) Caput supra e cinereo -nigricans, fronte albo irrorata Arm oculorum nigricante Gula and Jugulum nivea Collum e nigricanti-cinereum subtus in medio nivea Dorsum & Uropygium nigricantia Pectus niveum ; lateribus cinereo -irroratis Abdomen, Venter, Crissus & Femora nivea Ala' supra fuliginosa-nigra, subtus in medio alba' e tectricibus totis niveis', margines autem e fusco-cinerascentes excepto angulo humeral! niveo Cauda' cuneata angusta, pedibus multo longior nigricans, subtus quoad maximum partem penis, longis crissi albis tecta Pectrices infra medium cinerea' Rostrum nigrum breve Mandibula superior utrinque sulco geminate a tube nasali ad sinum exarata apice adimca Tubus narium convexus, tertiam partem rostri vix protingens, bilocularis Dissepimentum orificis non penitus adtingens Apertura' ovata', antice angustata Mandibula inferior parum tantum mode adunca a basi ad gibberem vitta cutacea antice dilatata notata Oculi nigri Pedes e carneo-albi Palma nigra, basi alba Digitus extimus totus niger, reliquorum articulus baseos albus Ungues lanceolata', nigri, postico sessili Procellaria velifvcante paulo major The locahty is due south of Easter Island, so the name may be applicable to a bird breeding on that Island. 152 CESTRELA.TA LESSONI iWB/TE - BEADED PETREL). Order PR0CELLARIIF0RME8 No. 101. Family PROCELLARIIDJS. PTERODROMA LESSONII LEUGOCEPHALA. EASTEEN WHITE-HEADED PETEEL. (Plate 85.)* Pbocellaria LEUGOCEPHALA Forster, Descr. Anim., ed. Licht., p. 206, 1844 ; Australian seas. Procellaria leucocephala Forster, Descr. Anim., ed, Licht., p. 206, 1844. ProceUaria lessoni Gould, Birds Austr., Vol. VII., pi. 49, 1848 ; Buller, Birds New Zeal., p. 303, pi. 29, 1873. ^strelata leucocephala Gould, Handb. Birds Austr., Vol. II., p. 451, 1865. Pterodroma {JEstrelata) lessoni Ramsay, Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., Vol. II., 1877, p. 202. (Estrelata lessoni BuUer, Birds New Zeal., 2nd ed., Vol. II., p. 219, 1888 ; Salvin, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., Vol. XXV., p. 401, 1896 (pars) ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 93, 1899 ; Campbell, Nests and Eggs Austr. Birds, p 904, 1901 ; Buller, Suppl. Birds New Zeal., Vol. I., p. Ill, 1905 ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 93, 1906 ; Wilson, National Antarct. Exp., Aves, p. 87, 1907 ; Mathews, Handl. Birds Austral., p. 17, 1908 ; Godman, Monogr. Petrels, p. 181, 1908 ; Waite, Subant. Isl. New Zeal., Vol. I., p. 563, 1909 ; Littler, Handb. Birds Tasm., p. 175, 1910. Distribution. Seas of Austraha and New Zealand (Antipodes and Auckland Island, breeding). Adult male. General colour above pale grey, including the hind-neck, sides of neck, back, scapulars, and tail, darker on the wings and long scapulars ; lesser and median wing-coverts blackish hke those round the margin of the wing- and primary- coverts ; primary- quills blackish, paler on the inner webs ; secondaries slate-grey, white at the base ; feathers of the back and short scapulars grey with paler grey margins ; upper tail-coverts paler grey than the back, margined with white ; middle tail- feathers grey, the outer ones white-mottled or dusted with grey ; feathers round the eye blackish ; forehead, lores, and chin white, mottled with grey ; throat and remainder of under-surface white ; axillaries ash-grey, white at base and fringed with white at the tips ; under wing-coverts pale brown with whitish margins ; “ BiU black, iris black ; tarsi and base of feet fleshy white, toes and outer portion of webs black ” {Cat. Birds Brit. Mus.). Total length 413 mm. ; culmen 36, wing 314, tail 130, tarsus 48. ^ Adult female. Similar to the adult male ; wing 308. Nest. A large chamber at the end of a burrow. Egg. Clutch, one; pure white; axis 72mm., diameter 51. * The Plate is lettered (Estrelata lessoni. VOL. n. 153 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. Waite says : “ This bird is known to breed on the Kerguelen and Antipodes Islands. I found it nesting on Disappointment Island, Auckland Group, where it makes burrows under shelter of the Ligusticu7n plants. I also found remains of adults killed by Skua gulls, for one of these marauders was engaged in pulling one to pieces when disturbed.” Little appears to be known regarding the habits of this bird. It might be here noted that throughout the Petrels I have carefully refrained from giving any account not absolutely relative to the subspecies in question. It has been suggested that those known regarding an allied species should be substituted, so that I would here point out that even different colonies of the same subspecies as at present recognised in New Zealand are credited with different habits ; consequently it would be quite unwise to credit a subspecies with the life-history of another form. There are some interesting points regarding the nomenclature of this species. Described by Solander and also figured and described by Forster, it seemed strange to me that Latham did not mention it, and careful search showed that he did. In the Gen. Syn. Birds, Vol. III., pt. n., p. 405, I found the following : “ In the British Musemn I observe one of these which is near 20 inches in length, has a dark streak through the eye, the tail dusky, pointed at the end, legs of a pale colour, almost white.” This description I believe to have been drawn up from Forster’s specimen, as many of Forster’s birds appear to have come into the British Museum, though not now existent. The first pubhshed description with a name is that of Garnot {Ann. Sci. Nat., Vol. VII., p. 54, footnote, 1826, who called it Procellaria Lessonii, and diagnosed it thus : — Procellaria Lessonii ; capite griseo albido ; collo, pectore, abdomine caudaque infra albis ; dorso fusco cineraceo ; cauda supra grisea ; rostro, alis, ambitu coulorum sub nigris ; pedibus albido -carneis fimbriatis nigris. PI. 4. “Ce petrel se tient dans les parages du Cap Horn et de la met Pacifique, par 52° de lat. sept, et 85° de longit.” A detailed description was given in the text in French, and the same bird was described by Lesson {Manuel d’Orn., Vol. II., p. 402, 1828) as Puffinus sericeus, as follows : — Un peu plus gros que le damier [sic] ; les deux mandibules sont crochues ; bee noir, pieds eperonnes, couleur de chair ; bords exterieurs de la membrane noirs ; envergure, trente-six pouces ; manteau gris cendre-moire ; couverture des ailes gris noiratres ; tete, cou et dessous du corps blancs ; quelques taehes gris clair sur la tete ; les yuex, brun fence, sont entoures de plumes noiratres ; queue leg^rement cendree en-dessus ; le dessous des ailes est moins fence que le dessus. Longueur du bee, prise de I’extremite crochue a la commissure, deux pouces ; du tube, cinq lignes ; distance de la commissure a Tangle interne de Toeil, dix lignes ; — du front a Tocciput, deux pouces cinq lignes ; — de Textremite dubec au bout de la queue, quinze * Subant. Isl. New Zeal., Vol. I., p. 563, 1909. 154 EASTERN WHITE-HEADED PETREL. pouces ; — de Faile (dix pennes primaires, le premiere est la plus longue) onze pouces six lignes ; — de la queue (douze pennes, les deux moyennes plus longues) cinq pouces; — des tarses, un pouce neuf lignes ; — du doigt medius, un pouce quatre lignes. Par 52 degres de latitude sud et 85 degres de longitude ouest, dans la mer Pacifique. This does not appear to have been noticed before, and it was only by examination of the type-specimen as recently as 1888, that P. sericeus was recognised as a synonym of P. lessonii. In 1844 Forster’s description of his P. leucocephala was published : — Procellaria leucocephala F. Descr. Anim., p. 206, 1844. Procellaria dorso cinerea, capite subtusque Candida, remigibus fusco-nigris, pedibus pallidis, apice nigris. Habitat in Oceano pacifico australi a Novae Hollandiae vicinia usque in promontorium Hornanum, vix ultra 40° in boreau visa. Vocaverum eandem antea in Diaris New Holland Shearwater. Corpus circiter magnitudine Procellariae glacialis L. Rostrum capite brevius, validum, atrum, compressum (s. angustum), crassum (s. profundum), apice utraque mandibula adunca; superior sulco obliquo a naribus ad curvaturam apicis ; inferior sulco parallels, apice quasi infracto. Nares tubulosae, superae, septo tantum, separatae, truncatae, medis emarginatae. Lingua brevis, spatulata, margine utroque postice retrorsum serrato. Palatum triplici serie carinatum, retrorsum serratum. Oculi super! ; iride nigra. Pedes tridactyli, natatorii ; femora tecta ; genua nuda ; tibiae pallide-lividae s. coerulescenti-carneae. Digit! extrorsum et apice nigri ; membrana digitos connectens, ultra dimidium nigra. Membranula deeurrens utrimque ad digitum extimum et intimum. Ungues nigri extrorsum parum dilatati. Unguis brevis, niger, conicus, sessilis, loco digit! postici. Caput cum cervice, gula, ingulo, pectore, abdomine et crisso Candida. Linea per oculos nigra. Dorsum cinereum, uropygium canum. Alae fusco-nigrae. Remiges 30, prima brevissima, 2 longior, 3 longissima, 4-10 sensim decrescunt ; extus atrae, intus fusco-nigres- centes ; 11-30 breves, atrae. Tectrices ultimae et penultimae nigro-canescentes. Tectrices superiores concolores, in medis series pennarum fuscarum usque ad scapulares fuscas itidem. Rectrices 12 ; Cauda rotundata, alba, cinereo-nebulosa. Mensurae. Ab apice rostri in extremitatem caudae „ ,, ad extremum unguis digit! medii Alae expansae . . Rostrum longum „ latum ad basin . . „ Crassum Pedes cum femoribus Digitus medius . . 16 unc. 17 „ 40 „ U » 7 1 0 35 8 1 0 33 6| „ f> 7 0 35 while the same year Gray, in his List Genera Birds, Vol. III., p. 648, included P. vagahunda Sol. MS. in the synonymy of P. lessonii. Herewith is attached Solander’s description : — vagabunda Procellaria supra cinerea, subtus nivea, regione Ocularum nigricante, cauda subeuneata albida, pedibus albicantibus, palma extus nigra Habitat in Oceano Antarctico, a Terra del Fuego australi, Lat. austr. LVIII : 30 (Feb. 3, 1769) in oceano australi. Lat. austr. XXIX 10 Long. occ. CLIX 20 (Sept. 19, 1769) Lat. austr. XXXIX : 17 Longit. occ. CCIV : 6 (Apr. 11, 1770) Forte varietas major Procellaria' crepidata,' Mscr Rostrum totum nigrum, compressum 155 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. Mandihula superior sulco obliquo, a basi infra tubum nasalem ad sinum exarata Tubus nasalis brevis, tertiam partem rostri non adtingens ; Apertura subreniformis, sen latior quam altior ; Dissepimento conspicuo, ad orificium autem non penitus producto Mandihula inferior apice parum adunca, utrinque lacuna longitudinali cute glabra repleta antice dilatata Oculi nigri Caput superne canum, inferne album ; regio oculorum nigricans Gula, Jugulum, Gollum subtus, Pectus, Abdomen, Venter, Grissus et Femora nivea Collum supra canum Dorsum cinereum Uropygium canum Cauda subcuneata, longitudine pedum, alba, floccis cinereis supra irrorata Ala' longa', angusta', supra nigricantes, infra pallidiores, pra' cipue in medio Tibia' albida' Unguis posticus sessilis, niger Palma inter digitum extimum et inter medium nigra, pone medium albida, inter digitum intermedium et intimum albida, margine antico nigro ; nigredine intus sinuosa Digilus extimus extus totus niger ; intermedius pone medium albidus ; intimus albidus apice tantummodo, et supra geniculum nigricans Ungues niger Longitude inter apicem rostri ad finem cauda' alarum expans Brachii Cubiti Metacarpi cum ala Cauda' Digit! intermedii Rostri Pondus 1 libr Avis in oceano australi (Lat austr XXIX 10) albo. which is noteworthy as it includes the first record of this bird in Austrahan waters ; the April Ilth, 1770, record being in the Tasman Sea approaching the entrance of Bass Strait. I have used Forster’s name for the Australian birds, as these differ from the Atlantic specimens in having a shghter bill, and the tail more uniformly grey, with the shafts of the tail-feathers yellowish instead of white. The male figured and described was collected near the Auckland Islands in 1894. 1 ped 3 „ 7 5 5 13 51 unc. capta, paulo minor capite etjam superne 156 u-T- J I " I J /I V teil ' !*•• , * * H 1^^ ir * ' ‘■t. V . ■! I •*' I '• ^r.', i< f *1 .. r '*■ ". • ■,fr •■■ ■ i , " t' l'.Mf. r :f-' fcv- •‘ »l IS ■JT'. ilibf (] ^sssfiaiisj fft ■ ' i'. 1 i'/' ♦ V vW"!:*" .k’V ' I. , *.’1' ' <■ . ", ' 'iwIBL »,i / "■I* II n I I 7,« - .V, Af'h i >■?■'■" •>"V p VV JK'' V'i’ '*'1 t- ■ I •,-p4^Viv-. V’' •I'! »'., , _,. - A II . Wl Hiin' ''JL t ' 'i' ♦-V. •■» h ir. ri I • — nwr 1 ' I 'iiir vS|!llUi® 1 yi -;# .if^d , -f -* 1 1 * * ■ 1^ .: jr{t “ ■ '.S ' ' !■ .A . m. T'ir-Wi ■ ■ 'X • •AV *■ . ■ .»( 14 I I «( , , ,W t/'P* '• ' I . L''.. • IT I '•^1 ll ^ i' -.r-l'-J ^ « hi X ' .'■■'I "■ *1 m .4< I •' w .4 m ■.-'It'iN'tt. :ij t . |> Im- , *1' ••■A)*', MS * ; .>»■ . ? I “■mb' «4! •■ri 1:., f^xV^W ‘r>y' .';:vf^,:‘’ ii.'?4 . n';j , ' ii ii^ . I' w:itt lilf ■’fj • (, 11 m SaV .sfi'i!.! iiiiii. I.. V.I V I i. k. I I ■- j-ii ■I ' ••Iff '•! t>4j 'iv tAt 'x'sMk I Order PBOCELLARIIFOBMES Family PBOCELLABIIDM. PTERODROMA MOLLIS. SOFT-PLUM AGED PETEEL. (Plate 86.)* Procellaeia Mollis Gould, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., Vol. XIII., p. 363, 1844; South Atlantic Ocean. Procellaria mollis Gould, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., Vol. XIII., p. 363, 1844 ; id., Birds Austr., Vol. VII., PI. 50, 1848 ; Oassin, U.S. Expl. Exp., p. 410, 1858. Bhantistes mollis Bonaparte, Gomptes Rendus Sci., Paris, Vol. XLII., p.'768, 1856. Cookilaria mollis, id., Consp. Gen. Av., Vol. II., p. 190, 1857. Mstrelata mollis Gould, Handb. Birds Austr., Vol. II., p. 453, 1865 ; Coues, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad. 1866, pp. 150, 170 ; Reichenow, Deutsche Siidp. Exp,, Zool., pp. 485, 555, 1907. Fulmarus mollis Gray, Handl. Gen. Sp. Birds Brit. Mus,, Vol. III., p. 107, 1871. Pterodroma {Mstrelata) mollis Ramsay, Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., Vol. II., p. 202, 1877; id.. Tab. List Austr. Birds, p. 24, 1888. (Estrelata mollis Salvin, Ibis 1877, p. 480 ; Sharpe, ed. Layard’s Birds South Africa, p. 766, 1884 ; id.. Ibis 1882, p. 539 ; Dalgleish, ih. 1890, p. 386 ; Salvin, Oat. Birds Brit. Mus., Vol. XXV., p. 406, 1896 ; Dresser, Birds of Europe, Vol. IX., p. 411, 1896 ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 94, 1899 ; Campbell, Nests and Eggs Austr. Birds, p. 906, 1901 ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 94, 1906; Mathews, Handl. Birds Austral., p. 17, 1908 ; Godman, Monogr. Petrels, p. 197, 1908 ; Littler, Handb. Birds Tasm., p. 175, 1910. Distribution. ? Australian seas ; South Atlantic Ocean. Adult male. Head, hind-neck, sides of neck, back, and short scapulars ash-grey, becoming much paler on the upper tail-coverts and tail ; some of the outer tail-feathers whitish ; the long scapulars and entire wing black with pale brown on the inner webs of the primaries ; under-surface white, sides of body dusted and barred with grey ; under wing-coverts sooty -brown ; the feathers on the forehead and sides of the face have more or less white fringes ; “ BiU black, tarsus and basal third part of the feet flesh-colour, the remainder black ; iris brown ” (H. Giglioli). Total length 395 mm. ; cuhnen 29, wing 259, tail 112, tarsus 35. ^ Adult female. Similar to the adult male. Nest, Egg, and Breeding-season. Unknown. I CANNOT find any account of the life-history of this species. Gould found it plentiful between the 20th and 50th degrees of south latitude in the Atlantic. * The Plate is lettered (Estrelata mollis. 157 THE BIEDS OE AUSTKALIA. Introduced by Gould in his Handbook of the Birds of Australia, this species has ever since been included in the Australian List, though Gould admitted that he had seen no specimen from Australian waters. BuUer recognised specimens from the Kermadecs as 0. mollis, but this species does not occur there, the birds Buller examined being referable to P. neglecta Schlegel. Layard recorded it as breeding on Mount Mou in New Caledonia, but at present the bird breeding there is quite unknown, only nesthngs and eggs being presented to the British Museum by Layard. In the Tabular List of Australian Birds, 1888, Bamsay includes this species as having questionally occurred in Tasmania only ; this is very interesting, as in that List, with very little knowledge of Petrels, Bamsay gives most wonderful distribution of the majority of the species of Petrels, as note the inclusion of Bterodroma solandri as being known from the Wide Bay District, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania, and West Australia — though that species was at that time known from a unique example only. In fact, P. 7nollis seems to be the only species Bamsay has not noted as recorded from more than one locahty. I included it in my Handlist, on the specimen noted from North-west Australia in the British Museum, now in my collection, but upon working up the material I found that specimen to be absolutely identical with the co-type and other specimens from the South Atlantic, and distrust being thus cast upon the locality I found that there was no verity in the North-west Australia locality, and that the bird had been killed on the high-seas, and consequently as far as can now be ascertained was procured in the South Atlantic. There is therefore no record whatever for this bird from Australian waters, and it should be crossed off the Australian List. I am including the plate prepared from the supposed North-west Australian specimen, so that Australian ornithologists may see what the South Atlantic bird is like. Investigation of the specimens has pointed to the following plumage-changes : The newly-moulted bird has the upper coloration of a clear grey, the feathers having paler margins ; the feathers on the forehead have broad white edgings, and the feathers of the breast-band also have light edges. As the feathers wear, the pale tips become less noticeable, and the grey becomes darker so that it looks brown, while the white tips to the forehead-feathers become obscure or lost altogether. This is important, as many species have been created upon these colour-differences, single specimens only having been examined, and sea-shot examples at that. As a consequence our knowledge of the members of this genus is very imperfect, and until it is recognised that series from breeding-localities are necessary for the accurate discrimination of species of this genus, not much progress can be made. It should be recorded that at the present time no species is known as breeding in far-apart localities, and no record that is not based upon a dead specimen can 158 SOFT-PLUMAGED PETEEL. be utilised. In the Monograph many pages are taken up by the records of birds seen by voyagers, admittedly scientific men, but nevertheless their reports are absolutely valueless in the present state of this science. When Gould introduced Procellaria mollis {Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., Vol. XIII., p. 363, 1844) he stated that he had shown it to Natterer who concluded : “ The Procellaria lugens of Banks’s drawings. No. 22 ? ; Procellaria grisea Kuhl (not of Gould), pi. 11., fig. 9 ; does not agree with Banks’s drawings, but agrees with Kuhl’s grisea. A new name is certainly requisite, if no other can be found.” Gould’s description is appended : — Procellaria mollis n. sp. Adult. Crown of the head and all the upper surface slate-gray, the feathers of the forehead margined with white ; wings dark brown ; before and beneath the eye a mark of brownish black ; face, throat and all the under surface pure white, interrupted by the slate-gray of the upper surface advancing upon the sides of the chest, and forming a faint band across the breast ; centre tail-feathers dark gray ; outer feathers grayish white, freckled with dark gray ; biU black ; tarsi, base of the toes, and basal half of the inner interdigital membrane pale fleshy white. Total length 13^ inches ; bill 1^ ; wing, 9f ; tail, cuneiform, 5 ; tarsi, If ; middle toe and nail. If. The young differs in having all the under surface dark gray, and the throat freckled with gray. South Atlantic. In the Coinptes Rendus Sci., Paris, Vol. XLII., p. 768, 1856, Bonaparte included Rhantistes mollis Gould, and as synonyms gave solandri ? Gould and melanopus ? Gmelin. I have fully discussed these last two in the previous pages. The same year in the same periodical (Vol. XLIII., p. 995) Bonaparte readjusted his ideas, and placing mollis in his new genus Cookilaria, only added as synonym P. hcesitata ? Forst., Icon 97 ; and also recognised G. melanopus Soland. nec Gmelin, with synonym P. solandri Gould. In the Gonsp. Gen. Av., Vol. II., p. 190, 1857, Bonaparte, admitting P. solandri Gould, also recognised Goohilaria mollis Gould, to which he added the extraordinary fist of synonyms : “ cinerea ? Gmelin, tristis ? Kuhl, crepidata ? vel sandaliata ? Solander, melanura Bonn., unicolor ? Gould, juv.” I have noted these as showing the attempted determinations of the Solander names and Banksian drawings. In 1844 Gray had introduced P. crepidata Sol. MS., as being probably equivalent to P. mollis Gould. Parkinson’s drawings Nos. 21 and 22 have been recognised by Salvin, Sharpe, and Godman as referable to P. hrevirostris Lesson, but as they were made from the specimens described by Solander as P. lugens, this must be reconsidered. I attach Solander’s description of his P. lugens : — lugens Procellaria fusco -cinerea, gula crisso alisque subtus albis, pedibus glaucis ; palma nigra basi pallida. Fig. Piet. Habitat in oceano-Antarctico a Terra del Fuego australi. Lat. austr. gr. LIX Long, occid. (Febr. 1, 1769) in Oceano Australi Lat. austr. XXXVI : 49 Long. occ. CXI 30 (Martii 3, 1769) 159 THE BIRDS OE AUSTRALIA. Mother Carey’s Jack Daw Caput supra cinereo-fuscum, ut et Collum, Dorsum, Abdomen & Venter qua' tamen dorso pallidiora sunt Gula & lugulum alba Pectus cinereum, albo irroratum Crissus albus ; penis longioribus apice fusco-undulatis Cauda cuneata, fuliginoso-cinerea, pedibus paulo longior Ala' longa', angusta', supra cinereo-fuliginosa' ; subtus alba', marginibus fusco-clnereis ; posticis paUidioribus superioribus pra'cipue cubiti & metacarpi nigricantibus ; angulus humeralis albus Remiges primores extus fusco-cinerea', intus alba' Tectricum superiorum apices pulcre candido -marginati Rostrum nigrum, compressum ; latera latiuscula Mandibula superior apice prof unde adunca, linea a naribus ad sinum coriacea obliqua Tubus narium rostro triple brevier, bilocularis : Dissepimento interne ad orificium non penitus producto Mandibula inferior adunca, rima longitudinalis cutacea, antice dilatata, truncata Tibia glauca' Digiti nigri : Palma nigra, basi pallida Digitus posticus minutus ex ungue nigra Ungues reliqui nigri, lanceolati, acuminati Longitude ab apice rostri ad finem cauda' 13 ^ inter apices alarum expansarum 32 Rostri IJ Brachii 3-J Cubiti do. do, unc. Metacarpi cum ala 10 Cauda' 4 Digiti intermedii 2 Pondus 10 ; This description appeals to me as agreeing very well with the bird described by Forster as Procellaria inexpectata {Descr. Aniin., ed. Licht., p. 204, 1844) Procellaria inexpectata F. Fig. picta G. Procellaria supra abdomineque nigricanti-cinerea, subtus Candida, rostro digitisque nigris, tibiis superciliisque albis. Habitat in Oceano antarctico cum antecedente ; et necata inexpectatum nobis gaudium dedit novae speciei, ante nunquam visae. At post iam meliora docti, earn a reliquis fasile distinguere potuimus, et plures sunt visae navem circumvolitare. Corpus magnitudine circiter Procellariae capensis L. vel paulo minor. Rostrum com- pressum, atrum, fere longitudine capitio. Mandibulae : superior apice adunca, duplici- sulco a naribus oblique ante curvaturam rostri ducto ; inferior rectiuscula, subascendens, apice compresso, canaliculate. Nares septo distinctae, connatae in tubum brevem, cylindrico- depressum, emarginato-truncatum. Rictus amplus. Lingua carnosa, medio frenulata, apice libera, lanceolata, acuta, marginibus retrorsum serratis. Palatum tribus ordimbus serraturarum retrorsum flexarum. Oculi medii ; index fuscae. Pedes tridaetyli, palmati ; femora tecta ; tibiae breves, compressiusculae, albae. Digiti 3 antici membrana natatoria connexi, extimo toto nigro, reliquis articulo primo albo, membrana basi alba, caeterum atra. 160 SOFT-PLUMAGED PETREL. Digitus interior longitudine tibiae. Ungues atri, parvi, tenues, parum incurvi. Unguis brevissimus, ater, conicus, sessilis, loco digiti postioi. Pileus, genae, collum, dorsum, uropygium ; alae et rectrices nigro-cinerea. Abdomen cinereum, pennis albis apice cinereis. Gula, iugulum, pectus Candida, Crissum album, fasciis raris fuscis undulatum, Alae longissimae. Remiges primores 10, extima longissima, reliquis sensim minoribus ; secun- dariae 18, lamina exteriore et apice nigro -cinereis, interiore albis, Alae subtus albae, fascia fusca obliqua, ab alula ad angulum posticum cubiti, Cauda mediocris, rotundata, Rectrices 12 totae cinereae, rachi brunnea, intermediae binae paulo longiores, laterales sensim breviores, Mbnsueae. Ab apice rostri in extremitaten caudae ,, „ „ unguis digiti medii Alae expansae , , Rostrum ab apice ad basin in fronte Dibiae ., .« .. ,« ,, «« ». Digitus medius absque ungue Unguis medius This name was rejected in the Monogm'ph of the Petrels in favour of the later P. gularis Peale {U.S. Expl. Exp., Zool., p. 299, 1848, c/. 2nd ed., p. 410) : — Procellaria gularis. Color above cinereous-brown ; tail and breast plumbeous ; throat, under wingcoverts, and under tailcoverts white ; primaries and spurious wings nearly black, with brown shafts ; tail light beneath ; the two outer feathers mottled with white ; aU the shafts brown above, and white beneath ; the whole plumage white at the roots ; bill blue-black, much curved, very sharp-pointed, and much compressed near the tip ; first quiU longest. Total length thirteen inches ; extent of wings thirty-four inches ; wing, from the carpal joint, ten and a half inches ; bill one inch ; nasal tubes three-fifths of an inch ; tarsi one and one-fifth inches ; outer toe one and six-tenths inches ; tail three and four-tenths inches ; outer feathers two and seven-tenths inches, Male, Latitude 68° S,, longitude 95° W. of Greenwich. The localities of all three agree quite closely, the second specimen of P. lugens included by Solander being killed in almost the same longitude. If only collections of Petrels were available from these South Pacific seas, very valuable conclusions could be formed regarding the wandering habits of members of the genus Pterodroma. Solander described three other species of Petrels from these seas ; his diagnoses I here reproduce : — velificans Procellaria supra cinereo -nigricans, tota subtus nivea, cauda cuneata nigricante, pedibus albis ; palma nigra basi alba Habitat in Oceano australi (Pacifico) Lat. austr. XLIV 35 Longit. occ, a Lond. CIX 2 (Pebr, 23, 1769) Lat, austr, XXXVI 49 Longit. occ. CXI 30 (Martii 3, 1769) Forte varietas Procellaria crepidata Mscr,, a qua tamen differt alis subtus hlveis & cauda nigricante, pedibus autem convenit. Palma enim tantum modo inter articulos baseos alba Caput supra & latera, Collum supeme et prope humera etjam latere. Dorsum & Uropygium e nigricanti-cinerea Ala' longa', angusta', supra nigricantes, subtus nivea', exceptis apicibus remigum cinerascentibus, et angulo carpi nigricante 13 unc. 12i „ 30 „ IJ- ■^10 M Vu ,, _8 lU VOL. II. 161 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. Frons, Gena', Gula, lugulum. Pectus, Abdomen, Venter, Crissus & Femora nivea Cauda cuneata, pedibus multo longior, nigricans, subtus tecta penis crissi longis, albis Rectrices basi ex albido-cinerascentes Rostrum nigrum, compressum, apice aduneum Mandihula superior utrinque sulcis duo bus a tubo narium ad sinum exarata ; Sinus profunde rotundatus Tubus narium convexus vix tertiam partem rostri adtingens bilocularis ; Dissepimentum tubo parum brevius Apertura' ovata', supeme ad angulum interiorum parum angustata' Mandibula inferior sulco obsoleto longitudinali ad gibberem notata, supra sulcum cute molliuseula induta Oculi nigri Palpebris nudiusculus, albidis Regio oculorum nigricans Pedes albidi Palma nigri, basi albida Digitus extimus totus niger ; intermedins niger articulo baseos albido, uti etjam intimus eujus tamen articulus secundus extus albidus Ungues lanceolati, nigri. Loco digiti postici Unguis conico-subulatus, sessilis niger Longitude ab apice rostri ad finem cauda' 17) inter ap. Alarum expans Sped 5) ' sordida Procellaria supra nigricans, subtus albida, coUo fusco-cinereo, cauda nigra rotundata, palma nigra basi glauca Habitat in Oceano austr. seu mari pacifico Lat. austr. XXXVI 49 Long, occ, CXI 30 (Martii 3, 1769) ; Lat. austr. XXV 21, Long. occ. CXXIX (Mart. 21, 1769) Tota avis supra f uliginose -nigricans Capitis latera cinerea Gula adhuc pallidior Collum cinereum, sa'pe fuscescens ' Pectus, Abdomen, Venter, & Femora albida ; penna' enim interdum tota' alba', interdum apice cinerea' Crissi pena' longiores extra medium nigricantes Ala' utrinque fuliginosa' Tectrices inferiores, intra medium alba', uti & latera interiora remigum primorum infra apicem, unde sub volatu area alba adparet Cauda rotundata, nigra, longitudine pedum Rostrum nigrum Mandibula superior utrinque a naribus ad sinum sulco duplicate exarata, apice adunca Tubus narium convexus ; supra tertiam partem mandibula' extensus, bilocularis Dissepimentum orificium vix adtingens Apertura' ovali subrotunda' Mandibula inferior vix apice adunca, a basi ad gibberem utrinque notata Vitta cutacea, angusta, antice dilatata Oculi nigri Pedes glauci. Palma atra, basi glauca Ungues lanceolati, nigri ; postico sessili 162 SOFT-PLUMAGED PETPEL. Magnitudine variant ut et colore Longitudo ab apice rostri ad extrem cauda' 151 inter apices alarum expans 39 f Pondus 15 uncias atrata Procellaria nigricans subtus pallidior, cauda rotundata, pedibus albis longioribus : palma nigra basi alba Habitat in Oceano australi (vulgo mare pacifico) Lat. austr. XXV : 21 Long. occ. CXXIX (Martii 21, 1769) Tota avis nigricans, subtus tamen paulo pallidior seu sordide fusca, pena' enim apice tantummodo nigricantes sunt Cauda cuneato -rotunda, pedibus paulo longior Bostrum nigrum. Mandihula superior adunca, sulco duplicato a tubo narium ad sinum exarata Tubus narium convexus vix extra quartam partem rostri extensus, bilocularis Dissepimentum orificium non adtingens Apertura' ovales Mandihula inferior recta, vix adunca, utrinque a basi ad gibberem notata Vitta cutacea, angusta, antice dilatata, truncata Oculi nigri Pedes albi Palma atra, pone articulum primum (h.e. basi proximum) alba Ungues mgvi Posticus sessilis Longitudo ab apice rostri ad extremit. cauda 13F) inter apices alarum expansarum 37 > unc. Pondus 9 3 From the same locality, and obtained at the same time as P. gularis Peale, another species was named by Peale (p. 294) as P. hrevipes^ cf. 2nd ed., p. 414: — Procellaria brevipes. Head and wings sooty black ; back and tail gray ; throat breast, and belly, white, tinged with salmon-color when living, but changing to white after death ; an interrupted plumbeous band crosses the breast ; two outer tail-feathers light gray, white beneath, shafts white ; aU the others brown ; under wingcoverts white ; the lesser ones nearly black ; bill black ; feet pale fleshcolor ; the toes black at their ends ; irides brown. Total length ten and seventenths inches ; extent of wings twenty four and onefourth inches ; bill, to the angle of the mouth, one and fourtenths inches ; over the culmen nineteentwentieths of an inch ; middle toe, including the nail, one and three- tenths inches. Latitude 68° S., longitude 95° W. Where would these birds breed ? P. gularis Peale has been recognised in the bird breeding in New Zealand which Buller named P. affinis, while the bird named by Macgillivray P. torquata, and found by him breeding on the New Hebrides, has been accepted as identical with P. brevipes Peale. Our woeful ignorance of this genus is manifest when any attempt is made to reduce the nomenclature to order. As subspecies of P. ‘‘ gularis ” Peale, have to be con- sidered (Estrelata fisheri Ridgway and scalaris Brewster. There is nothing in the diagnoses save subspecific (or seasonal) features to separate these ; the 163 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. localities however are strangely apart. Recently P. gularis Peale has been recorded from the Bahamas, so that it may be there is an Atlantic breeding- form of P. gularis, in which case Brewster’s name of scalaris would be available. I am so convinced of the restricted range of these Petrels that I would not reduce the above names to synonymy ; but that would be the correct con- servative course. In favour of my views I would instance the case of P. ‘phcEopygia Salvin and P. sandwicTiensis Ridgway. In the Monograph these were lumped, but a long series of the latter has convinced Bryan {Occ. Papers Bernice Pauahi Bishop Mus., Vol. 4., p. 47, 1908) of their distinctness. But the Galapagos Islands are much closer to the Sandwich Islands than Alaska or New York is to 68° S. 95° W. or New Zealand. I have already given Solander’s description of his P. sandaliata and my conclusion as to its application, and now add Solander’s detailed account of P. crepidata : — crepidata Procellaria supra nigricans, subtus nivea, alia inf erne cinereis, cauda suncuneata cana. pedibus albis, palma nigra basi alba Fig. Piet. Habitat intra tropicos Mother Carey’s Pullet Tota avis supra e cinereo-nigricans, subtus nivea Frons circa rostrum albida penis parvis cinereis undulata Rostrum totum nigrum Mandihula superior apice adunca, sulco obliquo a naribus ad sinum mandibuia exarata Nares ex uno tubo seu cylindro biloculari vix tertiam rostri partem adtingenti Mandibuia inferior infra apicem gibba, apice parum adunca Oculi nigri Ala' longa', angusta', supra nigra', subtus e cinereo-nigricantea Remiges primores sensim breviores „ secundaria' viginti, a'quales Cauda subcuneata, brevis Rectrices duodecim cana', exterioribus paulo brevioribus apice albo irroratis Pena Crissi longa', alba' cauda vix breviores Tibia' albida', antice dilute incarnata' Unguis posticus niger, sessilis Palma nigra, basi alba Digitus extimus extus totus niger, intermedins & intimus articulus baseos albidus : Ungues nigri Longitudo ab apice rostri ad finem cauda' 13| unc. rostri lineas 12 inter apices alarum expansarum 3 pedes remigis longissima' 11 unc. Corpus Columba' domestica' paulo majus 164 SOFT-PLUMAGED PETREL. Nostra avis differt a Procellaria Pujfino Linn, colore pedum, remigum, rectricum, genaramque ; a Diomedea am Raji & magnitudine & colore rostri ; ab ave aqua' superficium radente Raji & Willughb. colore pedum ; a Pufflno primo Briss. colore rostri pedum caudaque ; a Puffino cinereo Briss cui valde similis colore pedum, cum Puffino Anglorum Rayi and Willughb. convenit, sed pedes ab illis. non descripta. A Puffino Anglorum Edwardi toto coelo differt Regarding this latter, it will be noted that Solander has written “Fig. Piet.,” but there is no figure that can be referred to the description. Recently Salvador! {Ihis, 1900, p. 298) has separated the species of Fterodroma breeding in the North Atlantic from P. mollis, which breeds in the South Atlantic, under the name P. fece. He wrote : “ Most probably (E. fece is confined to the islands off the western coast of Africa, north of the Equator. . . . From what we know of the geographical distribution of the two allied species, (E. mollis and (E. fece, it appears that the first not only never crosses the Equator, but has never been found north of the 20th or perhaps of the 30th parallel, so that the areas of the two species are widely separated.” If this be acknowledged, the recognition of P. 7nollis in Australian waters need not be thought of. In the Monograph is included a specimen as representing the “ dark phase ” of this species. This bird has no authentic locality, and also seems to have little relationship with P. mollis, as both P. inollis and P. fece otherwise show not the least signs of dimorphism. The bird figured and described is the supposed Australian record. 165 Order PR0CELLARIIF0RME8 No. 102. Family PROCELLARIIDM. PTERODROMA COOKII COOKII. BLUE-FOOTED PETREL. (Plate 87.)* Peocellaria COOKII Gray, in Dieffenbach’s Trav. New Zeal., Vol. II., p. 199, 1843 ; New Zealand. Procellaria cooJcii Gray, in Dieffenbacb’s Trav. New. Zeal, Vol. II., p. 199, 1843 ; id., Voy. “ Erebus ” and “ Terror,” Birds, p. 17, pi. 35, 1845 ; Cassin, U.S. Expl. Exp., p. 414, 1858 ; BuUer, Birds New Zeal., p. 307, 1873 ; Sandager, Trans. New Zeal. Inst., 1889, Vol. XXII., p. 291, 1890. Rhantistes coohii Reichenbacb, Nat, Syst. Vog., p. iv., 1852. RJiantistes coohi Bonaparte, Comptes Rendus Sci., Paris, Vol, XLII., p. 768, 1856. Cookilaria leucoptera id., ib., Vol. XLIII., p. 995, 1856. Cookilaria velox id., Consp, Gen. Av,, Vol. II., p. 190, 1857. Procellaria velox Pelzeln, Reise Novara. Vog,, p. 146, 1865. uEstrelata cooki Gould, Handb. Birds Austr., Vol. II., p. 456, 1865. Fulmarus cookii Gray, Handl. Gen, Sp. Birds Brit. Mus., Vol. III., p. 106, 1871. Pterodroma {JEstrelata) cookii Ramsay, Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., Vol. IT., p. 202, 1877 ; id.. Tab. List Austr. Birds, p. 24, 1888. Procellaria cooki Reischek, Trans. New Zeal. Inst. 1885, Vol, XVIII., p. 92, 1886. (Estrelata cooki Buller, Birds New Zeal., 2nd ed., Vol. II., p. 217, 1888 ; Salvin, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus,, Vol. XXV,, p. 417, 1896 ; Campbell, Nests and Eggs Austr. Birds, p. 908, 1901 ; Buller, Suppl. Birds New Zeal., Vol. I., p. 118, 1905 ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 94, 1906 ; Mathews, Handl. Birds Austral., p. 17, 1908 ; Godman, Monogr. Petrels, p. 247, 1908. Distribution, Seas of East Australia and New Zealand. Adult male. General colour above dark ash-grey, including the crown of the head, hind-neck, sides of neck, short scapulars, back, upper tail-coverts, and middle tail-feathers ; the feathers of the back have dark shaft-hnes ; lesser, median, and greater wing- coverts black, hke the bastard- wing and primary-coverts ; primary-quills black on the outer webs and at the tips, the greater portion of the inner webs white ; the secondaries similar in colour but the dark portion of the feathers inchning to hoary -grey ; innermost secondaries, long scapular-feathers, and short upper tail-coverts greyish-brown ; outer * The Plate is lettered (Estrelata cooki. 166 CE S T RE L ATA CO OK I (BL UE - FOOTED PE TEEL ). BLUE-FOOTED PETREL. tail-feathers white, dusted with grey, hke the feathers on the sides of the rump ; forepart of head scalloped with grey and white ; a short white hne immediately below the eye, followed by a very dark grey one ; base of forehead, throat, and entire under- surface white, including the axillaries and under wing-coverts, some of the mar- ginal under wing-coverts blackish ; “ Bill black, iris black, feet pale purphsh-blue, webs darker ” (BuUer). Total length 270 mm. ; culmen 26, wing 235, tail 97, tarsus 33. Adult female. Similar to the adult male, but lighter above. Culmen 23 mm. ; wing 213, tail 91, tarsus 30. Nest. A chamber lined with leaves, etc., at the end of a burrow (Reischek). Egg. Clutch, one ; pure white ; axis 53 mm., diameter 42. Breeding-season. September, October, and November (Buller). From Mr. Reischek’ s notes* I gather that, “ on the North-eastern portion, near the centre of the Little Barrier Island, in October, 1882, he dug out a pair of these birds which had come ashore to clean out their burrows. This is done by the male and female, with their bills and feet. In some cases these burrows were twelve, but usually from four to eight feet long, and from four to six inches in diameter. At the end of the burrow two chambers were made from twelve to eighteen inches long ; twelve deep, and from six to twelve high ; in each chamber is a hollow filled with leaves, moss, or fine grass. These burrows are made sometimes in the stiffest clay. After sunset the birds begin to call ‘ Ti, ti, ti,’ repeated rapidly, which is a signal to assemble, after which they fly out to sea and do not return till before sunrise. On the 1st of November when the birds had returned as usual to their burrows, a pecufiar gurgling noise was noticed, hah an hour later a bird came out and flew off, returning at sunset, but only flew round the entrance several times and then went off again, returning the following night, and entering the burrow, the same peculiar gurgling was repeated. A little later on a bird came out and flew away returning at sunrise and entering the burrow. After some time a bird came out and flew away. The remaining bird proved on dissecting to be a female sitting on her egg. The male was never found incubating. “ When the young is hatched, both the male and female rear it, and it is about full grown in March.” Sandagerf says these birds strike the lantern on Mokohinou Island, on thick nights in October and November, while going to their breeding-place on the north-east end of the Little Barrier Island. The original description is herewith given : — Procellaria cookii. Proeellaria velox Banks. Icon, ined., b. 16 ? \ Grey above, with the apex on each feather narrowly margined, as well as their bases, white ; oblong spot below each eye ; wing-coverts, secondaries, and quills brownish-black, with the basal portion of the inner webs of the two last, white ; the front, cheeks, under * Trans. New Zeal. Inst. 1885, Vol. XVIII., p. 92, 1886. t ib., 1889, Vol. XXII., p. 291, 1890. 167 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. wing-coverts, and the whole of the under-part, white. Bill black, tarsi and knee brownish- yellow ; feet black, with the intermediate webs yeUow. Total length 12| inches ; bill length, 1 inch 7 lines, depth in middle, 3^ lines ; wings, 9^ inches ; tarsi, 1 inch 2 lines. New Zealand. The bird figured is a male collected near New Zealand. This is one of the mistakes made through the acceptance of unauthenticated records. As will be seen from the synonymy, this bird has been accepted as a member of the Austrafian avifauna ever since the time of Gould, who included it in his Handbooh, as it “ frequents the seas between Australia and New Zealand.” But no one could possibly distinguish this bird from P. c. leucoptera on the wing, and the only record I have examined of this bird in Australia turned out to be Halohmna coerulea ! Bamsay, in his Tab. List Austr. Birds, p. 24, 1888, included it as being in the Austrafian Museum, Sydney. Perhaps his was an Australian-shot specimen, as he does not appear to have had a large collection of Petrels from other localities at that time. Study of the specimen may however prove the identification incorrect. In my Handlist I included Pterodrmna brevipes, Pterodroma neglecta, and Pterodroma gularis. I fortunately discovered there were no authentic records of these species in Austrafian waters before I had the Plates prepared. For the present they must be omitted. The group of small Petrels ranged around Pterodroma coohii is well marked and the subspecies are easily recognisable. At present the subspecies known are : — Pterodroma cooTcii coohii Gray leucoptera Gould 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 . . New Zealand. East Australia. nigripennis Rothschild . . Kermadec group. axillaris Salvin . . . . Chatham Islands, New Zealand. defilippiana Gigl. and Salvad. Western South America. longirostris Stejneger . . Japanese Isles. The nomenclature is not confused, the only matter needing attention at all being the status of P. velox Solander. Gray ranged it under his own P. coohii ; later Bonaparte concluded it was better referable to P. leucoptera Gould. In the Ornith. Miscell., Vol. I., p. 230, 1875, Salvin introduced Solander’s diagnosis as follows : — “Proc. velox supra a cinereo nigricans subtus nivea pedibus caeruleis digito externo nigricante Mscr. Hab in Oceano australi. “ Kuhl refers this drawing [No. 16, Lat. 48° 27' Long 93°], which is only a pencil-sketch, to Prion turtur. I think however that it more properly belongs to Halobcena coerulea, though Solander’s character, ‘ supra cinereo nigricans,’ hardly applies. 168 BLUE-FOOTED PETBEL. “The proper application of the name P. velox must continue doubtful.” Sharpe later pointed out, without comment {Hist. Coll. Brit. Mus.,Yo\. II., p. 175, 1906), that the drawing might refer to H. coerulea. I attach Solander’s detailed description : — velox Procellaria supra e cinereo nigricans, subtus nivea, pedibus ca'ruleis ; digito extimo nigricante Habitat in Oceano australi. Latit. austr. XL VIII 27 Longit. XCIIIoccid. (Febr. 15, 1769) ibidem Latit. austr. XLIV 35 Long. occ. CIX 2 (Febr. 23, 1769) Latit. austr.XXXVI 49 Long. occ. CXI 30 (Martii 3, 1769) Lat. austr. XXV 21 Longit. occ. CXXIX (Martii21, 1769) Latit. austr. XXIX 10 Longit. occ. CLIX 20 (Sept. 19, 1769) Lat. austr. XXXVII 10 Long. occ. CLXXI'5 (Octob. 2, 1769) Lat. austr. XXXV 8 Long, occ. CLXXXVIII 30 (Jan. 6, 1770)" Lat. austr. XLII 9 Long. occ. CLXXXV (Febr. 14, 1770) Lat. austr. XXXIX 17 Long. occ. CCIV : 6 (Apr. 11, 1770) Mother Carey’s Pigeon Tota avis supra cinereo-nigricans, subtus nivea Rostrum nigrum, compressum Mandihula superior apice adunca, a naribus ad sinum sulco obliquo profundo exarata, infra quern linea impressa paralela Tubus narium rostro triple brevier, bilocularis Dissepimento ad orificum producto Apertura' ovales Mandihula inferior parum adunca, inferne pone apicem gibba, sulco longitudinali a basi ad gibbum tendente notata. OcuU nigri Caput fronte & ante oculos albidum Vertex autem Nucha & Regie oculorum e fusco nigra Collum supra & totum dorsum e cinereo -nigricantia Gula, lugulum, Pectus, Abdomen, Crissus, & Femora nivea Uropygium cinereum Ala' mediocres, supeme nigricantes, infeme alba', marginibus posticis cinereis ex apicibus remigum a tectricibus non coopertis Angulus carpi nigricans. Margines metacarpi nigricanti alboque varii Cauda fuliginosa', cuneata pedibus longior Obs. Pena' Crissi longa' subtus caudam fere tegentes, unde primo intuitu subtus alba videtur Pedes ca'rulei Digito extimo geniculisque omnibus nigricantibus, vel interdum tantummodo fuscis Membrana conectens interdum sordide albescens, interdum glauca, venis fuscis reticulata Ungues nigri, lanceolati. Loco digiti postici Unguis parvus niger ^ Avis mense Octobri (h.e, vere) multo ponderosior et parum major Longitude ab apicem rostri ad finem cauda' Pondus ' ^ inter apices alarum expansarum VOL. n. 169 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. The bird killed on February 1 5th, 1769, was sketched by Parkinson, as noted above, and the name P. velox being attached, it would be best to restrict it to that form. The description does not agree with either P. coohii or P. Imco'ptera, though presumably the birds obtained in September, 1769, October, 1769, January, February and April, 1770, would belong to those forms, or even to P. nigripennis Rothschild, or P. axillaris Salvin. The beautiful diagnosis is certainly referable to a bird similar to these, and I feel certain that a bird fully answering to Solander’s details will later be recognised 170 t » CESTRELATA LEUCOPTERA ( WHITE - WINGED PETREL ) . Order PR0GELLARIIF0BME8 No. 103. Family PROCELLARIIDjE. PTERODROMA COOKII LEUCOPTERA. WHITE-WINGED PETREL. ' (Plate 88.)* Procellaeia LEUCOPTERA Gould, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., Vol. XHI., p. 364, 1844 ; Port Stephens, New South Wales. Procellaria leucoytera Gould, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., Vol. XIII., p. 364, 1844. Procellaria cookii (not Gray) Gould, Birds Austr., Vol. VII., pi. 51, 1846. Rhantistes velox Bonaparte, Comptes Rendus Sci., Paris, Vol. XLII., p. 768, 1856. Coohilaria velox id., ib., Vol. XLIII., p. 995, 1856. Cookilaria leucoptera id., Oonsp. Gen. Av., Vol. II., p. 190, 1857. Mstrelata leucoptera Gould, Handb. Birds Austr., Vol. II., p. 454, 1865 ; Reichenow, Deutsche Siidp. Exp., Zool., p. 486, 1907. Fulmarus leucopterus Gray, Handl. Gen. Sp. Birds Brit. Mus., Vol. III., p. 106, 1871. Fulmarus velox id., ib. (Estrelata leucoptera Salvin, in Rowley’s Misc., Vol. I., p. 256, 1876 ; id., Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., Vol. XXV., p. 416, 1896 ; Campbell, Nests and Eggs Austr. Birds, p. 907, 1901 ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 94, 1906 ; Mathews, Handl. Birds Austral., p. 17, 1908 ; Godman, Monogr. Petrels, p. 243, 1908 ; Littler, Handb. Birds Tasm., p. 176, 1910 ; HuU, Emu, Vol. X., pp. 252-3, 1911 ; id., Vol. XI., p. 99, 1911. Pterodroma {.Estrelata) leucoptera Ramsay, Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., Vol. II., p. 202, 1877 ; id.. Tab. List Austr. Birds, p. 24, 1888. Distribution. The seas of New South Wales. Adult male. Head, hind-neck, sides of neck and mantle black, hke the lesser wing-coverts, bastard- wing, primary-coverts, outer webs and tips of primaries and the long scapu- lars ; inner webs of primaries brown near the shafts, white on the remaining portion of the inner webs ; median and greater wing-coverts ash-grey as also the back and short scapulars ; innermost primaries and secondaries ashy-grey, basal portion of inner webs white ; axillaries white ; upper tail-coverts and tail pale ash-grey, some of the outer feathers minutely mottled with white and grey on the inner wfebs ; feathers of the forehead black, fringed with white ; lores, chin, throat, and entire under-surface white, including the long under tail-coverts, sides of body and under wing-coverts ; the small coverts round the margin of the wing slate-grey narrowly edged with white ; sides of breast dark slate grey. Total length 307 mm. ; culmen 25, wing 215, tail 95, tarsus 30. * The Plate is lettered (Estrelata leucoptera. I7I THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. This description, taken from the co-type of seventy years ago, requires modification when freshly moulted specimens are examined. Through Mr. Hull’s generosity I am enabled to add the following details ; — Head, hind-neck, sides of neck and mantle dark bluish-grey ; median and greater wing-coverts and back ashy-grey with noticeable white fringes to the feathers ; lower- back lighter ; rump dark, hke head ; upper tail-coverts and tail like lower-back, but tips of tail-feathers darker. All the feathers of the upper surface with fighter bases ; from the back to the tail pure white bases. Adult female. Not so dark above as the male, and slightly smaller in all the measurements. The sexed pair Mr. Hull forwarded me for examination show no differences, the female being slightly larger in some measurements. Nest. “ A depression in the ground, or a crevice amongst loose stones, fined with a small quantity of broken pieces of dead fronds of the cabbage palm ” (Hull). Ngg. " One, soft chalky-white, rounded oval, dimensions 1.96 by 1.48 inches ” (Hull). Breeding-season. November and December (Hull). Gotjld* writes : “ I frequently saw it [this bird] during my passage from Sydney to Cape Horn, but it was most numerous between the coast of Australia and the northern part of New Zealand. It is one of the most elegantly formed species of the genus, and is rendered conspicuously different from the rest of its congeners by its white abdomen and under wing-coverts, which show very conspicuously when the bird is on the wing.” The original description is here reproduced : — Procellaria leucoptera n. sp. Crown of the head, all the upper surface and wings dark slaty black ; tail slate-grey ; greater wing-coverts slightly fringed with white ; face, throat, all the under surface, the base of the inner webs of the primaries and secondaries, and a line along the inner edge of the shoulders pure white ; bill black ; tarsus and basal half of the interdigital membrane fleshy- white; remainder of toes and interdigital membrane black. Total length 13 inches ; bill 1 ; wing ; tail 4 ; tarsi 1 J ; middle toe and nail If. Nearly allied to P. mollis but much smaller in size, and differs also in the white line along the under surface of the wing, formed by the white basal halves of the feathers. It breeds in great numbers on Cabbage-tree Island, at the mouth of Port Stephen’s Harbour, New South Wales. The bird figured and described is a male from the Gould collection, and is a paratype received in exchange. Mr. Hulll who found this bird breeding on Cabbage-tree Island in December, 1910, writes (October) : “ We heard a shrill cry, like the sounds ‘ Peep, peep ’ rapidly repeated several times, and a small bluish-grey bird fiuttered out from under the dead fronds, and half fiew, half waddled down the gully towards the shore. It soon became entangled in the vines, and upon being captured proved to be (Estrelata leucoptera Gould. Further search revealed several more birds, all of which uttered their cry upon hearing our footsteps. Some were * Handb. Birds Austr., Vol. II., p. 455, 1865. t Emu, Vol. X., p. 255, 1911. 172 WHITE-WINGED PETREL. discovered hidden in deep crevices amongst the loose stones, and in one case two birds were together. Careful search failed to disclose any sign of eggs but, upon dissection, two females taken showed signs of an early intention of laying.” Again, on p. 256 (December) he found a bird “ sitting in full view amongst some vines trailing over the ground, and on removing her discovered her egg reposing on a bed of dead cabbage-palm fronds, broken into short pieces and piled for a few inches in depth in a hollow amongst the stones.” Sitting birds were found in all directions : “In most cases the bird was visible, either under an overhanging rock or in a crevice amongst the stones. In several instances a cry from under a mass of fallen fronds led to a search, and the bird was found nesting amongst the stones beneath. In one place I found five sitting birds under one mass of fronds. The eggs were for the most part fresh, but several were partly incubated, and two contained feathered chicks. “ The sitting birds show no fear, but pecked sharply at one’s hand, although the beak is not strong or large enough to inflict more than a slight scratch. When removed from the nest they generally fluttered down the gully towards the sea, but in some instances returned after going a short distance, and sought shelter in a rock crevice.” This instance shows well the inaccuracy of crediting difierent subspecies of birds with similar breeding-habits. From our knowledge of the nesting of P. coolcii Gray and P. nigripennis Rothschild, which are certainly only sub- specifically distinct from P. leucoptera Gould, we should also have presumed that the last named would be a burrowing bird. Instead, as above, we find it to be a surface-breeding form, and from Mr. Hull’s account, never making a burrow. Consequently I have not included in this work any habits of Petrels save those which I believe have been written from observation of the subspecies occurring in Austrahan waters. Investigation into the literature makes me anticipate that many of the species noted in Australian waters breed on the outlying rocks adjacent thereto, and I foresee rich results from the exploration of the rocks in Bass Strait, the islands south of Tasmania, and the islets of the Recherche Archipelago and other Westralian island groups. Who would have anticipated the discovery of the West Australian form of Pterodro7na 7nacroptera ? Yet a study of literature alone pointed to some such conclusion. i \ Note. — ^In my Handlist I admitted Pagodroma nivea, but I can trace no authentic occurrence in Australian waters. As it may at any time be captured within the Australian limits, I here include a few notes respecting its nomenclature. 173 Genus — P AGODROMA. Pagodroma Bonaparte, Gomptes Rendus Sci., Paris, Vol. XLII., p. 768, 1856 . . . . . . . . Type P. nivea (Forster). This genus is recognisable by its resemblance to Pterodroma, but from which it is easily differentiated by its comparatively short, high, and very compressed bill, its more strongly developed hallux, and the coarse scuteUations on the tarsus and feet. It has usually been considered a monotypic genus. Hitherto only one species has been recognised, and the authority quoted as Gmelin, but I find the earliest description was published by Forster, and the correet reference should read Procellaria nivea Forster, Voyage Round the World, Vol. I., pp. 96 and 98, 1777, where it is thus described: “A petrel about the size of a pigeon, entirely white with a black biU and blueish feet ; its colour induced us to caU it the snowy petrel ” ; thereafter named Procellaria nivea. Forster’s detailed description was not pubhshed until the Descr. Anim. were edited by Lichtenstein in 1844, when we find the following account (p. 58) : — Dec. 1772. Procellaria nivea F. Fig. picta G. The Snowy Petrel or Snowbird. Procellaria tota nivea, rostro atro, pedibus glaueis. Habitat in Oceano antarctico a gradu Latitudinis australis 62 usque in circulum Antarcticum, plerumque observavimus eas in vicinia glaciei. Corpus magnitudine circiter Proc. capensis, omnino niveum. A rostro in extremam caudam 1 ped. „ „ medium unguem 1 „ J poll. Alae expansae 2 „ 5 „ Cauda ab uropygio Rostrum longum ad basin in fronte „ ,, usque ad rictum „ latum Pedes nudi in extremum medium digitum Digitus medius cum ungue Unguis medius The “ Fig. picta G ” refers to paintings made by George Forster, and we find one finished and one unfinished picture in the Banksian collection. No. 90 is a pencil-drawing of a flying Petrel with ship and icebergs in the background. It is not quite accurate in its details, such as the shape of the biU and the proportions, and agrees with the suggestion that it was drawn on December 11th, 1772, as I noted the foUowing in Cook's Voyage Bound the 6 10 99 11 „ To » q 4 •^10 >> Ito » 174 PAGODROMA. World, p. 22 : “ At noon we were in the latitude of 51° 50' South and longitude 21° 3' E., where we saw some white birds about the size of pigeons, with blackish bills and feet. I never saw any such before ; and Mr. Forster had no knowledge of them. I believe them to be of the peterel tribe and natives of these icy seas.” Drawing No. 89 is a finished painting of a bird swimming, and was undoubtedly made from the bird described by J. R. Forster as above, as it is carefuUy drawn, the bill being accurately figured, and the gape coloured bluish, the total length being 12 inches. It is signed “ G. F., Dec. 30, 1772. Southern Ice Ocean ” — and “ Procellaria nivea ” printed below by the artist. This date agrees with Cook’s note {loc. cit, p. 33) : “ Dec. 30, 1772. We shot one of the white birds : upon which we lowered a boat into the water to take it up . . . The white bird was of the peterel tribe ; the bill, which is rather short, is of a colour between black and dark blue ; and their legs and feet are blue.” From the preceding I conclude the type-locality of Forster’s P. nivea should be fixed at lat. 50-60° S. long. 15-22° E. No synonymy was created until Peale introduced Procellaria Candida, which was described thus [Zool. ExpL Exp., Birds., p. 295, 1848, cf. 2nd ed., p. 451, 1858) The whole plumage, including the shafts of the quiUs and feathers, pure white, covering a plumbeous down ; tail slightly rounded, consisting of twelve feathers ; the under-coverts even with and sometimes exceechng the tail in length ; bill black, compressed, point slender ; the under mandible comparatively strong ; hides brown ; feet bluish flesh-colour ; nails strong, flattened, the inner ones very sharp on the inner edge ; flrst quill longest. Total length, fourteen and one tenth inches ; extent of the wings, thirty inches ; tail, four and three tenths inches ; bill, to the angle of the mouth, one and four tenths inches ; along the culmen, seven tenths of an inch ; tarsi, one and four tenths of an inch ; middle toe, including the nail, one and six tenths inches ; nail, four tenths of an inch. Latitude, 64° S. and about 104° W. of Greenwich. In the Oonsp. Gen. Av., Vol. II., p. 192, Bonaparte, ignoring Peale’s name, noted under his P. nivea, “ vars. major and minor. Unaccompanied by any details whatever, these names are of little interest, being absolutely nude. In the Mus. Pays-Bas, Procellarice, 1863, Schlegel however differentiated two forms, for which he used the names Procellaria nivea and Procellaria nivea minor. The first (p. 15) he considered to be Pagodroma nivea major of Bonaparte, and characterised it, giving as measurements : Wing 10 inches 1 to 7 lines ; bill, length 11 lines, depth 4 lines, width 4J lines ; length of nasal tubes 2 lines ; tarsus 17 lines ; mid toe 16 lines. The other (p. 16) he introduced as Procellaria nivea minor, considering it to be P. n. minor of Bonaparte. His description reads : — Absolument semblable ^ la Procellaria nivea et habitant les memes parages : mais d’lme taille constamment moins forte. 175 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. Wing 9 inches 3 lines : bill, length 8 to 8^ lines ; depth 3^ lines ; width 3| lines ; length of nasal tubes 1^ lines ; tarsus 14 lines ; midtoe ISJ lines. Glaces du Pole Sud. Mers antarctiques. The comment in the Monograph on the variation is (p. 256) : “ Dr. Bowdler Sharpe, in his report on the collections of the ‘ Southern Cross ’ Expedition (p. 149), points out that the extraordinary variation in size exhibited by a series of the Snowy Petrels is not due to a difference of sex ; the males measured by him having a wing of 10-1 to 11-8 inches, and the females 9-8 to 11*8 inches. The variation in size of biU, too, is also very marked, and is not a sexual distinction.” In my experience of measuring Petrels, I have found no variation such as expressed above which was not due to the confusion of races, and I therefore examined the series of P. nivea in the British Museum. Upon sorting them into groups according to locahties, it was apparent that some other conclusion must be arrived at, as large and small birds were present from the same place ; but it seemed that the large ones were constantly large while the small were as regularly small, and that no intermediates were existent. Careful measure- ments confirmed this, nine birds giving : Bill 20-22 by 9.5-10.5 ; wing 251-263 ; tarsus 30-32 ; middle toe 33-35 ; middle claw 10-11 mm. ; — while four others gave : Bill 24-26 by 12-14 ; wing 297-304 ; tarsus 38-40 ; middle toe, 39-42 ; middle claw 13 mm. ; the whole of these being from Cape Adare, Victoria Land, and thereabouts. It wiU be noted that the large birds have every measurement absolutely larger, with no intergradation whatever. These were all killed about the same time of year, and both male and female were represented in each size, and all were fully adult as far as could be ascertained. The biUs of the small kind were very small and weak, and agreed with the general description as evidenced by Coues’s diagnosis : “ The bill is very short, being less than half as long as the skull ; and exceedingly small, weak, slender and compressed throughout, its base being much higher than broad.” They also would be referable to P. nivea Forster, and here would be attached P. Candida Peale and P. nivea minor Schlegel. The bills of the large birds however, though agreeing in compression and general form, could not be called “ exceedingly small and weak,” as they are comparatively strong and powerful — as a matter of fact, being very deep in proportion. I can see no other conclusion but that two distinct species are at present included under P. nivea. The names hitherto proposed refer to the small form, while the large one appears nameless. Both seem to breed all round the Antarctic Continent, and much research and large collections must be made before the subspecies and species of Pagodro^na are definitely limited. 176 PAGODROMA. No birds are at present available from the type-locality of Forster’s P. nivea, so that the exact dimensions of P. n. nivea are unknown. For the series of the small bird from Cape Adare, of which I have given the measurements, I would accept the name Pagodroma nivea Candida (Peale). One specimen procured at the Falkland Islands by J. Macgillivray, with which are associated two others so labelled, appears to represent a race with slightly larger dimensions, viz. culmen 22-23 by 10, wing 264-270, tarsus 33, middle toe 35-36 mm. These may be representative of the South Georgia breeding bird which Von Steinen called Pagodroma nivea {novegeorgica ?) but of which I can find no detailed description. I would recommend the use of P. nivea novegeorgica for the form I have indicated. For the large bird from Cape Adare, which I herewith describe, I propose the name of Pagodroma confusa, sp. n. The whole plumage snowy- white, larger in every dimension than P. nivea \ “ bill bluish-black; legs, feet and webs bluish grey, nails black ” (E. A. Wilson). S : bill 24-26 by 12-14, wing 300-304, tarsus 39-40, middle toe 40-42, middle claw 13 mm. ? : bill 24 by 12-13, wing 297, tarsus 38, middle toe 39-40, middle claw 13 mm. VOL. II. 177 Genus— M ACRONECTES. Macronectes Richmond, Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., Vol. XVIII., p. 76, 1906 . . . . . . . . . . Type M. giganteus. Ossifraga Hombron and Jacquinot, Comptes Rendus Sci., Paris, Vol XVIII., p. 356, 1844 (not of Wood, 1836) . . . . . , . . . . . . . . Type M. giganteus. (Also spelt Ossifragua Gray, Cat. Gen. Subg. Birds, p. 129, 1855, and Ossifragra Hutton, Cat. Birds New Zeal., p. 44, 1871.) An unmistakeable generic type of Procellarian bird, being of large size, sur- passing some of the smaller Albatroses. The bill is very stout, longer than the head, and also longer than the tarsus. The nasal tube is more than hah the length of the chord of the culmen, and reaches to the unguis ; it is flattened and broad at the base, and showing a median keel, and narrowing to a small circular aperture, apparently single, the septum being far within. A specimen measured gave breadth at base 28.5 mm., at aperture 14 mm., diameter of aperture 9 mm. The interramal space is feathered. In the wing the flrst primary is longest, and the general shape is rounded. The tail is also rounded, and the rectrices number sixteen, a feature shared with no other member of this family. 178 MACRONECTES GIGANTEA ( GIANT PETREL ) . Order PR0CELLARIIF0RME8 No. 104. Family PROGELLARIIDM. MACRONECTES GIGANTEUS ALBUS. NEW ZEALAND GIANT PETREL. (Plate 89.)'’*' OssiERAGA ALBA Potts, Trans. New Zeal. Inst. 1873, Vol. VI., p. 152, 1874; Foveaux Strait, New Zealand. Ossifraga alba Potts, Trans. New Zeal. Inst. 1873, Vol. VI., p. 152, 1874. Procellaria gigantea Gould, Birds Austr., Vol, VII., pi. 45, 1848. Ossifraga gigantea id., Handb. Birds Austr., Vol. II., p. 443, 1865 ; Coues, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad. 1866, p. 32 (pars) ; BuUer, Birds New Zeal., p. 297, 1873 ; id., ib., 2nd ed., Vol. 11., p. 225, 1888 ; Salvin, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., Vol. XXV., p. 422, 1896 (pars) ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 94, 1899 ; Campbell, Nests and Eggs Austr., Birds, p. 909, 1901 ; Buller, Suppl. Birds New Zeal., Vol. I., p. 120, 1905 ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., 2nd ed., p. 94, 1906 ; Wilson, National Antarct. Exp., Aves, p. 93, 1907. Ossifragra gigantea Hutton, Cat. Birds New Zeal., p. 44, 1871. Fulmarus giganteus Gray, Handl. Gen. Sp. Birds, pt. m., p. 105, 1871 (pars). Fulmarus {Ossifraga) giganteus Ramsay, Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W. 1877, Vol. II., p. 202 ; id.. Tab. List Austr. Birds, p. 23, 1888. Ossifraga giganteus North , Birds County Cumber., p. 115, 1898. Macronectes “ gigantea ” Richmond, Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., Vol. XVIII., p. 76, 1906. Macronectes gigantea Mathews, Handl. Birds Austral, p. 18, 1908 ; Littler, Handb. Birds Tasm., p. 177, 1910. Macronectes giganteus Godman, Monogr. Petrels, p. 261, 1908 (pars). Distribution. East Australian and New Zealand (Chatham, Antipodes, and Campbell Islands breeding) seas. Adult — dark phase. Sooty-black above and below ; wing 513 mm., cuhnen 101, tail 177, tarsus 88 ; “ BiU, pale yellowish horn ; feet and legs grey ” (Wilson). Adult — white phase. Entire upper and under surface white, with a few dark-tipped feathers sparsely scattered over the whole plumage. The dark feathers vary in pattern; some are entirely dark grey, while others are only tipped, or the grey restricted to the outer web ; there are also some with black shafts, the black increasing in width at the tips. Total length 865 mm. ; culmen 104, wing 483, tail 165, tarsus 94. * The Plate is lettered Macronectes gigantea. 179 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. Immature, Nestling, Nest, Egg, and Breeding -season of this subspecies do not yet appear to have been described, though Travers {Trans. New Zeal. Inst 1872, Vol. V., p. 219, 1873) wrote : “They breed in November (at the Chatham Islands) laying only one egg at a time. Like the albatros they only breed on rocky islets destitute of vegetation, the nests being placed on the edges of the cliffs.” From the authors quoted above I gather the following : This bird at night, when hovering round the ship, emits a most diabolical sound. Its flight is not so easy, graceful and buoyant as that of the Albatros, but is of a more laboured and flapping character. When disturbed, both young and old vomit matter of a highly unpleasant smell, sometimes as far as 8 feet. They eat Penguins, Prions, etc.. Seals, and in fact aU animals that inhabit the same locality as they themselves frequent. During the incubation period the parents will sometimes sit so closely, that they have to be pushed off the nests before the eggs can be taken. When going to feed on the carcase of a dead whale, the birds always alight some distance off and swim to their prey. It can walk erect. When resting, the whole tarsus touches the ground ; when flying, the tail is usually spread, and has a broad cuneiform appearance. The bird figured and described is a male albino, collected on the Snares (New Zealand). In the Monograph of the Petrels, this bird scarcely receives its due meed of attention, a great deal of interest being dismissed by the following short passage : “ It is remarkable that, as in the case of the Common Fulmar of the north, its great southern representative has occasionally, but very rarely, a pure white phase of plumage, many of the nearly white birds having a sprinkling of dark feathers . . . There is, however, a wide range of colour throughout the species, for birds vary from light grey to white, flecked with a few dark feathers. We have no reason to suppose that these birds of various phases of plumage do not interbreed, but from observations made by Dr. Wilson, we learn that a larger percentage of light coloured birds exist in the ice regions than in those of a more temperate zone.” It is further written (p. 262) ; “It is widely distributed in the southern oceans, where it was discovered by Captain Cook, who obtained an example in Kerguelen Island, which was subsequently described by Latham.” This is not quite accurate, as the following history will show. This bird was noted by Bougainville, and also Pernety, before the time of Captain Cook, and these references are included in the synonymy in the Monograph. The second one, by Pernety, reads — ‘‘Mouton, Pernety, Voy., I., p. 15, PI. 8, fig. 3.” This seems to be copied from Latham {Gen. Syn. Birds, Vol. III., p. 396, 1785), where it is written “ Mouton, Pernety, Voy. I., p. 15, t. 8, fig. 3 180 NEW ZEALAND GIANT PETEEL. (the bill).” The dash stands for Quebrantahuessos, and apparently in Pernety’s original edition, which I have not seen, the bird is called Quebrantahuessos Mouton. In the first English translation, published in 1771 (not 1777 as given in the Monograph), there is a figure of the head of Quebranta Huessos or Osprey on Plate XV., with references to “ p. 160, 214.” I cannot see any mention of this bird on p. 160, but on p. 177 I note: “We saw . . . some large birds called Quebranta-huessos.” On p. 214 is written: “I likewise brought to France and deposited in the Cabinet of Natural History, in the Abbey of St. Germain des Pres at Paris, the head and feet of a large water fowl of the carnivorous kind, which I have mentioned under the name of Quebranta-huessos. I have given its figure on account of the singularity of its biU.” ' The figure, though roughly drawn, is unmistakeable. In Forster’s trans- lation of Bougainville’s Voyage, pp. 62 and 63, 1772, commenting upon the following passage in the text, “ Their enemy is a bird of prey, with webbed feet, measuring near seven feet from tip to tip, and having a long and strong bill, distinguished by two tubes of the same substance as the bill itself, which are hollow throughout. This is the bird which the Spaniards call Quebrantahuessos there is a footnote by Forster, “ The Quebrantahuessos is a bird belonging to the genus called by Dr. Linnaeus, Procellaria, or Petrel; some of the sailors call it Albatross, but then we must take care not to confound the common albatross represented by Mr. Edwards, tab. 88, which is not this Quebrantahuessos, but I believe the bird described by our author to be not yet well known by our ornithologists ; and the imperfect account of Bougainville and Dom Pernetty are far from being satisfactory to natural historians. Our late great circum- navigators and philosophers will probably oblige the literary world with a drawing and account of this bird.” This bird had been met with on Captain Cook’s first voyage, and two drawings were made by Parkinson and two descriptions prepared by Solander which are here reproduced : — gigantea Procellaria tota fuliginosa, rostro sordide e flavicanti-virescente ; tubo narium atra (a) pedium producto Fig. Piet. Habitat in Oceano antarctieo a Terra del Fuego australi. Lat. austr. gr. LVIII (Febr. 2, 1769) Mother Carey’s Goose ' Avis in onmibus ad amussim usque similis varietati cinerea', nisi colore corporis, qui in hae nigricans seu fuliginosus est, dum in dla cinereus Caput fusco-ferrugineum, vertice pallidius, fronte nigricans Collum ferrugineo-fuscum Pectus fuscum maculis albidis obsoletis adspersum 181 THE BIEDS OF AUSTRALIA. Reliqua' omnes corporis partes fuliginosa' Pedes nigricantes Lingua integra, ad apicem fere porrecta Longitudo ab apice rostri ad finem cauda' 2 ped 4 inter apices alarum expansar 5 ped 10 cauda' Digit! intermedii 4| Rostri Pondus 5| libr. unc. gigantea Procellaria corpore toto cinereo subtus pallidiore, rostro sordide e flavicanti-virescente : (0) tubo narium extra medium producto Fiff. Piet. Habitat in pelago Atlantico, American australem alluente ; Lat. austr. gr. XXXVII (Dec. 22, 1768) Avis tota cinerea, subtus pallidior, magnitudine Ameris domestica' etsi tantummodo sex librarum & quinque unciarum pondere Rostrum 3| uncias longum, pallide & sordide e flavicanti-virescens, apicem versus obscurior Mandihula superior longior, apice adunca, a basi sub tubo narium profunde sulcata ; sulco dein oblique ad sinum descendente Tuhus narium interne e duobus cylindris compositus ultra medium antrorsum productus, superne basi latus, planiusculus, antice convexior et paulo altior Mandihula inferior recta, a basi ad f partes sulco exarata, apice latere convexiuscula, la 'vis ; superne rotundata, antice truncata (omnino ut in Diomedea exulante Linn.) subtus gibba & sulcata Oculi parva Iris cana Pupilla nigra Ala' angusta', longissima' Cauda brevis, rotundata Rectrices duodecim, toti cinerei ; marginibus apicu pallidioribus Pedes cinerei : Memhrana conectens unicolore, crassa Ungues lanceolati, obliqui Posticus sessilis Avis nostra 22 Decembris (1768) capta, tempore in illis terris solstitis a'stivalis, quo penas suas ibidem aves exuant, unde conjecturare licet, quod color vel dilutior vel obscurior erat quam in alius anni temporibus ; Tubo tamen nasali ultra medium rostri producto facile a congeribus distinguitur, etjam si ha'c a nobis descripta junior esset avis Longitudo ab apice rostri ad finem eauda inter apices alarum expans cauda digit! intermedii 9 1 unc. In Captain Cook’s Journal (edited by Wharton, 1893), p. 49, there is a note on February 18th, 1769, lat. 44° 50' S. lat. 99° 7' W. : “ Saw some Birds nearly as big as Albetrosses; they are aU black, with Yellow Beaks.” This would refer to this species. 182 NEW ZEALAND GIANT PETREL. Unfortunately for Forster’s suggestion, Solander’s descriptions and Parkinson’s drawings were not given to the literary world ; and the same fate befell his own work, for Forster himself accompanied Captain Cook on his second voyage, and here again a drawing was made by George Forster of the head of this bird, and a detailed description prepared by Forster senior which was not pubhshed until seventy years afterward. On Captain Cook’s third voyage this bird was met with on Kerguelen Island in 1776, when a painting of the bird was made by Ellis, and a detailed figure of the beak drawn of natural size ; it was again met with “ amongst the ice ” in 1779, and another painting made by Ellis. The first painting was of a wholly dark-brown bird, which is certainly not that of the bird described by Latham ; the second is of an entirely grey bird, seemingly larger than the pre- ceding, but this effect may be simply a fancy of the artist. Ellis’s paintings are not natural size, and no proportions are given. The first scientific description is that given by Latham {Gen. Synops Birds, Vol. III., p. 396, 1785), as here reproduced : — GIANT PETREL. (G. error). Bigger than a goose ; length forty inches ; expands seven feet. The bill is four inches and a half in length, remarkably stout; and the upper mandible very hooked at the end ; the tube on the top of it occupies at least two inches and a half from the base ; the colour a fine dusky yellow, not unlike that of polished hox-wood ; at the angle of the mouth a naked, wrinkled yellow skin ; the crown of the head is dusky ; the sides of it, fore part of the neck, breast, and belly, white ; hind part of the neck and upper part of the body pale brown, mottled with dusky white ; scapulars, wing coverts, quills, and tail, plain dusky brown ; the last six inches in length, and the feathers darkest in the middle ; legs four inches long ; the toes five, of a greyish yellow ; webs dusky ; the spur behind stout and pointed, but short ; claws dusky. Staaten Land, Terra del Fuego and Isle of Desolation, etc. Latham in his account of its distribution and habits confuses with it the North Pacific Albatros, D. albatrus Pallas. Gmelin, in the Syst. Nat, p. 563, 1789, based his description of Procellaria gigantea on Latham, as herewith given : — Pr. fuscescens albo maculata, subtus alba, humeris, alls, caudaque fuscis, rostro pedibusque flavis. Quebrantahuessos Bougainv., it. p. 63, &c. &c. Giant Petrel. Lath. syn. Ill, 2, p. 396, t. 100. ' Habitat in oceano, potissimum australi, circa Staatenland. Terra-del-Fuego, insulam desolationis etc., ansere major, 40 poUices longa, agilis, numerosa, instante praesertim procella, conspicua, victitans piscibus, phocarum aviumque cadaveribus came sapida. Narium tubes 2| poUices longus ; in angulo oris membrana nuda, rugosa, flava ; vertex obscurus ; tempera alba ; pedum digit! 5, membrana connectente, unguibusque obscuris. 183 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. The first locality given is Staaten Land, and that has been quoted as the type-locality ; there seems no reason why this should not be followed, as a bird such as described by Latham would occur there. Forster’s description of his Procellaria ossifraga, p. 343, is noteworthy in that it lacks measurements, but as it was drawn up from a Terra del Fuego specimen, it becomes an absolute synonym of Gmelin’s name. It seems strange that since the day of Gmelin no forms of this species have been separated, more especially as variations appear to have been noted ever since the time of Solander. Cones {Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad. 1866, p. 32), noting the variation in colour, records the possession of a pure white specimen which he concludes is the first note of such a variety. He had apparently overlooked the fact that Gould, in his Birds of Australia eighteen years before, had mentioned that a white variety followed his ship for days. I can find no writer who attempted to account for the variation in colour until that of Wilson’s in 1907. I examined many specimens with a view to indicating the subspecific forms of the species ; it was obvious from a very casual examination that such were determinable, and after I had completed my preliminary studies, I carefully read Wilson’s {National Antarct. Exp., Aves, p. 93 et seq., 1907) detailed facts and theories. As Wilson had attacked the subject from an entirely different standpoint, it is most interesting to find that his conclusions should coincide with mine; for that is what it amounts to, though he has expressed himself differently. Before going into my own figures, etc., I reproduce the portions of Wilson’s account bearing upon my own experiences : — The relative distribution of the various phases of this bird is a point to which a good deal of attention was paid throughout the course of our voyage. By making a rough estimate daily of the number of birds that we saw of this species, and notes as to their colouring, we came to the conclusion that the white form, although seen from time to time in the more temperate region of the Southern Oceans, is really very much more abundant, both absolutely and relatively in the ice. And not only this, but that the abundance of the intermediate forms has also some relation to locality and climatic differences. We first met with the Giant Petrel in 35° S. Lat. on September 21st, when we were in the South Atlantic Ocean. It was in this case the darkest variety of aU, with a lemon-yellow bill, the variety that may with some truth be called black. Again on October 22nd in 45° S. Lat. we saw the bird in the Southern Indian Ocean, and this example was also black. From that day onward we had one or two with us almost constantly between 45° S. Lat. in 51° E., and the ice-pack in 61° S. Lat. and 143 E., and thence to New Zealand, At the Macquarie Island we obtained one of the paler grey variety, the lightest in colour that we had seen in coming from the west ; and a few days later, in passing up the western side of the Auckland Islands, we saw Ossifraga in very large numbers almost all of which seemed to be somewhat small and grey, instead of brownish-black, as though they were perhaps the hen birds or the young of a nesting colony. On November 23rd, when we had passed to the north of the Macquarie Islands, we first saw the whoUy white variety, and this was in Lat, 55°, between 300 and 400 miles to the north of the ice-pack we had then just left. 184 NEW ZEALAND GIANT PETREL. The whole distance covered in the Southern Oceans was thus about 22,000 miles, and we were much struck by the way in which the several phases appeared and dis- appeared from time to time. In the open ocean, and in the more temperate regions throughout September and October, we saw only the largest and blackest birds, in good condition and with clear lemon-yeUow biUs. On approaching the ocean islands of Macquarie and the Aucklands in November we came into a region frequented almost wholly by the smaller and greyer phase or variety, sometimes in great numbers, and these all apparently in full moult, but although we must have seen in all many hundreds, we had met with as yet one only that was whoUy white, and that in the rather higher ranges of the temperate latitudes. Between New Zealand and the ice we again saw the grey birds moulting off Campbell Island on December 26th and 27th, and somewhat darker birds on Decembei 29th. In the pack-ice we saw one or two of the darker birds, and they became more numerous as we neared the coast at Cape Adare, and one might there constantly see two or three upon the floes, running along with wide ungainly straddling legs, unable to rise after feeding on some dead Adelie Penguin. On January 9th when we came to Cape Adare, we were surprised to see a collection of Giant Petrels standing on the shore, about a dozen of which were wholly white. In all there must have been two or three dozen birds, the majority of which were black, dark grey and brown, though some had paler heads, and some had heads quite white, with darker bodies . . . We obtained three of the white birds, and also one of the darkest brown ... In connection with the frequency of the white phase within the Antarctic Circle ... I have put in a tabular form an estimate of the various phases, necessarily a very rough one ... It shows that whereas the white phase is a variety in the sub- Antarctic region, it is by no means so rare in the region of the ice. In the sub-Antarctic region, moreover, Ossifraga is almost always of a uniform colour, either imiformly dark, blackish-brown, or blackish-grey, when viewed on the wing at a short distance, or else uniformly white. But within the circle one sees not only these unicolor phases, but a very considerable number of birds which vary between the white and dark. Some birds are dark all over, with white head and neck, and some are mottled grey, brown, and white. Between 33° S. and 66° 7' S. we observed, in a voyage of 140 days covering many thousands of miles : Dark birds. At least 500. Intermediate 4. White 1. Whereas between 66° 7' S. and 78° S. we observed in half as many days : Dark birds about 60. Intermediate 14. White 18. Then he notes that the percentage of white birds around Graham’s Land, according to Mr. Burn Murdoch, is about 5 per cent., and quotes Eagle Clarke’s South Orkney estimate of less than 2 per cent., and then points out that his observations were made 13° farther south than Graham’s Land, and 17° farther south than the South Orkneys, and writes : — This very gradation in the percentage of white birds from 1 in 500 in the ice-free seas, to 2 per cent, in the South Orkney Islands, then 5 per cent, in the ice off Graham’s Land and about 30 per cent, in South Victoria Land, so very much farther south, not only upholds but suggests that there are conditions in the ice-covered region which are more attractive to the whiter variations than to the darker ; but until white birds can be shown to interbreed and to exhibit some tendency to form nesting colonies apart from those of the darker birds, which at present is not the case, one can but SLirmise that in the above facts we are looking upon a very early step on the road i^o the formation of a distinet Antarctic species. From this it will be gathered that there appear to be two almost distinct zonal forms, both circumpolar, one being Subantarctic, the other strictly Antarctic. Wilson was mostly concerned in showing that the Antarctic form was becoming pure white, while the Subantarctic form was a dark one ; he also VOL. n. 185 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. concluded that the white form was larger than the dark one, but was confounded by finding that in some instances, for which he had no explanation, this law did not hold good. This confusion is relieved when the matter is treated in the way I propose. There seems to be no doubt whatever, that these birds range northwards from their breeding-places in the “off season.” It appears, moreover, to be due to this cause that so much confusing material exists in museums; instead of series we find abnormal specimens, or else birds from abnormal localities, and these are most misleading. This bird is so big, so common, and well known that it is only when it appears as an aberration or in some unexpected place, that it suffers death in the cause of science ! Carefully considering the nature of the bird that is figured and described by Latham, I would conclude it was a northern wanderer from the Antarctic, probably breeding at Graham’s Land, which is directly south of the extremity of South America. From lack of measurements we may conclude that Forster’s specimen was the young of this, as “ Corpus omne ferrugineo-fuliginosum ” would agree with such; as Eagle Clarke notes a like coloration at the South Orkneys (see 'post). With the Graham Land breeding bird, due to lack of specimens, I would associate that breeding at the South Orkneys of which Eagle Clarke wrote {Ibis, 1906, p. 173) : “ The proportion of birds in pure white plumage in the rookeries was not more, perhaps less, than 2 per cent. The colour of the birds ranged from very dark brown through all shades of chocolate, and from grey through light grey and mottled white to white.” From photographs of birds nesting at Cape Geddes, South Orkneys, repro- duced on pis. XXXI. and xxxii. of the Scottish Antarctic Exp., the pale birds seem most frequent. Unfortunately no measurements of the birds procured are given, so that the absolute sizes are not known to me. According to Wilson’s reasoning, which I consider good, series would enable us to differentiate between the South Orkneys and the Graham’s Land breeding birds. I have found that these birds are peculiarly constant in measurements when careful comparisons are made. I therefore conclude that Staaten Land be accepted as the type-locality of Gmelin’s Procellaria gigantea, and that the typical subspecies, to be known as — Macronectes giganteus giganteus (Gmelin), be regarded as the Graham’s Land breeding bird, and that name be used to include the South Orkney breeding form, pro tern. At the Falkland Islands there breeds a uniformly coloured dark bird, almost black, as Wilson puts it — which is smaller than the southern bird. Its 186 NEW ZEALAND GIANT PETREL. bill is very clear and pale, and according to Wilson, lemon-yellow. For this subspecies I propose the name — Macronectes giganteus solanderi, subsp. n. On Kerguelen Island breeds another uniform phase, which is easily separable by its longer and more massive bill, and while shorter in the wing than the Antarctic forms, has the tarsus and toes fully as long. Its general coloration is brown, while all the specimens I have examined have had more or less white faces. I name this form — Macronectes giganteus halli, subsp. n., after Mr. Robert Hall, who noted {Ihis, 1900, p. 27) : “ I found several young birds which had just lost their grey down and had assumed a shining black plumage, a phase on which I know of no observations. I do not see why this coat should be exchanged later on for what is a very poor one in comparison.” Lest it should be thought that, according to the Monograph of the Petrels, Kerguelen Island should be selected as the type-locality of M. giganteus, I would again note that Captain Cook did not call at Kerguelen Island until his third voyage, and the birds collected on that voyage do not appear to have come into the British Museum, whence Latham described his specimen, and moreover Latham’s description does not apply to the Kerguelen Island breeding bird. When we come to Australian-New Zealand seas we find other forms, and it would appear that the one met with in Australian waters is the one which, according to Captain Bollons (not Bolton, as given in the Monograph), has extensive rookeries on both Campbell and Antipodes Islands (c/. Waite Sub- antarctic Islands of New Zealand, Vol. I., p. 564, 1909). This form is uniformly coloured, and is darker than the Kerguelen form ; the wing is about the same length, but the bill is noticeably less, and the tarsus is also slightly smaller. My own specimens are from the Snares and the bird figured is an albino of this form. I would here explain that it would appear that the white birds occurring very rarely in the Subantarctic region should be classed as albinos, whereas the white forms to be discussed later, as characteristic of the Antarctic region, should not be so determined. In support of this contention I find that the New Zealand dark birds have dark legs, while the New Zealand albinos have yellowish legs, not blue- grey like the Antarctic white birds have. The white bird from the Snares in the British Museum which upset Wilson’s conclusions, is unquestionably an albino, and should not be compared with dark birds as a specimen of the white Antarctic birds. When the young leave their nests they are dark coloured and smaller in all their measurements than adults, and in a bird from Wellington, New Zealand, 187 ^ THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. the bill is deep orange-coloured, with the ungues pale horn ; in the adults the bill is yellow. It seems, also, that the albinos are rather smaller than the normal birds, which is what we would expect in albinism. This form should bear the name Macronectes giganteus albus, as Potts described {loc. cit.) a white bird from Foveaux Strait as Ossifraga alba, and I would expect the bird noticed by Gould thus : “ On visiting Recherche Bay in D’Entrecasteaux’s Channel, Tasmania, I found thousands of this species sitting together on the water and feeding on the blubber and other refuse of the whaling station,” to be referable to this subspecies. In the British Museum is a specimen from Norfolk Island, which is a dark young bird of the year, and undoubtedly a wanderer from the South, and agreeing with this form. I have noted the following extract in Buller {Suppl, Vol. I., p. 121, 1905) : “Mr. Napier Bell, the well-known Civil Engineer, in a letter from Perth, Western Australia, says ; ‘ Two islands here are the home of the Giant Petrel. This bird is as large as a Goose, and of a dark slate-colour. I saw one which flew on board one of the dredgers at Fremantle and dropped into the hopper, which is a great compartment where the dredger deposits its dredging ; but as this dredge is worked by suction from pipes laid to the shore, the hopper is unused and full of water. The bird has lived there quite contentedly for a month, and refuses to leave the hopper. It is fed every day, swims about in the water, and roosts in the iron girders.’ ” This is most interesting, as it implies that we have a form of M. giganteus breeding in West Australia. If so, why should not a form also breed in the east, and therefore explain the “ thousands ” seen by Gould. How little we do know regarding the Petrels breeding in the islands to the south of Australia seems certain from such a note as this. There still remains the Antarctic form met with by Wilson in the Ross Sea, etc. I have very carefully examined all the specimens at hand, and find that this is a larger bird throughout, and apparently becoming a fixed white phase. The oldest birds are pure white, and the youngest are the darkest coloured ; but the latter are much lighter than the lightest coloured northern birds, where also the youngest are darkest. Of this form Wilson noted that the bill was pale yellowish horn-colour and the legs and feet grey. It would be noted that regarding the “ Discovery ” birds which Wilson tabulated, all the white birds were larger than the dark, but that the measurements of one dark one almost equalled the white ones in length of bill. I find that this is a northern bird, procured at the Auckland Islands, and consequently 188 NEW ZEALAND GIANT PETREL. should not have been included. The reason why the dark southern birds are smaller is that they are the young of the first year ; they are all more or less in moult, and some show remains of the juvenile down. I conclude, as Wilson did, that in time this will become a fixed white subspecies, as the oldest birds are now the whitest and the youngest the darkest, but the very pale birds probably yet breed ; in the moult it is noticeable that the new feathers are mainly coming dark. Lonnberg, regarding the birds from South Georgia {Schwed. /Sildp. Exp., Vogel, p. 3, 1905), also remarks that the dark coloured bird is smaller. For this large Antarctic form met with by Wilson in the Ross Sea, I propose the name Macronecles giganteus wilsoni, subsp. n., as a record of the keen observations made by Mr. Wilson into the variation of this species. One of the most perplexing features of our knowledge of Petrels is our absolute lack of any accurate news of the breeding-places of the birds met with on the Western coast of South America. Many voyagers have met with this species in Valparaiso Bay, and the specimens procured show this to be the smallest and darkest subspecies. It has a remarkably small bill, and wing, feet and toes agree in their small dimensions. The largest and lightest and certainly fully adult, is very much smaller than any other adult bird, while a most perfect specimen of a full-plumaged bird of the year is almost deep black, and has a bright yellow bill with the feet dark. For this subspecies I propose the name — Macronectes giganteus forsteri, subsp. n. This bird is figured in the Monograph of the Petrels, though a Cape Adare bird is described, and as the soft parts of the Cape Adare bird are given in the text, a footnote draws attention that : “In the Plate the legs and feet are represented as blackish,” thus implying that the plate-coloration was erroneous. This is not so, as in the figured subspecies the feet are dark. In conclusion I would therefore agree with Wilson, that the southern bird is certainly tending to become a fixed white form ; and also, from the fact that the young are smaller and darker, would agree that it is the newest state. Potts’s {loc. cit.) description of the albino specimen shot off Centre Island, Foveaux Strait, is as follows: “Plumage white, mottled very sparingly throughout with single brownish grey feathers ; bill pale greenish ; sutures flesh colour, yellow at the tip ; legs and feet slate grey. Entire length 34 inches. Spread of wing across the body 77*5 inches ; wing, from flexure, 20 inches 6 lines ; tarsus, 3 inches 6 lines ; middle toe and claw 5 inches 4 lines ; outer toe 5 inches ; spread of web 7 inches ; bill 3 inches ; lower mandible 3 inches ; beak I inch ; gape to centre of eye I inch ; height of beak 1 inch.” 189 Genus — D A P T I 0 N . Daption Stephens, in Shaw’s Gen. ZooL, Vol. XIIl', pt. I., p. 239, 1826 Type D. capense, Calopetes Sundevall, Meth. Nat. Av. Disp. Tent., p. 142, 1873 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Type D. capense. Also spelt Daptea Blasius, List Birds Europe (ed. Newton), p. 23, 1862; Daptium Coues, Checklist North Amer. Birds, 2nd ed., p. 126, 1882 ; and Daptrion Taczanowski, Omith. Perou., Vol., III., p. 465, 1885. Bill laterally widened, as if inflated. Nostrils forming a high tube, slightly turned upwards, and not reaching to the “ nail,” but stopping short of the latter by about 6 to 7 mm. Interramal space bare. First primary longest Number of rectrices fourteen. Tail very slightly rounded. A single species. In my Handlist I admitted Thalassoica antarctica Gmelin, but I have been unable to trace any authentic occurrence of this species in Australian waters. Though the genus Thalassoica has been usually considered as being closely allied to Priocella^ and both placed far away from Daption, I consider that Thalassoica\ bears somewhat the same relationship to Daption as the thin- billed Prions do to each other ; of which more later. In general coloration the species are very similar ; each have dark heads and necks, white tails with dark tips and dark primaries with white inner webs ; while the main difference is the diverse colouring of the back and wing- coverts, but this diversity is more superflcial than real. The bills do not differ any more than do those of the Prions, and on account of similar colouring these have recently been all classed as congeneric. -s 190 DAPTION CAPENSIS (CAPE PETREL). Order PB0GELLABIIF0BME8 No. 105. Family PBOCELLABIIDJE, DAPTION CAPENSB. CAPE PETKEL. (Plate 90.)* Peocellaria capensis Linne, Syst. Nat., ed. x., p. 132, 1758 ; Cape of Good Hope. Pintado Bird Dampier, Voy. New Holland, Vol. III., pi. and p. 96, 1709. Procellaria capensis Linne, Syst. Nat., ed. x., p. 132, 1758 ; id., ed. xii., p. 213, 1766. Daption capenses Stephens, in Shaw’s Gen. Zool., Vol. XIII., pt. i., p. 241, 1826. Daption capensis Gould, Zool. Voy. “Beagle,” Vol. III., Birds, p. 140, 1841 ; id., Birds Austr., Vol. VII., pi. 5.3, 1847 ; ^■(^.,Handb. Birds Austr., Vol. II., p. 469, 1865 ; Hutton, Ibis 1865, p. 287 ; Ooues, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad. 1866, p. 162; Buller, Birds New Zeal., p. 299, 1873 ; Sharpe, Phil. Trans. Boy. Soc., Vol. 168, p. 118, 1879 ; Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway, Water-Birds North Amer., Vol. II., p. 400, 1884 ; Buller, Birds New Zeal., 2nd ed., p. 215, 1888; Oustalet, Missn. Scient. Cap Horn, p. 159, 1891 ; Salvin, Cat. Birds Brit Mus., Vol. XXV., p. 428, 1896 ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 94, 1899 ; id.. Ibis 1900, p. 28 ; Oates, Cat. Birds’ Eggs Brit. Mus., Vol. I., p. 159, 1901 ; Campbell, Nests and Eggs Austr. Birds, p. 911, 1901 ; Sharpe, Rep. “ Southern Cross,” p. 156, 1902 ; Buller, Suppl. Birds New Zeal., Vol. I., p. 122, 1905 ; Andersson, Schwed. Siidp. Exp., p. 46, 1905 ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 94, 1906 ; Eagle Clarke, Ibis 1906, p. 174 ; Lonnberg, Fauna St. Georgia, p. 77, 1906 ; Valette, Viaje Islas Orcadas Austr., p. 63, 1906 ; Eagle Clarke, Ibis 1907, p. 338 ; Wilson, National Antarct. Exp., Aves, p. 102, 1907; Menegaux, Exp. Antarct. Franc., p. 63, 1907 ; Mathews, Handl. Birds Austral., p. 18, 1908 ; Godman, Monogr. Petrels, p. 276, 1908 ; Littler, Handb. Birds Tasm., p. 179, 1910 ; Hull, Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., Abst. Proc., No. 298, p. n., 1911. ? Procellaria punctata Ellman, Zoologist, 1861, p. 7473. Daptes capensis Blasius, List Birds Europe (ed. Newton), p. 23, 1862. Fulmarus capensis Gray, Handl. Gen. Sp. Birds Brit. Mus., pt. m., p. 107, 1871. Calopetes “ capensis ” Sundevall, Meth. Nat. Av. Disp. Tent., p. 142, 1873. \\ Daptium capense Coues, Checklist, North Amer. Birds, 2nd ed., p. 126, 1882. Daptrion capensis Taczanowski, Ornith. P rou., Vol. III., p. 465, 1886. Daption capense Finsch, Ibis 1888, p. 309 ; Steinen, Internal. Polarforsch Deutschen Exp., Vol. II., p. 251, 1890 ; Reichenow, Deutsche Siidp. Exp., Zool., pp. 481, 553, 1907. * The Plate is lettered Daption capensis. 191 THE BIRDS or AUSTRALIA. Distribution. Seas of Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand (Atlantic and Indian Oceans). Adult male. General colour above dark lead-grey, chequered with white on the back, wings, and tail ; lesser wing-coverts dark lead-grey with white bases ; median coverts grey with white on the inner webs like the outer greater coverts ; inner greater coverts white with a wedge-shaped spot of grey at the tips ; marginal coverts and bastard- wing dark hoary -grey with pale bases ; primary-coverts dark grey, white at the base of the inner webs ; primary r quills blackish along the outer webs and at the tips, inner webs white, which colour extends on to both webs at the basal portion of the inner primaries ; secondaries white, tipped with slate-grey ; feathers of the back and scapulars, as well as those of the upper tail-coverts, white tipped with grey ; tail white with the apical portion blackish ; head and neck all round dark plumbeous-grey inclining to blackish on the occiput and becoming white on the lower- throat ; a short white line immediately under the lower eyehd ; under surface of body white with a few scattered spots of grey, particularly on the under tail-coverts and sides of body ; axillaries and under wing-coverts white, the marginal coverts plumbeous-grey ; bill and feet black ; iris dark brown, eyelids black ; “ The bare skin beneath the mandible, dusky red ” (E. A. Wilson). Total length 375 mm. ; culmen 41, wing 277, tail 118, tarsus 44. Adult female. Similar to the adult male. Of three birds obtained at the same time the one described has the throat the same colour as the head, while the other two have the white of the under surface encroaching up to the chin. Another adult example in my collection has the terminal band on the tail-feathers, and many of the feathers of the wing brown instead of slate-black, due to wearing. Young in down. Generally greyish above, greyish white below (Hall). Nestling. Slate-grey above, and paler and sooty on the under surface (Eagle Clarke). Nest. Composed of a few small angular fragments of rock and a Httle earth, placed on open exposed ledges of cliffs (Eagle Clarke, Laurie Island). Egg. Clutch one ; pure white ; axis 63 mm., diameter 42. Breeding -season. December and January (Eagle Clarke, South Orkneys). Incubation period. About forty -two days (Eagle Clarke). From the authors quoted above I gather that this bird can eject an evil- smelling reddish fluid from six to eight feet. Their cry is like the sound made by drawing a piece of iron across a large-toothed comb — “ cac, cac, cac-cac, cac.” the third being pronounced the quickest. They sometimes fly at night, as one fell on hoard ship about mid-night on one occasion. Hutton considers that they do not follow a ship all night, but sleep on the water and overtake a ship next morning. “ With half open wings they easily dive down three feet or so, and fish up any refuse, but they come to the surface again before eating it ” (Lonnberg). Mr. Eagle Clarke,* writing on the birds of South Orkney Islands, says that : “ To avoid the evil-smelling fluid getting on the clothes, the egg collectors had to use long poles to push the birds off the nest, before the egg could be taken. Both birds were found sitting side by side, one on the nest, the mate * Ibis 1906, p. 175. 192 CAPE PETREL. close alongside. The birds returned to the nests after the eggs had been removed, and were found sitting on the empty nests a week after. On Jan- uary the 13th a chick was hatched, and young birds were still in down on February 5th. “ Before laying this bird sits close on the nest for about a month, and it entirely disappeared from its nesting-haunts for some ten days before the first eggs were laid [December 2nd]. “ This species is a summer visitor to the South-Orkneys. In the autumn of 1903 it was only once seen after April 21st, on which date a flock was observed flying north. It was entirely absent from May till September. The first of the spring immigrants was seen on October 1st, but the bird was not noted again until the 23rd, after which date it became frequent. “ They were never observed flying over the land, but were to be seen on the wing in front of the cliffs, or sailing over the sea.” This bird is easily caught at sea, and on one occasion six were brought into the English Channel and liberated. Birds have been recorded in England but these may have first been brought from the usual habitat and liberated in English waters. “ It feeds upon minute crustaceans, most of which appear to be coloured with the bright orange pigment that is so marked a feature in those animals. They are freely ejected in a mucoid, orange-coloured mess when the bird is caught and handled.”* Though many specimens are available, no series are yet at hand made at the breeding-localities, and consequently I am unable to diagnose the races. The original description reads : — P. albo fuscoque varia. Amoen. acad., 4. p. , Osh. it. 76. Habitat ad Cap b. Spei. It is interesting to note that though on Captain’s Cook third voyage the egg of the bird was obtained on Kerguelen Island, no specimens of the egg were afterwards procured for over 130 years, when the Scottish Antarctic Expedition found it commonly breeding at the South Orkneys. The bird figured and described is a male, and was collected at sea off the Cape of Good Hope. * Wilson, National Antarct. Exp., p. 103, 1907. VOL. n. 193 Genus — H A L 0 B iE N A . Halob^na Bonaparte, Comptes Bendus Sci., Paris, Vol. XLII., p. 768, 1856 . . . . . . . . Type H. ccBrulea. Za'prium Cones, Bull. U.S. Nat. Mus., No. 2, p. 34, 1875 . . Type R. ccBrulea. Agreeing generally with members of the genus Prion, Pseudoprion, and Hetero- prion, but differing in its square tail and thin bill ; the latter agrees best with thin-billed members of Heteroprion, but the strong nail immediately separates it. The general facies recalls Pterodro^na. In the Monograph, Classification, p. xlix., it is stated that the first and second primaries are subequal while in Prion the first primary is longest. This is copied from the Catalogue of Birds, but in the British Museum there were only three specimens, one a juvenile, the second just completing its moult, and the third the type of P. forsteri Smith ; this last-named has the first primary the longest, and all the other specimens I have seen also have the first primary longest, so that I conclude that fully-grown examples have always this feature. 194 HALOBiENA CCERULEA (BLUE PETREL) Order PROCELLARIIFORMES No. 106. Family PROCELLARIIDJE. HALOB^NA O^RULEA. BLUE PETREL. (Plate 91.) Peocellaria c^rulea GmeUn, Syst. Nat., p. 560, 1789 ; Southern Ocean. Procellaria ccerulea Gmelin, Syst. Nat., p. 660, 1789 ; Buller, Birds New Zeal., p. 306, 1873. Procellaria ccerulea Vieillot,Nouv. Diet. d’Hist. Nat., Vol. XXV., p. 421, 1817 ; id., Galerie d’Ois., Vol. II., p. 232, 1825 ; Gould, Birds Austr., Vol. VII., pi. 52, 1847 ; Finsch u. Hartlaub, Fauna Centr.-Polyn., p. 246, 1867. Pachyptila “ ccerulea ” lUiger, Prodromus, p. 275, 1811. Prion “ ccerulea ” Lesson, Manuel d’Orn., Vol. II., p. 400, 1828. Procellaria forsteri (not Latham) Smith, lU. Zool. South Africa, Aves, pi. Lm., 1840. Procellaria similis Forster, Descr. Anim. (ed. Licht.), p. 69, 1844. Halobcena ccerulea Bonaparte, Comptes Rendus Sci., Paris, Vol. XLII., p. 768, 1866 ; Kidder, Bull. U.S. Nat. Mus., No. 2, p. 34, 1875 ; id., ih.. No. 3, p. 17, 1876 ; Buller, Birds New Zeal., 2nd ed., Vol. II., p. 214, 1888 ; Salvin, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., Vol. XXV., p. 431, 1896; Oates, Oat. Birds Eggs Brit. Mus., Vol. I., p. 160, 1901 ; BuUer, Suppl. Birds New Zeal., Vol. I., p. 122, 1905 ; Reichenow, Deutsche Siidp. Exp., Vol. IX., Zool., pp. 492, 557, 1907 ; Wilson, National Antarct. Exp., Aves, p. 104, 1907 ; Clarke, Ibis 1907, p. 339 ; Godman, Monogr. Petrels, p. 281, 1909. Halobcena ccerulea Bonaparte, Consp. Gen. Av., Vol. II., p. 193, 1857 ; Gould, Handb. Birds Austr., Vol. II., p. 457, 1865 ; Coues, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad. 1866, p. 163 ; Sharpe, Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. (Lond.), Vol. 168, p. 141, 1879 ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 95, 1899 ; Campbell, Nests and Eggs Austr. Birds, p. 913, 1901 ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 95, 1906 ; Mathews, Handl. Birds Austral., p. 18, 1908 ; Littler, Handb. Birds Tasm., p. 180, 1910. Fulmarus cceruleus Gray, Handl. Gen. Sp. Birds, Vol. III., p. 107, 1871. Pterodroma {Halobcena) ccerulea Ramsay, Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., Vol. II., p. 202, 1877 ; id., Tab. list Austr. Birds, p. 24, 1888. Prion cceruleus Vanhoffen, Joum. fiir Ornith., p. 310, 1901 ; Mathews, No\). Zool., Vol. XVIII., p. 204, 1912, Distribution. Australian and New Zealand seas (South Atlantic Ocean). Aduli male. General colour above pale blue-grey ; lesser and median wing-coverts darker than the back, like the bastard-wing and primary-coverts ; greater wing-coverts hke the back ; the four outer primaries dark brown on the outer webs, white on the 195 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. inner ones, with black shafts ; inner primaries blue-grey like the back ; secondaries mostly white with grey on the outer webs, innermost secondaries like the back ; the long scapulars tipped with white ; tail blue-grey broadly tipped with white, more narrowly on the outer feathers, the outermost pair are white, dusted with grey at the tips ; crown of head and feathers surrounding the eyes blackish, more or less mixed with white on the latter ; forehead variegated with brown and white, imparting a scalloped appearance ; lores, chin, sides and upper neck as also the under surface of body white, including the axillaries and under wing-coverts ; sides of lower-neck blue-grey like the back ; “ Bill bluish-black, the latericorn of the maxilla distinctly bluish. Legs and toes pale cobalt blue ; webs pink in the centre, grey borders at the free edges.” (Wilson.) Total length 275 mm. ; culmen .25, wing 209, tail 85, tarsus 29. Adult female. Very similar to the adult male, but the upper surface not so dark. “ The newly -hatched young have bill and toes slaty-blue, with apparently pale-yellowish webs and brownish-black claws. The horny speck upon the biU is whitish, and situated high above the tip of the bill. The region about the base of the bill is largely denuded. They begin to hatch. out about November 12th.” (Kidder.) Nest. “A burrow (excavated beneath the mounds of the umbelliferous plant Azorella selago) running straight inwards for a foot or more, then turning sharply to the right or left, parallel with the hill-side, thence downwards, often doubling once or twice upon themselves, and communicating with other entrances. At the bottom is an enlarged cavity, lined with fine root-fibres, twigs, ferns, or leaves of the ‘ Kerguelen tea,’ and quite dry.” (Kidder.) Egg. Clutch, one ; white and glossless ; axis 44 mm., diameter 32. Breeding-season. October and November (Kidder). Kidder,* writing from Kerguelen, says : “ Upon first landing (September 13th) the hiU-sides, apparently quite deserted during the day, became at night per- fectly alive with these birds and a species of Pelecanoides flying irregularly about the rocks and hummocks of Azorella and filling the air with their call. The note much resembled the cooing of pigeons, consisting of three short notes repeated in rapid succession and followed by two long ones, thus ‘ Kuk-Kuk-Kuk coo-coo.’ “ They seemed rarely to fly over the water, but to confine themselves to the neighbourhood of their burrows, sometimes alighting and again taking wing, — very much as if there were legions of bats inhabiting the hill. I never succeed in satisfying myself as to the object of this constant flight during the night, although I spent much time in watching them, since, so far as my observation extended, there were no night-flying insects whatever upon the island, nor did the structure of the stomachs of these birds seem fitted to an insect diet. “ Upon our first arrival, two birds, male and female, were usually found in each burrow during the day. After they began to lay, however, but a single one was to be found with the egg, usually, but not always, the female. “ When set free in the day-time, the mode of flight was irregular, as if the light were confusing to the bird. They always alighted in the water after * Bull, U.S. Nat. Mus., No. 2, p. 35, 1876. 196 BLUE PETREL. flying a mile or so. The noise of their calling was incessant during the night, coming as often from the burrows as from the air, but became much less frequent after the middle of November, from which I infer that the call is connected with the season of pairing. “ They had probably begun to pair in September, and the first egg was found on October 23rd, although doubtless they begin to lay earher. A young bird covered with slate-coloured down, was found on November 12th, and frequently thereafter. “ In the neighbourhood of their burrows, they are exclusively nocturnal in their habits, being, perhaps, the very latest to appear after night-fall. They are, however, often seen at sea during the day, many hundreds of miles from land.” The Rev. A. E. Eaton,* also writing from Kerguelen, says : “ The resemblance between this Petrel and Prion desolatus extends even to their coo. Their calls underground, are so much alike, that on hearing one it is difficult to say to which of the two species the bird cooing should be referred, without digging it up for inspection ; and their tone is very similar in sound to the cooing of some foreign doves. But their calls during flight are very different from one another. “It is in the habit of burrowing into Azorella growing upon dry soft loam, where no obstacles impede its progress ; its eggs are, therefore, obtainable without much trouble as early as the 23rd of October. A nestling almost fully fledged was killed on the 9th of February. “ Some of the old birds while they were dying cast up the contents of their crop, which were green, like ulvaP Mr. W. Eagle Clarkef has recorded the extended southern range of this bird to 69° 33' S. ; he also says : “ It would seem that this species is local in its far southern range, and is a specially characteristic bird of the Weddell Sea. It was not seen at the South Orkneys during the summer, nor was it encountered at sea in the vicinity of that Archipelago. “ The bill, in freshly killed examples, was cobalt-blue, except the nares and culmen, which were black. The feet were cobalt-blue, the webs pale flesh- coloured, the claws black.” The male bird figured and described was collected on Macquarie Island in September, 1899. ' I have a specimen as noted previously, which I received under the name of P. coolci, which was picked up dead in Victoria. Otherwise I can trace no definite records for Australian waters. * Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc., Vol. 168, p. 142, 1879. ^ Ibis 1907, p. 340. 197 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. Apparently this bird was first distinguished by Forster on Captain Cook’s second voyage, who met with it associated with P. vittatus. I give the extract relating to its discovery, under that bird. He named it Procellaria similis on account of its likeness to P. vittata, but his descriptions were not published until 1844. In the Tagebuch Entdek. reise Sudsee (p. 35, 1781) he recorded that name, but it was unaccompanied by a description, so it must be ignored, as a nude name only. This bird was first described by Latham {Gen. Synops. Birds, Vol. III., p. 415, 1785) as the Blue Petrel, thus : — Br. Mus. Length 12 inches. Bill an inch and a quarter, blue with a black tip ; middle of the bend yellow ; the upper parts of the plumage blue-grey, but paler than the last ; under parts white ; beneath the eye a patch of dusky ; on the breast a dusky band ; the greater quills are somewhat darter than the rest, and the inner webs of some of them nearly white ; the tail the colour of the back, but the outer feather is white, the next white within, the rest tipped with white ; across the body and wings when expanded a dark band, as in the broad-billed species ; the wings when closed are somewhat longer than the tail ; the legs are blue ; the webs pale. Inhabit the Southern Ocean, from 47 to 68 degrees of latitude. and upon this description was founded Gmelin’s Procellaria ccerulea {Syst. Nat., 560, 1789) Procellaria caerulea. / Pr. ex caerulo cinerea subtus alba, rostro pedibusque caeruleis. Blue Petrel. Porst. it. I. p. 91 Lath. syn. Ill 2., p. 415, n. 21. Other Blue Petrel. Cook it. I. p. 32. Habitat gregatim in oceano australi, 12 poUices long. Rostrum apice nigrum ; infra oculos area, ad pectus taenia obscura ; remiges majores reliquis obscuriores ; rectrices extimae totae, proximae intus albae, reliquae apice ; fascia obscura per corpus et alas transversa. The only synonyms are Forster’s P. similis and Smith’s P. forsteri. Although many observers have noted that it is a common bird in nature, it is one of the rarest species of the Procellariiformes in Museums ; consequently no subspecies can be differentiated, though very probably such exist. 198 Genus — P P I 0 N . Prion Lacepede, Tableau Oiseaux, p. 14, 1799 . . . . Type P. vittatus. PucAy^^^'Za Illiger, Prodromus, p. 274, 1811 .. .. .. Type P. vittatus. Priam'pTius Rafinesque, Analyse Nature, p. 72, 1815 . . Type P. vittatus. Small birds with a very broad bill, with short nasal tube ; the rami of the under mandible divergent and enclosing a distensible pouch which is unfeathered ; the nail of the upper mandible is small and weak, and separated from the short nasal tube by a long flattened space ; the lateral plates are extended and flattened so that they present a horizontal surface rather than a vertical one ; its breadth at the widest part more than half the length of the chord of the culmen ; as a matter of fact, very nearly two-thirds ; inside the upper mandible on each side is a row of comb-like lamellsB which extend the whole length of the lateral plates. The wing has the flrst primary the longest and the tail, consisting of twelve feathers, is long and wedge-shaped. The feet are of medium length, and slender. As restricted above the genus Prion will contain one species only, the well-known P. vittatus (Gmelin). The reasons which have led me to accept such restriction as being correct, will be fully dealt with in the following pages. In the Monograph of the Petrels, p. 285, is given the following resume of the genus Prion as there accepted : “Of the genus Prion four species are recognised. They are alike in plumage and markings. There is very little difference in the dimensions except in the bill, and in the development of the lamellae at the base of the upper mandible, but with respect to these characters great individual variation is displayed. Prion vittatus has the longest bill, its sides being dis- tinctly bowed and graduating towards the tip. P. hanJcsi has the bill bowed on the sides, but it is smaller. I have, however, examined some specimens which could not be referred with certainty either to P. vittatus or P. banksi, but were intermediate between the two. P. ariel and P. desolatus have the sides of the bill straighter, but as in the case of P. vittatus and P. banksi it is not\ always possible to separate the two species definitely. In 1879 Dr. Bowdler Sharpe gave a review of the genus Prion, and recognised four forms, which are dis- tinguished with difficulty. In 1896 Salvin admitted the same number of species, but relied principally on the presence or absence of lamellse in the biU, and in their more or less pronounced development. The same four species 199 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. are admitted by Professor Reichenow, and after a prolonged study, I think that, for the present at least, no alteration is advisable. I must, however, state that in the large series which I have examined in the British Museum and in the Rothschild collection, it has been impossible to define, from the characters of the width of the bill and its lamellae, where one species ends and another begins, the connection between the broad-billed Prion vittatus and the thin- billed P. desolatus being practically complete, if a large series is examined. So far as is known, no two forms of these Blue Petrels nest on the same island, but our knowledge is so limited that it would be unwise to alter the present determination. ’ ’ Previously dealing with the species named Procellaria ccerulea by Gmelin, the author of the Monograph had written (p. 281) : “ In colour and markings H. ccBrulea resembles the species of the genus Prion, but differs from them in the shape of the tail, which forms a distinguishing character. It has also been separated from Prion by reason of the supposed absence of the lamellae near the base of the upper mandible ; a close examination, however, shows that the lamellae are present though very minute, so that this character does not hold good ; but I cannot unite the two genera, as has been done by Reichenow and W. L. Sclater, on account of the difference in the tail, which in Halobcena is square, while m Prion it is wedge-shaped.” Considering that the difference in the shape of the tail was so small, and the fact that the bill was admitted to be of the Prionitic type, I indicated in the E7nu (Vol. X., p. 320, 1911) my con- clusion that the genus Halobcena should be merged in Prion ; there was obviously much greater difference between P. vittatus and P. desolatus than between P. desolatus and P. ccerulus, if the colour of the tail were ignored. The monographic study I have since made of this group, has caused me to altogether modify that view, and I here put forward the results of my investigations. I have enjoyed the advantage of studying the whole of the British Museum collection which includes the types of P. forsteri Smith, P. hanJcsi Smith, P. turtur Smith, P. magnirostris Gould, P. hrevirostris Gould, P. rossi Bonaparte ; typical specimens (paratypes) of P. ariel Gould and P. australis Potts ; and topo types of P. vittatus Gmelin and P. desolatus Gmelin. These include all the forms that have been named. In conjunction, I have studied the very fine collection of examples, mostly from New Zealand, in the Rothschild Museum, Tring, as the Hon. Walter Rothschild, with his usual generosity, has placed them at my disposal. My own series helped to fill up some gaps, and Mr. Eagle Clarke once more loaned me specimens obtained by the Scottish Antarctic Expe- dition, for which thanks are due. Bound up intimately with the literature of these birds is the avifauna of South Africa, as in the Zoology of South Africa, by 200 PRION. Dr. A. Smith, appeared the first series of figures of the species differen- tiated. I applied to Dr. Peringuey, Director of the South African Museum, for information, and he most courteously forwarded me the series from the Museum, thereby fixing the records for that country in connection and comparison with Smith’s types. The careful study of the preceding collections has enabled me to trace the development of the bill from the Juvenile to the adult, and thereby fix the relationship of many of the puzzling specimens noticed by the author of the Monograph. I have also noted the small amount of variation that is apparent when breeding series are measured and compared. Regarding the literature of the group, I find that the most scientific, accurate, and convincing treatise was written by Coues {Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad. 1866, p. 162 et seq.), and it is surprising that we should now have to revert to his conclusions almost in toto. Dealing with the modification of the bill he considered that (excluding P. cocrulea Gmelin on account of the square tail) Prion vittatus Gmelin should be the sole member of the genus Prion. For Prion turtur Gould, he proposed a new genus — Pseudoprion, and included therein P. turtur, P. hanhsi Smith, P. ariel Gould, and ? P. brevirostris Gould. Considering the disabilities under which Coues worked, this treatment is delightful. From a knowledge of his methods when dealing with the Petrels, it would appear that he had no named specimen of P. ariel Gould and he admitted he only knew P. brevirostris Gould from literature, but suggested the identity of the two later. He notes that P. turtur Kuhl seems to be appHcable more to P. ariel Gould than to the bird Gould so applied it, not recognising that these were the same species, and also that Halobcena typica Bonaparte should be synonymised, following Schlegel. Coues’s work was more or less accepted by the New Zealand ornithologists, Hutton concluding {Gat. Birds New Zeal., p. 80, 1871) : “A regular sequence of the Prions can be formed from P. vittatus to P. ariel ; and therefore I do not think it desirable to retain more than three specific names to mark each end and the centre of the chain, and ariel, as the latest, will have to be omitted.” BuUer {Birds New Zeal., p. 309 et seq., 1873), accepting that view, used P. turtur (ex Kuhl)=P. ariel Gould=P. typica Bonaparte: P. banhsi Gould =P. rossii Gray, and P. vittatus Gmelin, thereby endorsing Coues’s synonymy. In the Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. (Lond.), Vol. 168, 1879, Sharpe, dealing with Kerguelen specimens, admitted two species (not four, as stated in the Monograph), thus : Prion vittatus Gmelin, p. 135, as synonyms including P. forsteri Latham, P. latirostris Bonn, P. banksii Smith, P. magnirostris Gray, and P. australis Potts ; p. 137, P. desolatus Gmehn, as synonyms giving P. turtur Kuhl, P. ariel Gould, P. rossii Gray, P. brevirostris Gould and Plaloboena typica VOL. n. 201 THE BIRDS OE AUSTRALIA. Bonaparte. As showing the peculiarities present in his treatment, might be cited the fact that he included the “ Types ” of P. rossii in his list of specimens of P. vittatus, while the name is synonymised with Prion desolatus Gmelin. A Plate was given including the biUs of eight specimens which were to show the variation present due to age and sex, but of course no account being taken of locahties and through lack of material, imperfect knowledge of growth-variation being inevitable, misdeterminations are noticeable. In the second edition of his Birds of New Zealand, BuUer probably through Salvin’ s advice admitted four forms since commonly accepted as distinct. It seems however certain, that the names used cannot be safely identified at this time. In his first edition Buller’s P. turtur was the bird since known as P. hrevirostris or P. ariel, and his P. banksii was probably the bird since known as P. desolatus. Whether his P. ariel of the second edition was a juvenile specimen of the species commonly known under that name or not, can only be guessed. In his Supple^nent, Vol. I., he included five species, P. vittatus Gmelin, P. hanhsi, p. 18 (Hutton, Auckland Islands), P. desolatus (Stephens Island, Hutton, Antipodes Island ; Chatham Island), P. hrevirostris (Otago), and P. ariel. The figure of P. desolatus given on p. 123 is undoubtedly that of P. turtur, while the figure on p. 125 purporting to represent P. hrevirostris is also of P. turtur, the figure on p. 125 of P. desolatus being probably drawn from a young specimen of P. turtur ; as the difference noted on p. 126 for his P. ariel shows that young birds were again being used. I conclude that Buller’s P. desolatus, P. hrevirostris, and P. ariel are all referable to the same species, P. turtur Kuhl. The Monograph followed in its entirety the treatment of this group by Salvin in the Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., Vol. XXV. Having carefully worked through the material available, I find that I must endorse Coues’s treatment and most of his synonymy. Under the species my reasons will be fully explained. As regards genera, I prefer to accept Coues’s separation of P. vittatus as the sole representative of the genus Prion, but must go further than that author, as the species Coues grouped under Pseudoprion are divisible into two genera. 202 Key to the Species. A. Bill long and very broad ; about 33 mm. long by 20 mm. at base . . P. vittatus vittatus, p. 204. B. Bill shorter and not so broad ; about 31 mm. long by 17 mm. at base . . . . . . P. vittatus gouldi, p. 211. C. Bill longer and not so broad; about 36 mm. long by 17 mm. at base , . , . . . P. vittatus missus^ 212. 203 Order PR0GELLARIIF0BME8 No. 107. Family PROCELLARIIDM. PRION VITTATUS VITTATUS. NEW ZEALAND BROAD-BILLED PRION. Procellakia vittata Gmelin, Syst. Nat., p. 560, 1789 ; New Zealand. Broad-billed Petrel Latham, Gen. Syn. Birds, Vol. III., pt. 2, p. 414, 1785. Procellaria vittata Gmelin, Syst. Nat., p. 560, 1789. Procellaria forsteri Latham, Index Ornith., Vol. II., p. 827, 1790. Procellaria latirostris Bonnaterre, Tabl. Ency. Meth. Orn., Vol. I., p. 81, 1791. PacJiyptila '^vittata ” Illiger, Prodromus, p. 275, 1811. Pachyptila forsteri Stephens, in Shaw’s Gen. Zool., Vol. XIII., pt. i., p. 251, 1826 ; Jardine and Selby, lU. Ornith., Vol. I., pi. 47, 1828. Prion “ vittata ” Lesson, Manuel d’Orn., Vol. II., p. 400, 1828. Prion '' forsteri” Lesson, Traite d’Orn., p. 613, 1831. Pachyptila vittata Temminck, Plan. Color. d’Ois., 89® hvr., Vol. V., pi. 528, 1832. Prion vittatus Gray, List Gen. Birds, p. 78, 1840 ; Gould, Birds Austr., Vol. VII., pi. 55, 1844 ; id., Handb. Birds Austr., Vol. II., p. 474, 1865 ; Layard, Ibis 1862, p. 97 ; Coues, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad. 1866, p. 169 (pars) ; Travers, Trans. New Zeal. Inst. 1872, Vol. V., p. 220, 1873 ; Buller, Birds New Zeal., p. 312, 1873 ; Ramsay, Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., Vol. II., p. 203, 1877 ; Sharpe, Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc., Vol. 168, p. 135, 1879 (pars) ; Buller, Birds New Zeal., 2nd ed., Vol. II., p. 212, 1888 ; Ramsay, Tab. List Austr. Birds, p. 24, 1888 ; Salvin, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., Vol. XXV., p. 432, 1896 (pars); North, Birds County Cumber., p. 115, 1898; Oates, Cat. Birds’ Eggs Brit, Mus., Vol, I,, p. 160, 1901 ; Campbell, Nests and Eggs Austr. Birds, p. 914, 1901 ; Buller, Suppl. Birds New Zeal,, Vol. I,, p. 123, 1905 ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., p, 95, 1906 ; Wilson, National Antarct. Exp., Aves, p. 104, 1907 ; Reichenow, Deutsche Siidp, Exp., Zool., pp. 490, 556, 1907 ; Mathews, Handl. Birds Austral., p. 18, 1908 ; Godman, Monogr. Petrels, p. 285, 1909 ; Littler, Handb. Birds Tasm., p. 181, 1910. Prion magnirostris, Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc. (Lond.), 1862, p. 125. Prion australis Potts, Ibis 1873, p. 85. Distribution. Australian and New Zealand seas. Adult male. General colour above dark blue-grey, including the head, hind-neck, sides of breast, back, scapulars, and tail ; lesser wing-coverts dusky-brown becoming darker and inclining to black on the bastard- wing and primary-coverts, the latter edged with white at the tips ; the four outer primary-quiUs black on the outer webs, white on the inner ones, with black shafts ; inner primaries and secondaries pale blue-grey with 204 NEW ZEALAND BROAD-BILLED PRION. a certain amount of white on the inner webs and dark shaft-streaks ; the long scapulars blackish tipped with white ; middle tail-feathers blue-grey like the back, with broad black tips which become obsolete on the outer feathers, the colour of which is paler ; the feathers of the crown are black subterminally ; base of forehead and lores whitish, like the supercihary streak ; throat, breast, abdomen and sides of body white hke the axillaries and under wing -coverts ; under tail-coverts white at base, the long ones blackish at the tips, the short coverts blue-grey like the lower flanks ; “ Upper bill, pale bluish-grey, shading into black at the base and on the nostrils, the central part of thecrdmen also black and the terminal part or point of the upper bill yellow. Mandible pale blue, with a black line along the centre of each side, and the tip black ; iris dark brown, legs and toes pale blue ; webs, flesh pink, with the free borders grey.” (Wilson.) Total length 300 mm. ; culmen (exp.) 33, wing 209, tail 104, tarsus, 33, width of bill 20. Adult female. Similar to the adult male. Nestling. “ The young taken out of the nest on the 20th November are clothed entirely with a dense covering of dark smoky grey, lightest on the neck and under-surface ; pectinations of the upper mandible undeveloped ; the bill measures from gape to point 1 inch, greatest width only 4 lines ” (Potts). Nest. “ At the end of a straight burrow, which dips sHghtly for eighteen to twenty -four inches. Or in the cavities of the cliffs on the sea-shore ” (Travers). Egg. Clutch, one; pure white, glossless and minutely pitted; axis 48.5, diameter 35 (Chatham Islands). Breeding-season. September (Travers, Chatham Islands). Erom Mr. Travers’s notes* I gather that both sexes take part in the incuba- tion, during which time they are not easily disturbed, simply pecking at the hand when the egg is being taken, but remaining on the nest after its removal. When taken from the burrows in the day-time and liberated, they fly away with a wavy uncertain flight as if blinded by the sudden light. When the egg is laid in the crevice of the cliffs, it is placed on the bare rock, but when laid in the burrow a few leaves are placed under it. Dr. Wilsonf gives a most interesting account of the formation of the “ pouch,” in the lower mandible of this bird. “We obtained one or two specimens on the ‘ Discovery,’ and were much interested to And that the floor of the mouth was very extensile, enabling it to take up a much larger quantity of water and small crustaceans than would otherwise be possible. If the lower bill of a dried skin is examined the loose blue [in life] skin between the rami of the lower jaw will be found dry and folded to form a hard level floor to the mouth. But if the tip of the little Anger is inserted into the mouth of a freshly killed specimen, it wiU be found that the neatly folded skin' can be quite easily distended into the form of a bag, or sack, something like that of the pehcan, which is obviously of use to a bird that has developed lameUse on the upper bill which act like the baleen plates of a whale. The tongue is bright, * Trans. New Zealand Inst. 1872, Vol. V., p. 220, 1873. f Nat. Antarct. Exp., Aves., p. 104, 1907. 205 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. orange-pink in colour, smooth and fleshy, and of a suitable muscular character to assist in expelling the fluid from a mouthful of minute crustaceans and the water in which they were taken up. “ The flight of the Prion petrels is wonderfully strong and untiring for such small birds. They are apparently always on the wing, and one rarely sees them resting on the water ; their flight is always very rapid, with quick changes which show alternately the wholly white underparts and underwings, and the blue- grey backs with the darker V-shaped mark, which characterises this and allied forms of petrel.” The bird described is a male, which was picked up dead on Bondi Beach, Sydney, on the 1 0th of July, 1904, and is undoubtedly referable to the New Zealand breeding form. In Forster’s Voyage Round the World, Vol. I., 1777, p. 91, is the flrst note of the “ Blue Petrel, so called from its having a bluish-grey colour, and a band of blackish feathers across the whole wing.” On p. 98 Forster named the Blue Petrel Procellaria vittata, but the name cannot be accepted as of this introduction, as it is indeterminable. In Captain Cook’s account of the same voyage (p. 12, 1777), under date October 16th, 1772, we read : “ And were now accompanied by albatrosses, pintadoes, sheerwaters, etc., and small grey petrel, less than a pigeon. It has a whitish belly, and grey back, with a black stroke across from the tip of one wing to the tip of the other. These birds sometimes visited us in great flights. They are, as well as the pintadoes, southern birds ; and are, I believe, never seen within the tropics, or North of the Line.” On p. 29, Dec. 23rd, 1772; “ Mr. Forster, who went in the boat, shot some of the small grey birds before mentioned, which were of the petrel tribe, and about the size of a small pigeon. Their back, and upper side of their wings, their feet and biUs, are of a blue-grey colour. Their bellies, and under side of their wings, are white, a little tinged with blue. The upper side of their quill feathers is a dark blue tinged with black. A streak is formed by feathers nearly of this colour, along the upper parts of the wings, and crossing the back a little above the tail. The end of the tail feathers is also of the same colour. Their bills are much broader than any I have seen of the same tribe, and their tongues are remarkably broad. These blue petrels, as I shall call them, are seen nowhere but in the southern hemisphere, from about the latitude of 28° and upwards.” On p. 32, December 27, 1772 : “ Some of the petrels [shot by Mr. Forster] were of the blue sort, but diflering from those before mentioned, in not having a broad bill ; and the ends of their tail feathers were tipped with white instead of dark blue. But whether these were only the distinction betwixt the male and female was a matter disputed by our naturalists.” In connection with Captain Cook’s statement regarding their broad bills, may be 206 NEW ZEALAND BEOAD-BILLED PRION. noted the following in his Journal, p. 124 (edited by Wharton, 1893), Aug. 31, 1769 : “Some Albetfosses, Sheer Waters, and a great many Pintado Birds about the Ship with some hundreds of Birds that were smaller than Pidgeons, their backs were grey, their Bellies white, and the end of their Tails black, and have a blackish line along the upper part of the wings from the tip of one to the other. We saw birds very like those near Faulklands Islands on the Coast of Pata- gonia, only they had not the blackish streak along the wings ; they fly low like sheer waters or mother Cary’s birds, and are perhaps of the same Tribe, for Distinction sake I shall call them Doves.” On p. 127, Sept. 29, 1769 : “A number of Doves ; of these we have seen more or less ever since the 31st of last Month, the day we flrst saw them.” At this time Captain Cook was approaching New Zealand, and it is interesting to And that Solander described a specimen obtained on the 2nd October as follows : — latirostris Procellaria supra ca'rulescenti cana, strigo obliqua fusca subtus alba, pedibus ca'rulescentibus rostro basi dilatato Habitat in Oceano australi Lat. austr. XXXVII : 10 Longit. occ. CLXXI 5 (Octob. 2, 1769) Pihus, Nucha, Cervix, Dorsum & Uropygium pulcre e ca'ruleo cana Capitis latera alba ; vitta suboculari plumbea retrorsum extensa Gula, lugulum. Pectus, Abdomen et Femora alba Crissi Pena' breviores tota' alba', laterales longiores intus plumbei, intermedii toti extra medium nigricantes Ala' longa' tota' subtus alba', supra cinereo-glauca' Fascia oblique nigricante ab angulo cubiti versus Uropygium ducta, qua' sub volatu valde conspicua Eemiges quatuor primores supra extus nigricantes Cauda rotundato-subcuneata, longitudine pedum, a basi extra medium plumbea apice nigricans Rostrum antice compressum, basi valde dilatatum, incrassatumque Mandibula superior a tubo narium ad sinum rima obliqua, cutacea exarata dorso subdepresso sed rotundato, nigro ; apice adunca plumbeo ; lateribus infra & pone rimam plumbeis, rotundato, dilatatis Tubus narium convexus, rostro quadruplo brevior, niger, antice parum elevatus subplumbeus, bilocularis Dissepimentum subretusum Apertura' obovata ; superne angustiores Mandibula inferior recta, plumbea, basi dilatata, apice dilutior, parumque adimca, utrinque exarata, rima recte cutacea versus apicem ampliata. \ Cutis submento rugis plicata Oculi nigricantes Pedes amoene ca'rulei, ut et Digiti Palma albida, subdiaphana, venulis paucis purpurascentibus Ungues lanceolati, nigricantes, basi plumbei Loco digiti postici Unguis conicus, sessilis niger basi albidus 207 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. Figura rostri ab omnibus facillime distinguenda, etjam a Procellaria Turture Mscr. cui alias simillima, ut taceam fasciam obliquam dorsalem Longitude ab apice ad fin. Cauda' 12 inter apices alar, expans 24J Pondus 5 unc. This distinct form has had few names bestowed upon it. It was first described by Latham {Gen. Syn. Birds, Vol. III., p. 414, 1785) under the name of Broad-billed Petrel, thus ; — “ Size of a small Pigeon : length twelve inches. The bfil blue-grey, an inch and a quarter in length, and near an inch broad at the base ; both mandibles bent at the points ; the edges finely serrated : at each nostril a distinct very short tube ; the tongue is very large and fleshy, and fiUs up the whole of the bill, conforming to the shape of it : the colour of the plumage is blueish ash on the upper parts ; and some of the feathers are brown in the middle : the sides of the head, and under parts of the body, white ; beneath the eye a dusky black streak ; the quills, and the ends of six middle tail feathers, dusky, almost black, when the wings are expaned a dark band appears from the tip of one wing to the other, crossing the back : the legs are black. “ The female had the same plumage, but the bill, though greatly exceeding that of any other Petrel, is scarcely more than half the breadth of that of the male. “ These were seen all over the Southern hemisphere, from 28 degrees upwards. Met with in Dusky Bay, and other parts of New Zealand.^' Gmehn’s Procellaria vittata {Syst. Nat., p. 560, 1789) was primarily founded on Latham’s account ; — Pr. caiirulescente cinerea subtus alba, pedibus nigris. Habitat in omni hemisphaerio australi . . . columbae minoris magnitudine, 12 pollices longa. Rostrum ex caeruleo griseum, basi poUicem latum mandibulae utriusque apice adunco et margine serrato ; lingua latissima, carnosa ; tempora alba ; stria infraocularis nigra ; remiges et rectricum 6 intermediarum apices nigricantes. The following year Latham, in his Index Ornith. (Vol. II., p. 827), rejected Gmelin’s name, and named his Broad-biUed Petrel ^^Procellaria forsteri,'^ while the succeeding year Bonnaterre, working quite independently, in the Tahl. Encycl. Meth. Ornith. (Vol. I., p. 81), called Latham’s Broad-billed Petrel Procellaria latirostris, thus choosing the same name as Solander had selected. I have been unable to trace any connection between Bonnaterre and Solander, and consider that the coincidence is due to the fact that Bonnaterre simply latinized Latham’s English names. I note this, as when the Solander MS. was first recorded, it was written that Bonnaterre’ s name was taken “ ex Sol. MS.” Forster’s description of P. vittata was founded on a New Zealand 208 NEW ZEALAND BEOAD-BILLED PRION. bird, so that fairly considering all the preceding, I have selected New Zealand as the type-locality of Omelin’s ProceUaria vittata ; Latham’s P. forsteri and Bonna- terre’s P, latirostris, being different names for the same bird, become absolute synonyms. No attempt was made to separate any forms until Gould indicated a new species as having a larger biU than P. vittatus, under the name of P. 7nagnirostris {Proc. Zool. Soc. (Lond.), 1862, p. 125) : — “ Head, all the upper surface and sides of the chest blue-grey ; lesser wing coverts and the edge of the shoulder brown ; the remainder of the wing blue-grey, deepening into slate-grey at the tips of the inner primaries ; the outer primaries slaty-black, fading into white on the inner edge ; scapularies deepening into slate-grey near the end, and tipped with pale grey ; tail very light grey, the centre feathers tipped with blackish-brown ; chin, throat, centre of the breast, abdomen, and under surface of the wing creamy- white ; a faint wash of blue on the lower part of the flanks and the under tail coverts ; bill blue, deepening into black on the sides of the nostrils, at the tip and along the side of the lower mandible ; irides brown, legs beautiful light blue. Total length 11 inches ; bill, base to tip 2 inches, breadth at base 15/16th, wing 8 inches, tail 4J inches, tarsi 1 J inches. “ Hab. unknown.” In the Ibis, 1873, p. 85, Potts introduced Prion australis for the bird breeding on Green Island in Foveaux Strait. He noted as differences : “ The bill is of remarkable size ; it is considerably longer than the head, it is much broader than that of P. vittatus ; the pectinated apparatus of the upper mandible is very fuUy disclosed. Of the primaries the first is quite as long as, even if it has not the advantages when measured against the second quill ; the total length exceeds that of P. vittatus by some inches.” Diagnosis of adult : — “ Head dark bluish grey, mottled sparingly with black ; ear-coverts rather slaty-blue, bounded above and below irregularly with white or yellowish-white ; upper surface bluish-grey ; scapulars clouded with staty-black ; upper tail- coverts tipped with the same, under-surface white ; under tail-coverts white lightly tinged with delicate ash-grey ; quill-feathers, of which the first two are longest and of about equal length, outer web black, inner web white, more or less stained with ash-grey ; tail bluish-grey tipped with black ; chin naked, the skin marked with narrow furrows of angular form arranged in regular ordei?, angle within angle. Bill, longer than the head, measures in length from gape to point 9'", greatest width of bill 11'", tarsus 1" 5'", middle toe and claw 1" 6'", wing, from flexure 8", tail 4", total length 14" 3'".” Long series from New Zealand and the Chatham Islands cannot be differentiated from the type of Gould’s P. inagnirostris, and the topotypes of VOL. n. 209 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. P. australis Potts. I therefore designate as type-locality of P. magnirostris Gould, New Zealand. These numerous specimens are all identical in measurements, and aU agree in having the very wide bill mentioned by Gould and Potts. Where, then, does the P. vittatus of these authors breed ? I have seen specimens from St. Paul’s Island and Bass Strait which have the bill noticeably smaller, and these, I presume, must be the ones identified by Gould and Potts as typical P. vittatus. Through the courtesy of Dr. Peringuey, I have seen a nice series from Tristan d’Acunha which agree with the New Zealand specimens in the very broad bill, but are noticeably fighter in upper coloration. These I propose to name Prion vittatus keyteli, subsp. n., but the other subspecies I will deal with in the next articles. 210 Order PR0CELLARIIF0BME8 Family PROCELLARIIDuE. No. 108. PRION VITTATUS GOULDI. AUSTRALIAN BROAD-BILLED PRION. Prion vittatus gouldi, subsp. n. ; Type no. 12373 in my collection ; Bass Strait. Distribution. Australian seas. Adult. Differs from P. vittatus vittatus (Gmelin) in its smaller bill : culmen (exp.) 31.5 mm. ; by greatest breadth 17 mm. ; wing 187 mm. I CONCLUDE that this must be the bird referred to by Gould as P. vittatus when he described his P. 7nagnirostris. From St. Paul’s in the Indian Ocean I have examined specimens agreeing very closely with this, the bill being slightly shorter and wider. I propose for these the name Prion vittatus 7nacgillivrayi, subsp. n. It is interesting to note that Gould refers to P. vittatus thus : “I observed it on my outward passage to Tasmania near the islands of Amsterdam and St. Paul ; ” and added, “ the seas washing the coasts of Tasmania, New Zealand and the Auckland Islands are the localities whence most of the specimens in our Museums are obtained.” Apparently nothing has yet been made known regarding the habits of this bird. 211 Order PBOCELLABIIFORMES No. 109. Family PBOCELLABIIDJS. PRION VITTATUS MISSUS. AUSTRALIAN LONG-BILLED PRION. (Plate 92.)* Prion vittatus missus, subsp, n. ; West Australia ; Type no. 12,250 in my collection. Distribution. West Australian seas. Adult. In general coloration agreeing with members of the P. vittatus and H. desolatus groups, but differs from the former in its long, narrower bill, and from the latter in its much longer, broader biU. Oulmen (exp.) 36 mm., breadth 17.5 ; wing 193. This is the bird I have included in my Handlist, etc., as P. hanksi, but examination of the type of that species proves the latter to belong to the next group. From the Crozets, Marion Island, etc., are birds which agree with this, but have the bill shorter and shghtly narrower. For these I propose the name Prion vittatus salvini, subsp. n. It should be noted that in the Proc. Zool. Soc. (Lend.), 1878, p. 739, Salvin placed such birds under Prion hanksi, writing : “ Without attempting to decide the questions as to how many species of Prion exist, I use the name P. hanksi for these birds, as their bills agree most nearly with that of the type of P. hanksi in the British Museum — a. Male, Marion I. 6. Female, near Crozets.” In the Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., Vol. XXV., p. 433, 1896, these were transferred to P. vittatus, and were so classed in the Monograph of the Petrels, constituting some of the “ puzzling specimens ” of the author. I should like to explain my treatment of these BroadbiUed Prions. I have recognised six subspecies, as follows : — P. V. vittatus Gmelin gouldi Mathews 7nissus Mathews inacgillivrayi Mathews salvini Mathews keyteli Mathews New Zealand. East Australia. West Austraha. St. Paul’s Island. Crozets. Tristan d’Acunha. * The Plate is lettered Prion banksi. 212 PRION BANKS!. CLOiW -BILLED PRION) . AUSTRALIAN LONG-BILLED PRION. I would point out that these all agree in having broad bills, unfeathered dis- tensible pouches, wing-length 190-210 mm. ; tarsi about 34 mm. They agree however in pairs of strange distribution, thus ; — P. V. vittatus is the nearest to P. v, heyteli, gouldi „ „ imcgillivrayi, and JYiissus „ „ salvini. This suggests that there may be more than one species here represented, but until long series from every breeding-place are studied, it is impossible to confidently state any conclusion. The very fine series of P. v. vittatus from New Zealand, and good series of P. V. keyteli and P. v. salvini, show these birds to be quite constant when the variation between juvenile and adult is known. The type figured and described is a female collected on the beach in South- west Australia on June 14th, 1904. P. vittatus vittatus. P. v. missus. P. V. gouldi. P. V. salvmi. The figures here given represent careful life-size drawings, and though they seem to differ httle, are quite easily recognisable when skins are compared. It is possible that the colours of the bills also differ in nature, but so few notes have been taken that this cannot be decided. P. V. salvini approaches somewhat to the desolatus group, but the lateral plates bulge in the manner of P. vittatus, while the interramal pouch is unfeathered. It should be noted that the present subspecies, P. v. missus, is an unmistakeable form, and that it comes from West Australia. In the British Museum are two other Prions shot in West Australian waters, one of which seems to be an immature specimen referable to H. desolatus, but not agreeing exactly with H. d. mattingleyi ; while the other is near H. helcheri, but again not exactly matching the type of that species. Judging from these I would 213 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. suggest that the Recherche Archipelago, for instance, might harbour large colonies of such little night-birds as these without risk of discovery from unskilful observers. It seems reasonable to conclude that some near nesting- place should be responsible for the occurrence of these strange forms in West Austrahan waters, as so far almost all the Westrahan Petrels have been different from Bass Strait forms, and the recent discovery of the Westralian breeding- form of P. macroptera points to many more interesting finds to be made on the islets off South-west Australia. 214 Genus— P SEUDOPRION. Pseudoprion Coues, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad., 1866, p. 164 Type P. turtur. A VERY distinct Prionitic genus, agreeing with the other Prionitic genera in general, hut with a noticeably different style of bill. The nail is strong and almost half the length of the chord of the culmen, while there is very little space between it and the nasal tube. The under mandible is strong, and the strong rami diverge at an acute angle enclosing a triangular fully-feathered interramal space. The whole bill recalls that of Fuhnarus. I have pointed out that I consider Coues’s generic description to apply to this genus, rather than to the succeeding Heteroprion ; if my reasoning should be considered invalid and Pseudoprion should be utilised for my genus Heteroprion, I would propose that Fuhnariprion be then resorted to for the genus I have here described, and I would select as type, my subsp. Pseudoprion turtur crassirostris, hereafter described. I here give figures of the bill of Pseudoprion turtur crassirostris and Heteroprion helcheri, for comparison. Note the extreme development of the bill of the former, so that it recalls at once that of the Fulmar. 1, Psendoprion turtur crassirostris, adult. 2. Heteroprion helcheri, adult. ^ 3. P. turtur crassirostris, adult. 4. Pseudoprion turtur huttoni, immatxire. 5. Heteroprion hetbheri, adult. In Nos. 3 and 5 I give a top view of the same two for a Hke purpose, while I have also added that of a very young specimen of P. turtur huttoni, showing that the difference between the two genera is well marked even when a juvenile of the one is compared with the adult of the other. This is 215 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. important, as I have also shown how much differentiation may be expected between juvenile and adult. Heteroprion has always a small weak unguis, while Pseudoprion has a strong nail, which becomes heavier with age and in different subspecies, the culmination being in the subspecies figured. BuUer figured in the Supplement (Vol. I., p. 123, 1905) a specimen of P. t. huttoni as Prion desolatus. The drawings are rather crude, but there is little difficulty in tracing Pseudoprion through figures in literature by means of this heavy nail. 216 PSEUDOPRION TURTUR. ( FAIBY FRION) . Order PB0CELLABIIF0BME8 No. no. Family PBOGELLABIIDJE. PSEUDOPRION TURTUR TURTUR. AUSTRALIAN FAIRY-PRION. (Plate 93.) Peocellaeia tuetue Kuhl, Beitr Zool. vergl. Anat., p. 143, 1820; Bass Strait. Procellaria turtur Kuhl, Beitr Zool. vergl. Anat., p. 143, 1820. Prion turtur Gould, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., Vol. XIII., p. 366, 1844 ; id., Birds Austr., Vol. VII., pi. 54, 1844 ; id., Handb. Birds Austr., Vol. II., p. 472, 1865. Prion ariel id., Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., Vol. XIII., p. 366, 1844 ; id., Birds Austr., Vol. I., Introd., p. xcix, 1848 ; id., Handb. Birds Austr., Vol. II., p. 473, 1865 ; North, Birds County Cumber., p. 115, 1898 ; HaU, Key Birds Austr., p. 95, 1899 ; Campbell, Nests and Eggs Austr. Birds, p. 918, 1901 ; HaU, Key Birds Austr., p. 95, 1906 ; Mathews, Handl. Birds Austral., p. 18, 1908 ; Littler, Handb. Birds Tasm., p. 184, 1910. Halobcena typica Bonaparte, Consp. Gen. Av., Vol. II., p. 194, 1857. Procellaria ariel Schlegel, Mus. Pays-Bas., Vol. VI., Procell., p. 18, 1863. Pseudoprion turtur Coues, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. PhUad. 1866, p. 166. Pseudoprion ariel id., ib. Prion brevirostris ariel Mathews, Nov. Zool., Vol. XVHI., p. 204, 1912. Disteubution. Australian seas. Adult. Smaller in general measurements than members of the genera Prion and Heteroprion, paler in colour and with a distinctly smaUer and more compressed bUl. Culmen (exp.) 22mm., width of bUl 10, wmg 180, taU 82, tarsus 30. Nest. In crevices of rock or under the densely-matted stems and roots of pig-face weed (CampbeU). Egg. Clutch, one ; pure white, surface dull ; axis 41-43, diameter 30-33. Breeding-season. October, November, and December (CampbeU). Mr. A. J. Campbell found this bird breeding on North-east Island on 24th November, 1890. “ It was breeding in numbers in the crevices of rock or under the densely-matted stems and roots of the pig-face weed. Several birds and many eggs (the latter in an advanced state of incubation) were secured.” He also records it breeding on Albatross Rock and Craggy Island. VOL. II. 217 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. The bird figured and described is a female, collected at Botany Bay, near Sydney, New South Wales. The synonymy of this bird is most difficult to unravel ; when adult, the bill is so characteristic that the species cannot fail to be recognized. In its juvenile state it is also easy to identify when its features are known : thus it is smaller, paler, and has a shorter bill than members of the genus Heteroprion. Bearing in mind these details, I make out that this is the bird described by Kuhl as P. turtur, figured and described by Smith as P. turtur, described (and probably figured) by Gould in the Birds of Australia as P. turtur^ noted by Gould as P. ariel, described by Gould as P. brevirostris, introduced by Schlegel as P. ariel, and described and made the type of the genus Pseudoprion by Coues as P. turtur Gould. It is the P. turtur of Hutton’s Cat. Birds New. Zeal., 1871, and of BuUer’s Birds New Zeal., 1873, since which time it has been more generally known under the name of P. ariel or P. brevirostris Gould. Whether it is the P. turtur of Solander or not seems impossible to decide. The detailed description leaves the matter still open to doubt, but Parkinson’s drawing makes the bill heavy with a largish nail, so that it would appear that this was the bird. Solander’s description is as follows : — turtur Procellaria supra ca'rulescenti-cana, subtus alba pedibus ca'ruleis, palma albida, rostro toto angusto plumbeo Fig. Piet. Habitat in Oceano Americes antarctico, a Terra del Fuego austral! : Latit. austr. gr LIX (Febr 1, 1769) Mother Carey’s Dove Caput & Collum supra & Dorsum & Uropygium amoene e ca'ruleo-cana nitida : capitis latera alba ; vitta suboculari plumbea Gula, Collum subtus, Pectus, Abdomen, Crissus & Femora alba Ala' longissima', angusta', supra plumbea', dorso obscuriores subtus alba' Cauda cuneata, brevis, plumbea, apice nigricans subtus pallidior Rostrum paUide plumbeum, angustam rectum Mandibula superior superne ante nares depressa planiuscula, imde sulcus obliquus cute repletus ad sinum extenditur Nares e cylindro brevi, rostro quadruplo breviore, bilocular! Dissepimentum orificum etjam divides Mandibula inferior recta apice vix adimca, rima longitudinal! cutacea, antice dilatata, truncata Pedes pallide sed amoene ca'rulei, ut et digit! tres anteriores, quo'rum membrana connectens albida, subdiaphana est Digitus posticus minutus nigricans Ungues nigricantes, lanceolati, acuti Longitudo ab apice rostri ad finem eauda' 11 i inter apices alarum expans 22^ y unc. rostri IJ ) Pondus 4 unc. 218 AUSTRALIAN FAIRY-PRION. As apparent confirmation I have seen three birds from Solander’s type- locality, and these are all referable to the present species. Kuhl’s bird was described from the Paris Museum, and no locahty was given. Bonaparte described {Consp. Gen. Av., Vol. II., p. 194, 1857) Halobcena typica thus : “ H. typica Bp. {Procellaria turtur Less. ! Pr. velox ? Banks) Icon Ined 16 — Kuhl Mon. Procel. p. 143, sp. 14 t. 11 f. 8. Mus. Paris ex Insula Waigiou a LabiUardiere. Minor (Long. 8J poll) ex toto griseo-cana ; humeris, remigum rectricumque apicibus, nec non macula hinc inde dorsali nigricantibus ; subtus et in lateribus alba : rostro brevi, humili compresso.” This would appear to be the identical bird described by Kuhl, and hence the selection of a type-locahty is a puzzhng matter. In the Gmnptes Rendus Sci., Vol. XLII., p. 768, Bonaparte introduced HalobcBna, noting as species H. ccerulea Gmelin and H. typica Bp. The latter was a nude name at that time, and consequently H. coerulea Gmelin becomes the type by monotypy, otherwise Halobcena would have to be used for Pseudoprion, and Zaprium for Halobcena, as Coues pointed out. For Halobcena typica as described above is undoubtedly a Pseudoprion, and the diagnosis of Halobcena also points to such a bird, while Bonaparte’s description of Halobcena ccerulea commences, “ Major : inter Priones et Halobaonas quasi media.” Yet in the Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., Vol. XXV., Salvin placed Halobcena typica in the synonymy of H. ccerulea, and in this he was followed in the Monograph, which is undoubtedly incorrect. The Island of Waigiou is not the place a species of Prion would be likely to wander to ; and it is known that many of the localities were confused in the Paris Museum, through misdirection of parcels of specimens; especially that Southern Australian species were credited with North Australian localities and vice versa. The only course open seems to be the designation of Southern Australia— Bass Strait, as the type-locahty of P. turtur Kuhl. By so doing we must sink P. ariel Schlegel as a synonym, but we also get rid of H. typica Bonaparte. If this view were not accepted, we should have to call the Australian form P. turtur typicus, as the latter name has priority over P. ariel Schlegel. In the Proc. Zool. Soc. (Lond.) 1855, p. 88, Gould described his Prion brevirostris as foUows : “Upper surface delicate blue; edge of shoulder, the scapularies, outer margins of the external primaries and the tips of tb\e middle tail feathers black ; lores, sides of the head and all the under surface white, stained with blue on the flanks and under tail coverts ; bill light blue, deepen- ing into black on the sides of the nostrils and at the tip, and with a black line along the side of the under mandible ; feet light blue, the interdigital membrane flesh- colour. 219 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. “ Total length, lOJ inches ; bill 15/16 ; wing 6f, tail 3J, tarsi IJ. Obtained on the Island of Madeira or one of the adjoining islets.” Gould compared it with his P. ariel^ which he stated he shot in great numbers in Bass Strait, from which it differed however in being smaller in all its admeasurements, in having a shorter, more swollen or robust bill, particularly with reference to the nostrils and the terminal hook of the upper mandible. P. ariel however had not been described, and when Schlegel wrote on the Procellari(B in the Mus. Pays-Bas. (p. 18), he characterised it thus : — “ Semblable a la Procellaria turtur egalement par rapport aux lamelles des mandibles ; mais de taille moins forte a bee plus faible. Aile 6 pouces 2 ligres, point de I’aile 2 pouces 3 lignes. Queue ; pennes mitoyennes 2 pouces et 8 ^ 10 lignes ; pennes externes 2 pouces et 5 a 7 lignes. Bee longueur 9 a 10 lignes ; hauteur 2 lignes et demie ; largeur 3 lignes et demie a 4 lignes. Tube nasal 2 lignes. Tarse 12 a 13 lignes, Doigt du milieu 12 a 13 lignes. ‘‘Mers de I’Australie ex Gould ”= Bass Strait. I do not think that Gould’s P. hrevirostris was ever procured on Madeira, but the safest course seems the acceptance of the South Atlantic as the type- locality of that form. Smith obtained a specimen in the Cape seas and figured it as P. turtur, so that it does occur in the South Atlantic ; otherwise I have noted no recent records for that locality, nor have I seen other specimens. The range of the species is circumpolar in the sub-antarctic zone, in which respects it agrees with the majority of the Prions. The forms I would at present recognise are as follows : — P. turtur turtur Kuhl ; Australian seas. Its synonymy would include Halohcena typica Bonaparte, and Prion ariel Schlegel. P. turtur hrevirostris Gould ; South Atlantic ; breeding-isle unknown. P. turtur eatoni, subsp. n. ; Kerguelen Island. Differs from P. t. turtur in its longer, heavier bill : the type of Smith’s P. turtur agrees more nearly with this than with the type of Gould’s P. hrevirostris. P. turtur solanderi, subsp. n. ; west coast South America. About the same size as P. t. turtur but with a longer bill, more nearly agreeing with the next form, than which it has a shorter wing. P. turtur huttoni, subsp. n. ; Chatham Islands. A fine series of this form has enabled me to trace the growth and structure of the bill from juvenile to adult and also to advocate the theory that each island wiU be found to be resorted to by a different subspecies for the purpose 220 AUSTRALIAN FAIRY-PRION. of breeding. Such subspecies usually flock together at sea, and this would account for the manner in which they are washed up after storms. When sub- species of different forms breed together on the same island or group of islands, it will be generally found that they frequent separate localities or different rocks. The bill, when the young is fully fledged, is practically the same length as in the adult, but is much weaker ; the wing is noticeably shorter, as also the legs and feet ; as the bill becomes stouter a corresponding growth is recorded in the wings and feet. The adult is easily separated from P. turtur turtur by its stronger bill and larger size. I am unable to separate the bird from Stephens Island, for want of more material, and have associated it with this form for the present. P. turtur crassirostris, subsp. n. ; Bounty Islands. Specimens from this island are noteworthy in their larger size and extremely powerful bill. Though the bill is not much longer than in the preceding form, it is much deeper and altogether more massive, while all the specimens agree in being larger. A solitary specimen from the Snares seems to be intermediate between this and the preceding, so may represent yet another subspecies. 221 Genus — H ETEROPRION, nov. Small birds agreeing in general characters with species of the genus Prion, but differing in the shape of the bill ; whereas in that genus the lateral plates are widely horizontally developed, and the under-mandible rami enclose a broad distensible sac, in this the lateral plates are not abnormally laterally extended, and the rami of the under mandible are normal and no sac is present, the interramal space being narrow and feathered. The general nature of the bill is, however, similar, the nasal tubes being short, the nail weak and small, and the space between the nasal tubes and the nail longer than the former. Type — H. heldieri, sp. n. Coues introduced his genus Pseudoprion to include all the wedge-tailed Prions, save vittatus. He definitely named as type. Prion turtur Gould. The description of that species refers to the bird later known as P. ariel (=P. turtur) and P. brevirostris Gould, but Gould’s figure of his bird’s bill does not agree well with the bill of the latter species. Coues’s description of his genus seems more apphcable to the P. ariel {=P. turtur) group, but he also included P. banksi, which he afterwards admitted to be the same as P. desolatus Gmelin from Kerguelen. I have consequently restricted Pseudoprion to the P. ariel (=P. turtur) group, which I find to differ essentially from the narrow-billed Prions grouped about P. desolatus, and have therefore introduced the above genus to include the medium-billed Prions, and have named as type the thinnest-billed one, H. belcheri, as this shows best the great difference between this group and the P. ariel (=P. turtur) group. The species of this genus have the bill shorter and narrower, the wing shorter, and the tarsus shorter than the members of the genus Prion. 222 I t I i I » Key to the Species, A. Bill narrow at the base; about one-third of the length, which is about 25 mm. . . . . . , H, helcheri^ p. 224. B. Bill broader at the base ; about one-half of the length, which is about 25 mm. . . H, desolatus 7mttingleyiy p. 226. Order PROCELLARIIFOBMES No. Ill, Family PROGELLARIIDM. HETEROPKION BELOHERI. AUSTRALIAN THIN-BILLED PRION. Heteropeion beloheei, sp. n. ; coast of Victoria ; Type no. 10,039 in my collection. Disteibtjtion. Australian seas. Adult. Like the H. desolatus group in general coloration, but easily separated by its very thin bill, whose width is less than a third of its length. Wing 183 mm. ; culmen (exp.) 26 mm. long, 8 wide at base ; tarsus 33. Nothing is as yet known regarding its habits or breeding-place. The history of its discovery is very interesting. Mr. Charles Belcher sent me the following note : — Thirteen miles due south of Geelong, 23rd July, 1911. Strong south-east wind with high glass, following a depression with rain and heavy north-westerly and westerly gales. Fifteen Prions on the beach at intervals between the bathing boxes and the “ Scammel ” wreckage east of Jaar-ru-ruc ; thickest in ZeaUy Bay. One just at water’s edge, very fresh, others at high-water mark. Freshness of specimens could be told by membrane under bill ; this was intact in seven cases, other eight eaten away, probably by sea-lice. A few other bodies reduced to skeletons ; altogether, remains of twenty birds, including above fifteen. No very great difference in the sizes of the birds ; about 1 inch between largest and shortest. Types of bill : — (a) Long and comparatively narrow at base ; only three of these, and one of these has the bill a little thicker in the middle and a shade of curve in the line of the mandibles. In size I cannot distinguish these three from the rest. Seen from side, biU is quite slender in centre. (&) Ten of these and three heads. As long as a but much broader in the average at the base, a thicker bill altogether, and the hook at tip less sharp ; seen from side the biU is deeper through than a. Yet one bird I have placed in a is very near a specimen of h. (c) Two birds quite noticeably smaller in the body than either a or 6. BiU shorter than either a or h — short and stubby. Yet it is broader at the base than a, but not so broad as b. Characteristics, then, are : small size of body and short stubby bill. From descriptions in CampbeU I diagnose : — {a) P. desolatus {turtur)=\belcheri,'rxor.'\ 3 (b) P ban1csi={mattingleyi, subsp. n.] 13 (c) P. ariel=turtur. 2 In aU three no lameUse were visible with biU closed. 224 AUSTEALTAN THIN-BILLED PRION. and with it two birds and two heads ; one of these was the present bird which was included in a ; one of the others also included in a was the young of the next, which probably constitutes the majority of b ; but one of the broadest of b was the young of a bird closely allied to my P. vittatus 7nissus ; it may be the young of P. v. gouldi. I have not seen the specimens included in c, but they were undoubtedly correctly identified. I have detailed this story to show the necessity of preservuig every specimen of this kmd of bird, as it seems from my studies that each island may have its own subspecies. It would also seem that there are races of this species in existence, as Eaton procured a specimen at Kerguelen Island which is narrow-billed like this ; broader than H. belcheri, but still much narrower than the young of H, desolatus. In the British Museum is a specimen labelled by Gould, “ The true Turtur of Banks’s Drawings 15 and of Kuhl ; velox of Kuhl is different.” This specimen was procured at sea, “ Lat 35° 19' S. Long. 10° 32' E., Aug. 6, 1838, Male. J.G.” It is a thin-billed specimen, approaching the present species more than any other, and not much hke P. ariel. It does not agree however with his description of his P. turtur in his Birds of Australia^ which I think was made from specimens of “P. ariel, as he wrote : — “ I find by my notes that I killed four specimens off Cape Howe on the 1 6th of April, during my passage from Tasmania to Sydney ; ” and of P. ariel, which he later described, he noted : “I procured several examples of this bird in Bass’s Straits on the 1 6th of April, 1839, when many were flying round me.” The measurements of P. ariel given by Gould were : “ Total length 9 inches ; bill 1 and iV ; wing 6| ; tail 3| ; tarsi I^.” VOL. 11. 225 Order PEOCELLARIIFOBMES No. 112. Family PROCELLARIIDM. HETEROPRION DESOLATES MATTINGLEYI. AUSTEALIAN DOYE-PRION. Hetbropeion desolatus MATTINGLEYI, subsp. n. ; Type no. 10,038 in my collection; East Australian seas. Prion banJcsii Gould, Handb. Birds Austr., Vol. II., p. 474, 1865. Prion banksi Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 95, 1899 ; Campbell, Nests and Eggs Austr. Birds, p. 915, 1901 ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 95, 1906 ; Mathews, Handl. Birds Austral, p. 18, 1908 ; Littler, Handb. Birds Tasm., p. 182, 1910. ? Prion turtur North, Austr. Mus. Cat., No, 12, p, 406, 1889. ? Prion desolatus Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 95, 1899; ? Campbell, Nests and Eggs Austr. Birds, p. 916, 1901 ; ? Hall, Key Birds Austr,, p. 95, 1906 ; ? Mathews, Handl. Birds Austral, p. 18, 1908 ; ? Mattingley, Viet. Nat., Vol. XXV., p. 15, 1908 ; ? Littler, Handb. Birds Tasm., p. 183, 1910 ; ? Hull, Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., Vol. XXXIV., p. 651, 1910. Distribution. Australian seas. Adult male. Blue-grey above, including the head, hind-neck, back, wings, and tail ; lesser wing-coverts and long scapulars blackish, as also the tips of the middle tail-feathers ; bastard-wing and primary-coverts black, the latter narrowly margined with white at the ends ; the four outer primaries black, inclining to white on the inner webs ; inner primaries and secondaries grey, with more or less white on the inner webs ; lores, cheeks, a line over the eye and under-surface pure white, including the axillaries and under wing-coverts. Total length 275 mm. ; culmen (exp.) 26, width of bill 12, wing 189, tail 95, tarsus 32. Adult female. Similar to the adult male. Nestling. Covered with slaty-grey down (Mattingley). Nest. In a burrow, about two feet long {ib.). Egg. One {ib.). Breeding-season. Christmas (young) {ib.). The account herewith attached seems to refer to the breeding of this bird : — “ The Dovelike Prion is vernacularly known at Portland as the ‘ Snow- bird.’ There were very few of their ratlike burrows in this small area of soil, which was riddled in every direction with Penguin and Mutton bird holes, and as the Dovelike Prion is a fragile bird ... it has perforce to utilize that portion of the rookery unoccupied by these last named birds, which is the outer edge of 226 AUSTEALIAN DOVE-PRION. the soil where it meets the rock. As the soil, especially at these parts, is loose and friable, the hurricanes that at times come raging over this exposed islet tear away the edges of the rookery and destroy these unfortunate birds. Evidences of the destructive work of wind and water were plainly visible. All along the extreme edge of the rookery were burrows of the Dovelike Prions, from which the covering of soil had been swept away by the wind, while in the nesting cavity at the extremity many broken and a few unbroken eggs were found, one egg comprising a clutch, whilst some of the adult birds had been blocked in their burrows and had been smothered. Most of the burrows of these birds had a turn in them, instead of being excavated straight into the soil. This turn was no doubt made by the birds mainly to prevent the complete choking up of their burrows by particles of wind driven soil, but in some cases the turn in the tunnelling was due to a hard piece of rock intruding and barring the way, rendering it necessary to turn off in another direction. The burrows measured in depth about two feet, and only about eight or nine of them at the rookery were tenanted by either young ones or adults. Both the cock and hen Prion take their share of the burden in hatching out the young. They often stay at home with their nestling during the day-time ... At about 9 o’clock p.m. ... a couple of Snowbirds or Prions flew quietly in, and after flying up and down the rookery to take up the bearings of their nest, they flickered over their burrows like large butterflies, and descended to their young ones beneath, after having cleared away the loose material that had been blown into the mouth of the burrow, with a few vigorous backward kicks of their webbed feet. A faint ‘ coo-coo-coo ’ of welcome made by the adult bird could be heard, as it invited its offspring to open its mouth whilst it regurgitated the contents of its stomach, consisting of a thick greenish, oily paste, and ejected it into the open gape of its progeny. The young of the Dove Petrels, or Prions, like most of the Petrel family, resemble a ball of slaty-grey fluffy down, in their earliest immature state. They have a pair of little beady black eyes, which peep out of the down from just behind a slender black beak, which is surmounted by the tube nostrils peculiar to the Petrel family . . . Just before dawn I noticed the Petrels leave the rock and fly seawards. The Prions seemed to have no difficulty in rising off their rookery.”* The type described above was collected on Torquay Beach, Geelong, Victoria, in October, 1911, by my friend Mr. Charles Belcher, who gavb me the specimen. It appears almost impossible to separate the synonymy of this bird from that of Pseudo'prion turtur. * Mattingley, Fici. Va^., Vol. XXV., p. 12, 1908. Prion desolatus ; Lawrence Rocks, Portland, Victoria ; Xmas, 1907. 227 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. With many specimens before me I constantly find that the young of the one species has been separated as belonging to the other, and also that this bird has been known as P. hanhsi, while its juvenile form has been called P. desolatus. The history of P. desolatus is here introduced. At the same time as he named the Broad-billed Petrel, Latham (p. 409) described the Brown-banded Petrel thus : — Length eleven inches. Bill an inch long, black with the tip yellowish ; the plumage on the upper parts of the body greenish ash-colour, deepest on the crown ; the sides of the head, taking in the eyes, and all the under parts of the body, white ; the ridge of the wing almost black ; quills and tail dusky ; the last rounded at the end, and tipped with dark brown ; the legs brown ; webs yellow ; claws black ; when the wing is expanded there appears a dark band from tip to tip, quite across the body. Inhabits the Isle of Desolation. In the collection of Sir Joseph Banks. Gmelin called this bird Procellaria desolata {Syst. Nat., p. 562, 1789) : — Pr. ex virescente cinerea, subtus alba, remigibus caudaque rotundata, obscuris, hac apice fusca. Brown banded Petrel. Lath. syn. Ill, 2, p. 409, n. 14. Habitat in insula desolationis II pollices longa. Rostrum nigrum, apice flavicans ; tempora oculorumque area alba ; summitas alarum fere nigra ; pedes fusci ; membrana digitos connectens flava ; ungues nigri ; alis expansis fascia obscura per omne corpus ab apice ad apicem. Bonnaterre {Tabl. Ency. Meth. Orniih., Vol. L, p. 79, 1791) named the same bird P. fasciata. Kuhl {Beitr Zool. vergl. Anat., p. 143, 1820) accepted Proc. desolata for a bird certainly different from Latham’s, and introduced Proc. turtur Banks, as attached : — Proc. turtur Banks. Banks! icon 15. — 1 Feb. 1769, Lath. 591. The beak a pale blueish lead colour, the legs and toes pale blue with a cast of purple, the webs dirly [sic] white. Procellaria velox. Banks! icon 16, eadem mihi videtur species. Fig. mea 8 (c) Cauda cuneiform!. 2. Remige secimda longissima, alis cauda brevioribus. Unguibus tegularibus longiusculis, haUuce mediocri, digito medio tarsi longitudine. Pr. desolatae proxima. Rostro pedibusque paUidis, unguibus apice tantum comeis, apertura narium triangular! ; rostro ab angulo ad apicem vix poUicari, quodque basi latius quam altum, apice mediocriter deflexum. Digito medio IJ poll, cauda 3^ poll, longis. Alis a fexura ad apicem 6 poll, cauda brevioribus. Tota 9 poll, longa. Latere inferior! alba, taenia superciliari ad occipitis latera producta et parte inter rostrum oculosque media albidis ceteris canis. Caudae apice, alarum tectricibus minoribus, remigibus 4 externis et tectricum scapularum parte subapicali nigrescentibus. Avis aliquantum major, ahs a flexum ad apicem 6f, cauda 3|^, tarsus 13, digito medio 18 poll, longis. Tota 10 poll. In Muses Parisiensi. Qui in Bullokiano erat, nunc in Temminkiano. 228 AUSTRALIAN DOVE-PRION. In 1840 Smith {Ulus. Zool. South Africa, Aves, pi. lv.), ignoring P. desolata, proposed P. hanksi, as annexed : — P. supra grisea ; capite supeme, cervice, interscapularibusque brunneo-tinctis ; alarum tectricibus minoribus apicibusque scapularium brurmeo-rubris ; cauda grisea, flavo-griseao- tincta, plumarum apicibus sordide brunneus. Fascia purpurea brumieo-rubro-tincta trans oculum, pectorisque lateribus nitide griseis ; infra alba. Oculis brunneis. Eostro livide brunneo, versus apicem supeme viride-albonebulato. Pedibus brimneo-rubris. Longitude ab apice rostri ad basin caudae 6 unc. 3 lin ; caudae 3 unc. 9 lin. Cape Seas. and also described P. turtur, of both of which he gave figures and details of the bills. In 1844 Gould accepted P. turtur, and this usage was continued until Gray {Handl. Gen. Spec. Birds, Vol. III., p. 108, 1871) noted that Gmelin’s P. desolata was referable to the genus Prion. Almost immediately the receipt of specimens from Kerguelen Island enabled Coues {Bull. U.S. Nat Mus., No. 2, p. 32, 1875) to recognise that P. desolata was founded on the bird he had identified as P. hanksii in his essay in the Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. Philad. 1866, p. 166. In the Consp. Gen. Av., Bonaparte (Vol. II., p. 193) had included P. banksi Smith, and P. turtur Solander, and added : “ Pr. rossi Gr. Mus. Britann. ex Mar. antarcticis. Similis Prioni turturi ; sed. minor, et proportionibus diversis : rostro latiore.” Fortunately the specimen to which this name was given is still preserved in the British Museum, so that it is possible to find out what this species is, but the others are not accurately determinable. Sharpe’s acceptance of P. desolatus, as already noted, included all the thin-biUed Prions. In the Journ. fiir Ornith., 1905, p. 505, Vanhoffen mentions a Prion dispar, but I have seen no description of this. My own investigations lead me to separate the birds commonly known as P. brevirostris or P. ariel Gould, generically from the forms grouped round P . desolatus Gmelin. I have dealt with my reasons for so doing in a preceding article. Compared with a long series from Kerguelen Island, which can be regarded as typical P. desolatus Gmelin, I find that the type of P. banksi Smith is not specifically distinct. The description pointed to this conclusion, as also the figures of the bill given by Smith and Sharpe. ^ The type of P. rossi Bonaparte agrees exactly with the preceding. Many of the records of P. banksi refer to this species, notably the Cape birds and Wilson’s Auckland Island and Macquarie Island series. Other records of P. banksi have to be credited to another species, which have been noted in a preceding article. VOL. n. 229 THE BIRDS OE AUSTRALIA. Regarding the small variation in the bills I have found, I now note that Salvin, reporting on the Procellariidce of the “ Challenger ” Expedition {Proc. Zool. Soc, (Lond.) 1878, p. 738), recorded Prion desolatus from Kerguelen Island, and noted that he had eight specimens, five of which were males, and three females, and stated : “In these specimens there is no tangible difference between the bills of the sexes.” I would also note that the early history of this species is not quite as given in the Monograph (p. 294), thus : “ This species was discovered during Captain Cook’s first voyage, and a specimen captured in lat. 59° was figured by Sydney Parkinson. On this drawing, which is only a pencilled outline . . . the name of Procellaria turtur was founded by Kuhl. The oldest name, however, is that of P. desolata of Gmelin, founded [on a bird] . . . procured on Desolation or Kerguelen Island ; it is doubtless the specimen obtained by Captain Cook.” Without discussing the identity of P. turtur Kuhl and P. desolata Gmelin, I would point out that P. turtur Kuhl was not founded on the pencilled outline of Sydney Parkinson ; P. desolata Gmelin has been already shown to be the Latin name given to Latham’s Brown-banded Petrel, which was in the collection of Sir Joseph Banks ; whether the bird itself was there or simply the painting of it made by Ellis, is at present uncertain, but in any case Cook did not call at Kerguelen Island until on his third voyage. Parkinson’s drawing was made from a specimen killed on February 1st, 1769, in lat. 59 S., long, direct south of Tierra del Fuego W., while Ellis’s painting was made at Kerguelen Island in 1776, and lat. 50'^ S. long. 70° E. The wording in the Monograph insinuates that these two were the same bird. This is one of the species of Heteroprion that induces one to cast doubt upon the amount of variation I have admitted in the case of Prion vittatus. Good series are available from many localities and such show the amount of variation to be inconsiderable, and that the species, as a whole, shows very little variation. Thus I would separate six subspecies, as follows : — H. desolatus desolatus (Gmelin) ; Kerguelen Island. E. desolatus hanksi (Smith) ; Cape seas. Bill broader than the preceding ; breeding-place unknown. H. desolatus peringueyi^ subsp. n. ; Cape seas ; Pondoland coast. BiU narrower than H. d. hanksi Smith and approaching H. d. desolatus, but slightly longer than the bill of the typical form ; breeding-place unknown. H. desolatus inattingleyi, subsp. n. ; East Australian seas. Narrower bill than any other subspecies of H, desolatus. 230 AUSTEALIAN DOVE-PRION. H. desolatus inacquariensis, subsp. n. ; Macquarie Islands. BiU broader than the preceding, and approaching more to the typical form. H. desolatus alter y subsp. n. ; Auckland Islands. Bill broader still, and agreeing very closely with H. d. hanJcsi, under which name it has been commonly known. The type of H. d. hanJcsi seems immature, and therefore the present race would have a slightly narrower bill. The whole six however are very close and very constant, yet sea-kiUed specimens are quite common which do not seem to be referable to any of the preceding. Thus birds killed at sea, in lat. 35° S. and from long. 9° W., long. OJ E., 6° E., 10° E., and then 40° E., all vary, and seem to represent more subspecies. I am convinced that almost each breeding-place of Prions shelters a distinct subspecies, and all the blundering has been simply due to confusion of well-defined races through study (!) of sea-killed specimens. YoinrQ-, Adult. Not able to fly. H. desolatus alter. s® H. desolatus mattmgleyi. The above cut is drawn from specimens, to show the amount of difference due to age ; thus the first figure is drawn from a juvenile which has just lost its down, but which has not left the nesting-hole ; the second is of a parent- bird from the same breeding-colony, collected at the same time, and these constitute the whole range of variation in the subspecies. The adults of the subspecies are quite constant in their characters, and the difference between this subspecies {H. desolatus alter) and the Australian one {H. desolatus mattingleyi) is well seen in the third figure. It should be remembered that the differences are more easily appreciable in nature than would appear from a study of these figures, which are most accurately and carefully drawn. 231 Genus— P ELECANOIDES. Pelecanoides Lacepede, TabL Oiseaux, p. 13, 1799 . . Type Haladrmna Illiger, Prodromus, p. 274, 1811 . . . . Type (Also spelt Halodrojna Stephens, in Shaw’s Gen. Zool., Vol. XIII., pt. I, p. 257, 1826.) Onocralus Rafinesque, Analyse Nat., p. 72, 1815 , . . . Type 9 Puffinuria Lesson, Manuel d’Orn., Vol. II., p. 394, 1828 Type P. urinatrix. P. urinatrix. P. urinatrix. P. garnotii. The auk-like Petrels constituting the family Pelecanoididce are such a distinct group, that doubt has been cast upon the accuracy of their inclusion in the order Procellariiformes. They possess tubular nostrils, otherwise they disagree in general appearance with other members of the order. They are small birds in which the head is longer than the bill, the wings and tail are short, the latter square, and the plumage glossy and compact. They are recognisable at sight, as in addition to these features, the nostrils are perfectly vertical, and more or less kidney-shaped. A beautiful detailed description of the biU is given by Coues {Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad. 1866, p. 189), and I would here only note the differences between the species P. urinatrix and P. garnotii in that feature. The former has the nostrils elongate, narrow and parallel the distensible sac con- tained by the rami of the under-mandible is pronounced and unfeathered. The latter has a longer bill with the nostrils less elongate proportionately, and more triangular shaped, with a noticeable projection from the inner edge ; this can also be seen in the preceding species, but it is very minute. Pelecanoides urinatrix. Puffinuria garnotii. In addition the rami of the lower mandible do not enclose a wide distensible sac, which is also partly feathered. When Lesson described this latter species he proposed the genus-name Puffinuria, as he noted his birds did not agree 232 PELECANOIDES. accurately with the descriptions of the genus Pelecanoides or Haladrmna, I consider that the genus Pujfinuria should be recognised, and also that two species are at present confused under the specific P. urinatrix, but there is not sufficient material to decide this matter. Young in down show the nostrils to be vertical from the earliest stage, and therefore this must be a very ancient group. In the genus Puffinus I have shown that the nostrils open horizontally in the downy young, and as the bird grows older they become forced up until the adult has the nostrils semivertical. The character of the nostrils alone is sufficient for the separation of these birds as a distinct family, and the internal characters amply confirm this procedure. 233 Orier PR0CELLABIIF0RME8 No. 113. Family PELECANOIDIDM PELECANOIDES URINATRIX URIXATRIX. DIVING PETREL. (Plate 94.) Peoobllaeia EErNATRix Gmelin, Syst. Nat,, p. 660, 1789 ; New Zealand. Diving Petrel, Latham, Gen. Syn. Birds, Vol. Ill,, pt. 2, p. 413, 1786. Procellaria urinatrix Gmelin, Syst. Nat., p. 660, 1789. Haladroma ‘‘urinatrix” lUiger, Prodromus, p. 274, 1811. Halodroma urinatrix Stephens, in Shaw’s Gen. Zool., Vol. XIII., pt. i., p. 267, 1826. Procellaria tridactyla Forster, Descr. Anim., ed. Licht, p. 149, 1844. Pufjinuria urinatrix Gould, Ann. Nat. Hist., Vol. XIII, p. 366, 1844 ; td., Birds Austr., Vol. VII., pi, 60, June Ist, 1844. Haladroma urinatrix Bonaparte, Comptes Rendus Sci., Paris, Vol. XLII,, p. 769, 1866 ; Gould, Handb. Birds Austr., Vol. II., p. 483, 1866 ; Sandager, Trans. New Zeal. Inst., Vol. XXII., p. 289, 1890. Pelecanoides urinatrix Gray, List Genera Birds, p. 78, 1840 ; Coues, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad. 1866, p. 190 ; Buller, Birds New Zeal., p. 313, 1873 ; Hutton, Ibis 1874, p. 41 ; Buller, ih., p. 119 ; id., Birds New Zeal., 2nd ed., Vol. II., p. 207, 1888 ; Salvin, Oat. Birds Brit. Mus., Vol. XXV., p. 437, 1896 (pars) ; North, Austr. Mus. Rec., Vol. I., p. 120, 1891 ; Oates, Cat. Birds’ Eggs Brit. Mus., Vol. I., p. 161, 1901 ; Campbell, Nests and Eggs Austr. Birds, p. 919, 1901 ; Buller, Suppl. Birds New Zeal., Vol. I., p. 126, 1906 ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 96, 1906 ; Reichenow, Deutsche Siidp. Exp., Vol. IX., Zool., pp, 493-668, 1907 (pars) ; Mathews, Handl. Birds Austral., p. 18, 1908; Littler, Handb. Birds Tasm., p. 184, 1910. Pelecanoides herardi (not Q, and G.), Buller, Birds New Zeal., p, 314, 1873 ; id.. Birds New Zeal., 2nd ed., Vol. II., p. 208, 1888 ; Forbes, Ibis 1893, p. 642. Pelecanoides exsul (not Salvin) Buller, Suppl. Birds New Zeal., Vol. I., p. 127, 1905. Distribution. East Australian seas (New Zealand). Adult male. Upper surface glossy blue-black, including the head, back, wings, and middle tail-feathers ; some of the scapulars grey with white tips, the small coverts round the bend of the wing edged with grey ; primary-quills pale brown on the iimer webs ; some of the innermost secondaries fringed with white at the tips ; outer tail-feathers pale brown, narrowly edged with white at the tips ; forehead sooty-black without any gloss ; sides of face dark slate-grey ; sides of neck and fore-neck paler slate-grey with white tips to the feathers, which give a minutely 234 ■ PELECANOIDES URINATRIX ( D1 VI N G PE TREL ) . *■*« J ' .J 'i .V-'I -A m- i v.^ iivT I (•‘WhI !j‘.V'-~‘y Wm m mm wi‘ f'l jilil a t «!!; fj t I'"" •' - "■ r t - .4 9^* f . -J itr. *Jv " /'iJ' ; ..T vr* j’*?- '■1' .'<*■' m V l'.^- V- /fV^\t .J .} ifl -., i?d. .—ir"*! kfffsr .ij ;“t‘lSi'i!'^‘ ' h .l-WV A .flf- 1 ^ £0 • Ilf i “ ■al' Uli' 'S** rfl l> •4 «!►. ^*rW V* ■ tv,'. - .-J tij ' ' * ' iiv,. • ■ ■ I * . * . , " ■ ' ' ■ J iff'if;.',.*' ■’ - ■• - ’f V. JbVi ■ II w S: 1 ' r ; A'l • -. . ' *1. r >’ 1 1 LaSSfl ' !,"'■ ’J l,>l .if''’.'-'- m...' ^ 0- . i ■■«.*' nr^’l 4'^; T.t.* ? DIVING PETREL. barred appearance, tbis is also shown on the sides of the body ; throat, breast, abdomen, and under tail-coverts white ; axillaries ash-brown, shghtly fringed with white; under wing-coverts ashy-grey, margined with white and having black shaft-lines ; “ Bill black, the base of the cutting edge of the upper mandible, and line along the lower edge of the lower, blue-grey ; iris very dark greyish-brown ; tarsi and toes beautifully light blue ” (Gould). Total length 230 mm. ; culmen 15, wing 113, tail 40, tarsus 22. Adult female. Similar to the adult male. Nest. At the end of a crooked burrow. Egg. Clutch, one ; white, surface dull ; axis 38-42 mm., diameter 32-33. Breeding-season. July and August (Mokohinou Islands, Sandager) ; November (North- east Island, Bass Strait ; North) ; October and November (Macquarie Island, Campbell). Btjller* informs us that “the flight of this bird is rather laboured [and] consists of a rapid fluttering movement along the surface of the water, then it drops and dives through the waves with amazing agility. “ They swim in the sea with the head much uplifted and are very active on the water. “ The stomach of one I opened contained black comminuted matter, and one or two small seeds, apparently of some kind of seaweed. I observed that the skin of this bird was very tough and thick, the roots of the feathers appearing underneath as in the Penguins and some other birds. They breed on Stephens Island in Cook’s Strait ; on Karewa Island (off Tauranga) ; on the small islets off the Great Barrier ; on the Hen and Chickens and Portland Island.” Sandager, t writing from the Mokohinou Island, says this species “ breeds on three of the smaller, comparatively low, islands, where it forms its burrows in the peat-like substance, consisting of light soil and decayed Mesemhryanthemum, with which they are covered. Burrowing commences in April. In July a nest, consisting of dry flax, sticks, and grass, is formed at the end of the burrow, and a few of the earlier birds begin to lay during the last half of the month, but most of the laying takes place during August. The birds, previous to laying, are rarely found in the burrows during the day, all the work of burrowing, etc., being carried on at night.” ForbesJ records it breeding on Pitt’s Island. Mr. A. J. North§ records it breeding on North-east Island in Basis Strait, but in November, 1890, all the eggs had hatched out. • Birds New Zeal., 2nd ed., Vol. II., p. 207. t Trans. New Zeal. Inst. 1889, Vol. XXII., p. 289, 1890. Xlhis 1893, p. 642. § Austr, Mus, Bee., Vol. I., p. 122, 1891. 235 THE BIRDS OE AUSTRALIA. Mr. A. J. Campbell* records it breeding on Macquarie Island in October and November, and on Cliffy Island, off Wilson’s Promontory, in July. On the latter island they come ashore to scrape out or prepare their nest-burrows, during June and July. The bird figured and described is a male, collected on the Chatham Islands. Apparently Solander did not meet with this Petrel, and it was not dis- covered until the second voyage of Captain Cook, when Forster noted it in the South Atlantic, then remarked the httle diving Petrels off Kerguelen Island, and on p. 189 {Forster's Voyage, 1777) named it Procellaria tridactyla ; but as no description was then offered, this is of interest only as a nude name. In 1785 Latham described the Diving Petrel {Gen. Synops Birds, Vol. III., p. 413) as follows : — “ Size of the Little AuTc, and of a stout make, not unlike that bird ; length eight inches and a quarter. The bill nearly an inch long, stout and black ; the middle of the under mandible white on the sides ; irides dusky blue ; the plumage of the upper parts is black brown ; beneath white, except the chin, which is black ; the skin of that part, and of the throat, is loose, serving as a pouch, as in the Frigate Pelican ; the wings are rather shorter than the tail ; the legs of a blueish green ; webs black ; the spur at the back part wanting. “ These are met with in Queen Charlotte’s Sound, and other parts of New Zealand.” This description was apparently drawn up from Forster’s drawing. In that drawing, which is black and white, the ink used for the pouch extends so as to make a “ black chin ” appearance. No one handling a bird would state “ chin black,” as it is pure white. Latham does not state that he had a specimen, and Forster’s drawing was made from a bird in Queen Charlotte Sound. Upon Latham’s description, Gmelin {Syst. Nat, p. 560, 1789) founded his Procellaria urinatrix ; — Pr. ex atro fusca subtus alba, rostro mentoque nigris, pedibus ex caeruleo viridibus, tridactylis. Diving Petrel. Lath. syn. Ill, 2, p. 413, n. 19. Habitat gregibus numerosis circa novam Seelandiam, poUices longa, alces magnitudine, egregie urinano. Mandibula inferior ad media latera alba ; irides obscure caemleae ; menti gulaeque peUis laxa. Not until 1824 were any other forms named, when Quoy and Gaimard {Voy. ^ JJranie' et ^Physic.,' Zook, p. 135) described Procellaria herard as here given : — Procellaria minuta, corpore supra nigricante, infra albido ; rostro nigro, maculis albis notato ; pedibus plumbei colons. * Neats and Eggs Austr. Birds, p. 920, 1901. 236 DIVING PETREL. Ce petrel represente de grandeur naturelle, a environ huit pouces dans sa plus grande longueur. H a le port des damiers, c’est a dire qu’il est gros, courte, et ramasse. II provient des iles Malouines, et il fut pris en venant se reposer a bord . . . Ses jambes sont assez longues, ses pieds largement palmes, son bee court, robuste, noir avec des taches blanches. II a la tete, les joues, le dessus du cou et des ailes, aussi que le dos et la queue, d’an noir peu intense, avec des reflets. Quelques plumes d’lm blanc sale, repandues ca et la sur ces parties, indiquent que I’oiseau n’avoit pas encore sa veritable livree ; le dessous de la gorge, la poitrine et le ventre sont d’un blanc pur. Une plaque noiratre s’avance de chaque cote du corps vers le lilieu de la poitrine. Nous supposons, a la nuance des plumes qui la forment, qu’elles finissent par devenir blanches. Les ailes sont de meme longueur que la queue ; Foeil est noir, et les pieds sont couleur de plomb. II manque a cet oiseau Fonglet propre a sa famille, lequel, a acuse de sa petitesse, aura peut-etre ete perdu lors de Tempaillage. A few years afterwards Lesson {Manuel d^Orn,, Vol. II., p. 394, 1828) introduced his Pu-ffinuria garnotii thus : — II habite les parages entre SargaUan et Lima, c6te du Perou. De la grosseur du petrel bleu, cet oisseau a, de I’extremite du bee a la queue, huit pouces et demi. Son plumage n’offre rien de brillant ; le brun noiratre du dessous du dos avec ime teinte legerement glacee de bleu et tout le devant de son corps d’un blanc lustre, sont les deux couleurs qu’il presente. Le dessous des ailes, ainsi qui les flancs, sont d’un blanc grisatre. La tete se rapproche un peu de ceUe du petrel pelagique ; son bee articule et crochu, comme celui des pufiins, differe de ce genre par I’ouverture des narines qui, tournee, en haut a la forme d’un cceur de carte a Jouer ; une cloison contournee separe les deux conduits nasaux ; la couleur en est noire ; les pieds palmes sans pouce presentent la meme couleur et sont tres rapproches de la queue, qui tient le milieu entre celle des petrels et des grebes. L’oeil, situe im peu au dessus du niveau de la commissure des mandibles, a I’iris rouge brun. Longueur totale,huit pouces six lignes; longueur du bec,un pouce deux lignes; longueur de la tete, prise a I’extremite du bee a I’occiput, un pouce ; distance de I’oeil a I’angle de I’ouverture des mandibules, six lignes ; grosseur ou circonference huit pouces ; envergure, seize pouces ; longueur de I’aile la deuxieme plume plus longue, cinq pouces ; longueur des pieds, un pouce six lignes ; longueur de la queue, un pouce six lignes. For very many years these names were confusedly used, but when Salvin wrote in the Cat. Birds Brit Mus. (Vol. XXV., 1896), he synonymised P. herard with P. urinatrix, admitted P. garnoti as distinct, and introduced a new species, P. exsul (p. 438) as follows : — Adult ; Similar to P. urinatrix, but the feathers of the sides and middle of the throat with a distinct subterminal grey bar ; flanks mottled with grey, each feather with a grey shaft, under wing-coverts also grey, with white edges and dark shafts. Sexes alike. Habitat : Southern Indian Ocean, from the Crozette Islands to Kerguelen Land. Another name was added by Nicoll p. 103, 1906) Pelecanoides dacunhee Nicoll. Nearest to P . urinatrix but smaller, especially as regards the bill and feet ; flanks much less marked with grey ; the throat and foreneck also much whiter. Total length 8 inches ; wing 4.3, culmen 1.0, middle toe 1.0, tarsus 1.0. Habitat : Tristan da Cunha. {Bull, Brit. Ornith. Club, Vol. XVI., VOL. II. 237 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. In the Monograph of the Petrels, these birds — as most others — were not treated progressively, and we therefore find birds from Tristan d’Acunha, New Zealand, and Kerguelen Island, all classed under P. exsul, though it was admitted that New Zealand was the type-locafity of P. urinatrix, and that it also occurred there, the insinuation being that P. exsul was only a variant of P. urinatrix, yet generally recognisable. If the birds are separated according to localities, a better comprehension of the facts is gained, and also the apparent anomalies are brought into perspective. Long series from Kerguelen Island prove these birds to be quite constant in their general characters, the bill and wing growing appreciably with age ; the nostrils having their walls thickened in the adult, and the juvenile having whitish tips to the feathers of the back, wing-coverts and secondaries. As noted above, the type-locafity of P. urinatrix is New Zealand, and from that place we have a number of specimens, but from many localities' — the Snares, Stewart Island, Auckland Islands, and New Zealand — without further data. These represent different subspecies, as far as can be judged ; and in two specimens labelled as coming from the Auckland Islands a new variation is noted which, if the locality were correct, would indicate another species. Under the circumstances, I am accepting the majority of the New Zealand specimens as typical P. urinatrix, and for the present I have to associate with these the Australian breeding bird. The following subspecies are at present determinable : — P. urinatrix urinatrix Gmelin ; Australian and New Zealand seas ; breeding. P. urinatrix exsul Salvin ; Kerguelen Island and the Crozets. P. urinatrix dacunhcB NicoU ; Tristan d’Acunha ; ? Gough Island. P. urinatrix herard Quoy and Gaimard ; Falkland Islands. P. urinatrix coppingeri, subsp. n ; Straits of Magellan. This form is smaller than P. u. herard, and has very little splashing on the throat, thereby differing from P. u. dacunhce, which also appears to be smaller than P. u. herard, but which has more splashing on the throat than that form ; P. u. daeunhm in that respect is intermediate between P. u. herard and P. u. exsul, but is very much smaller than the latter bird. I have stated that the genus Pufjinuria should be utilised for the P. garnotii group, which differs in the shape of the nostrils and bill generally. This seems to be the only consistent course since Thalassoica and Priocella are recognised and in which genera the distinguishing features are much more uncertain and difficult to ascertain. 238 DIVING PETREL. I consider three easily separable subspecies are confused under the name P. garnotii, and would name them : — P. garnotii garnotii Lesson ; coast of Peru. P. garnotii lessoni^ subsp. n. ; coast of Chili. This form is much larger than the Peruvian bird, and has a noticeably heavier bill, with the inner wing-coverts grey and white-mottled. P. garnotii magellani, subsp. n. ; Straits of Magellan. This bird is easily referable to the genus Puffinuria by its bill-characters, and is separable from the preceding by its inferior size and the pure white coloration of the inner wing. Specimens collected by NicoU at Molyneux Sound, Smythe’s Channel, were named by him as typical P. urinatrix when he separated his P. dacunhm. But his diagnosis shows that he used an entirely different bird for the preparation of his specific characters relating to his new species. All the P. garnotii group are noticeable at sight by the distinct demarcation of the dark colouring of the head from the pure white of the throat. The same birds were again referred to P . urinatrix by the author of the Monogra'pTi, who noted their peculiarities of coloration, but did not recognise that they were close to P. garnotii. I have seen birds from Trinidad Channel, Woods Bay, and Punta Arenas which belong to this form, while specimens from Cockle Cove and Cove Harbour (Messier Channel) are referable to P. urinatrix coppingeri. I would note that when Quoy and Gaimard {Yoy, ‘‘ Uranie ” et “Physic.,^^ Zool., p. 137, 1824) introduced their Procellaria herard, they added (p. 136): On trouve dans les manuscrits de Commerson, sous le nom de procellarius falMandiuSj un petrel qui a quelques rapports avec celui-ci. Cependant il a le dos parseme de plumes blanches qu’on ne voit pas dans le notre. 239 Gentjs^D I 0 M E D E a . Diomedea Linn4, Syst. Nat., ed. X., p. 132, 1758 . . . . Type D. exulans, (Also B^elt Dio7nedia Linne, Syst. Nat., ed. XIL, p. 215, 1766 ; Dio7nedcea Lesson, Ann. Sci. Nat., Vol. VI., p. 94, 1825 ; Dio7ncedea, id., Traite d’Orn., p. 609, 1831.) Albatrossa Brunnich, Zool. Fund., p. 80, 1771 . . . . Type D. exulans. Alhatros Lesson, Manuel d’Orn., Vol. II., p. 389, 1828 . . Type D. exulans. Large Petrels, separable from the other members of the order by the position and nature of the nasal orifices as well as by their large size. In addition, the majority have no groove on the sides of the lower mandible, and all possess a corneous piece between the lower mandible rami at their anterior end (known as the inter-ramicorn). The nasal orifices are situated on each side of a broad culmen, and though generally spoken of as tubular, are of a peculiar semi-tubular nature. The wings are extremely long, but very narrow, with the first primary longest, while the tail is rounded or wedge-shaped. The bill is longer than the head, and about the length of the middle-toe which is longer than the tarsus. Hind-toe absent. The preceding diagnosis covers all the members of the family Dio7nedeidcB, which are well marked off from the remainder of the order Procellariifor7nes. Cones considered this a subfamily, and admitted two genera only, Dio7nedea and Phcebetria. His conclusions can be best considered in his own words : “ In the following pages I describe eleven species ... Of these one differs so much from the rest that it may be properly made the type of a genus dis- tinct from Dio7nedea. The remaining species have also been sub-divided into several genera . . . Such a collocation of species is certainly natural ... So varying are the characters of shape of bill, outline of frontal feathers, length of tail, etc., that I think they can hardly be made typical of distinct genera.” Coues showed that the large Albatroses were grouped together by general features, and that the Mollymawks also formed a somewhat natural group, and though he would now be regarded as a genus-splitter, in this case he considered lumping to be the best policy. 240 DIOMEDEA. The only man who had ever dared to consider that the Albatroses included more than one genus was Reichenbach, who, in his Nat, Syst. Yog., indicated : — Dio7nedea Linne Phoehastria Reichb. Thalassarche id. Phoebetria id. . . Type D. exulans. „ D. brachyura. . . „ D. melano'pTiris. „ D. fuliginosa. Coues included the first three in Dimnedea and admitted Phoebetria as distinct. The first two were members of his group of Albatroses, while he considered D. melanopTiris a typical Mollymawk. When Forbes worked on the Anatomy of the Petrels, he noted the Molly- mawks as a distinct genus, and used Reichenbach’s generic name, admitting “ three good genera,” Phoebetria, Diomedea, and Thalassarche (which he spelt Thalassiarche). Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway, in the Water-Birds of North America, introduced Thalassogeron for the allies of D. culminata Gould, noting that D. melanophris was a typical Diomedea, whereas D. culminata had the culminicorn posterior to the nostrils, separated from the latericorn by a bare piece of skin. The three genera Diomedea, Thalassogeron, and Phoebetria were accepted, and this disposition was followed by Salvin in the Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., Vol. XXV. Rothschild, who has made a special study of these birds, questioned the advisability of recognising Thalassogeron, as almost all stages between Diomedea and Thalassogeron as regards bill-characters could be found. Con- sequently in the Monograph the following note is given as an apology for the retention of the genus Thalassogeron : “ The above characters (for separating the genera of Albatroses) are taken from Salvin’s ‘ Catalogue,’ but I have examined several species of Thalassogeron and Dio^nedea, which were almost inseparable generically. - Mr. Pycraft, however, has found some osteological characters which he considers to be sufficient for their separation. He sends me the following note on the subject : ‘ Thalassogeron may be readily distin- guished from Diomedea, in so far as cranial characters are concerned, in the much greater width of the interorbital region of the frontals, and in the greater width of the palatine ends of the pterygoids. These characters sharply define Thalassogeron from Diomedea, but Diomedea melanophrys presents in all other respects an extremely close resemblance to Thalassogeron, so much so as to make it probable that this species has been wrongly placed in the genus Diomedea. Like Thalassogeron, it presents a peculiarly inflated lachrymse, and this seems to be met with in no other member of the genus Diomedea. If 241 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. D. melanophrys were removed from Dimnedea, then that genus would be very sharply defined, indeed, from Thalassogeron, But they are stiU separable on account of the characters given above.’ ” There could be no doubt whatever, that D. 7mlanophris is much more closely allied to D. cuhninata than to D. exulans, and careful examination of the biUs confirms this conclusion. If genera are to be admitted in the Alba- troses, then D. imlanophris must go with Z>. cuhninata and not with D. exulans. I agree with Coues that the differences observable would be best ranked as of less than generic value, but as those views do not seem acceptable to working ornithologists at the present time, I am perforce compelled to accept ThalassarcTie as also of generic rank. I therefore accept five genera thus : — Dioimdea Linne Phcehastria Reichb. . . ThalassarcTie id. Thalassogeron Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway Phoehetria Reichb. Type D. exulans. „ P. albatrus. „ T. inelanophris. „ T. chrysosiotna. „ P. palpehrata. It might be also noted that in recognising Phcehastria as a subgenus of Dioinedea, a distinct conflict with the facts is made, unless Thalassogeron is also so ranked. From the nature of the base of the lower mandible, I should place Phodoastria further away from Dioynedea than Thalassogeron ^ and would suggest 242 DIOMEDEA. that the study of juvenile forms would aid in correctly classifying the Albatroses and Mollymawks, and that Phoebastria albatrus (Pallas) and the other North Pacific Albatroses are more nearly related to the latter than the former. Careful examination of the bills of Albatroses and Mollymawks reveals much that is very interesting, and worthy of prolonged study from many points of view. In order to render my remarks easy of pursuit, I am attaching a series of drawings carefully and accurately made, and would point out the pecuhar features : this seems the more necessary as the salient details are not otherwise capable of facile distinction. The first cut represents that of Diojnedea exulans rothschildi, which can be accepted as typical of the genus Dimnedea (s. str.). Note the manner in which the culminicorn and the latericorn meet posterior to the nasal opening, which is close to the base of the biU. A peculiar feature is the junction of the feathers of the head and the base of the latericorn. When the base of the lower mandible is next examined, a distinct angle of entrance is made in the feathering. This would seem to be the last signs of the loss of the mandibular groove seen in all other members of the Procellariijonnes save the Albatroses, where in one genus however it still persists. The next cut is that of Phoebastria albatrus (Pallas), and it mpst be admitted that many differences are at once apparent. The nostril is well separated, as in the genera ThalassarcJie and TJialas- sogeron, from the base of the bill, and the culminicorn is produced downwards posterior to the nasal opening and overlaps the latericorn. The junction of the feathers at the base of the latericorn recalls that of Diomedea ; but look 243 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. at the base of the lower mandible and note what a difference. There is here no sign of feather-entrance, a clean-cut straight base-line being seen instead. I will discuss this under Thalassarche, but would here point out a note regarding the synonymy of this bird : — In the Monograph of the Petrels, p. 142, is the following note : “ Some writers, Salvin among the number, have suggested that Latham’s ‘ Kurile Petrel ’ {Gen. Syn. Birds, III., pt. 2, p. 399, 1785 ; und^ Procellaria cequinoctialis, var A., Lath., Ind. Orn. II., p. 821, 1790) is probably Puffinus carneipes. But in this I cannot agree, for Latham makes his bird a variety of Procellaria cequinoctialis, which is the well-known Majaqueus, or ‘ Cape Hen.’ If, as he says, his ‘ Kurile Petrel ’ is ‘ half as large again, with a strong yellow bill,’ it more closely resembles an Albatros, and is probably Diomedea alhatrus. In any case, it could hardly be Puffinus carneipes.^' Under Diomedea alhatrus in the Monograph^ no notice is taken of Dr. Godman’s own suggestion. Reference to Latham shows that the “ Kuril P.” is based on “Kuril Petrel, Arct. Zool, p. 536 A; Pall. Spic., V., p. 28.” Further research reveals the fact that the Arct. Zool. quotation depends entirely upon Pall. Spic., Vol. V., p. 28, and that is the basis of Diomedea alhatrus of the Monograph, p. 326, being the original description of that bird by Pallas. Consequently the suggestion made by the author of the Monograph is quite correct, and the mystery of the “Kuril Petrel” of Latham is now dissipated. Though Gould included D. alhatrus in his Birds of Australia, he admitted he only did it to show all the Albatroses and not because it was an Australian bird. Yet it has been since retained until the year 1910, though there were no grounds whatever for its acceptance. The characters of the biU of D. exulans have been minutely detailed by Coues {Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. 1866, p. 175), while the peculiar character of the nostril has been carefully described and skilfully figured by Forbes {Rep. Voy. “ Challenger;^ Zool., Vol. IV., p. 12, 1882). 244 Key to the Species, A. Vermiculated more or less on upper-back ; bill very stout. Tail only white in very aged birds. a'. Smaller ; wing-coverts dark, primaries also dark , . . . . . . . D. exulans rothschildi, p. 246. h'. Larger ; wing-coverts nearly white, and primaries with white patch on inner webs . . . . . . . , D. exulans chionoptera, p. 255, 5. No vermiculations on upper-back ; bill proportionately slender ; tail always pure white . . . . . . . . D. epomophora epomophora, p. 258. \ VOL. II. 245 Order PB0CELLARIIF0RME8 No. 114. Family DIOMEDEIDM. DIOMEDEA EXULANS EOTHSOHILDI. AUSTKALIAN WANDERING ALBATROS. (Plate 95.)* Diomedea exulans rothschildi, subsp. n, ; Type no. 276 in my collection ; Australian seas. Diomedea exulans Bennett, Wander. New South Wales, Vol. I., p. 44, 1834 ; Gould, Birds Austr., Vol. VII., pi. 38, 1844 ; Bennett, Gath. Naturahst, p. 72, 1863 ; Gould, Handb. Birds Austr., Vol. II., p. 427, 1865 ; Buller, Birds New Zeal., p. 289, 1873 ; Ramsay, Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., Vol. II., p. 202, 1877 ; id., Tab. List Austr. Birds, p. 23, 1888 ; BuUer, Birds New Zeal, 2nd ed., Vol. II., p. 189, 1888 ; Reischek, Trans. New Zeal. Inst. 1888, Vol. XXI., p. 126, 1889 ; Buller, ib. 1890, Vol. XXIII., p. 230, 1891 ; id., ib. 1891, Vol. XXIV., p. 69, 1892 ; id., ib. 1892, Vol. XXV., p. 76, 1893 ; Salvin, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., Vol. XXV., p. 441, 1896 ; North, Birds County Cumber., p. 115, 1898 ; HaU, Key Birds Austr., p. 95, 1899 ; Campbell, Nests and Eggs Austr. Birds, p. 921, 1901 ; Buller, Suppl, Birds New Zeal., Vol. I., p. 128, 1905 ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., 2nd ed., p. 95, 1906 ; Mathews, Handl. Birds Austral., p. 19, 1908 ; Waite, Subant. Isl. New Zeal., p. 566, 1909 ; Godman, Monogr. Petrels, p. 309, 1910 ; Littler, Handb. Birds Tasm., p. 185, 1910. Diomedea exulans exulans Mathews, Nov. Zool., Vol. XVIII., p. 205, 1912. Distribution. Austrahan seas (Antipodes Island, New Zealand ; breeding). Adult male. General colour above white with wavy cross-bars of ash-brown, more narrowly and faintly on the hind-neck, broader and more pronounced on the back and upper tail-coverts ; the scapulars white, vermiculated and broadly tipped with brown, more especially on the outer webs ; short feathers of the humerals black on the outer webs, and vermiculated on the inner ones with ash- brown, the longer ones black with white on the basal portion ; olecranal feathers white, some of the longer ones tipped with black ; lesser, median, and greater wing-coverts black with white bases hke the marginal coverts round the bend of the wing ; primary-coverts and quiUs black, the latter with flattened straw- coloured shafts and pale brown on the inner webs towards the base, this portion of the web being white on the inner primaries ; tail white at the base, dark brown at the tip, the white approaches much nearer the tip on the inner web than on *The Plate is lettered Diomedea exulans. 246 AUSTRALIAN WANDERING ALBATROS. the outer one ; inner web of outer tail-feathers white with the exception of a little mottling at the tip, middle feathers dark brown with white bases ; crown of head mottled with the remains of brown feathers ; forehead, sides of face, throat and under-surface white, with the exception of the fore-neck and sides of body, which are crossed by wavy bars of ash-brown ; under wing-coverts and axillaries white, hke the under surface of the body ; some of the latter are dark brown on the outer webs, and vermiculated vath ash-brown on the inner ones ; “ Irides rich dark brown ; bare eyehds purphsh-green* ; bill white, with a pinky tinge, yellowish-brown coloured at the tip ; legs and feet flesh white, sometimes with a pinky tinge ” (BuUer). Total length 1,368 mm. ; exposed portion of cuhnen 165, wing 633, tail 204, tarsus 121. Adult female. Similar to the adult male. Immature male. Upper-parts brown, paler on the head, neck and mantle, darker on the back, scapulars, rump, upper tail-coverts and tail ; the feathers of the head and hind-neck are white tipped with brown, while those of the mantle, though similar in colour, are everywhere intermixed with white feathers finely vermiculated with brown ; the wing-feathers are similar to the adult male described, but the white olecranal patch is absent ; tail very dark brown, white only at the extreme base ; forehead, sides of face, and throat white ; remainder of under-surface brown and white, many of the feathers are brown with white bases, more particularly on the sides of the body and lower abdomen, while others are white vermiculated with brown at the tips, more especially on the fore-neck and breast ; the under wing- coverts are white, and the axillaries are similar to those of the adult. Nestling. Covered with fight or slate-grey, fighter on the head. Nest. “ A cone-shaped structure composed of earth and grass cemented together. Usually about 2 feet in diameter, and about 18 inches high.” (Reischek.) Egg. Clutch, one ; surface rough and glossless ; white, but mostly nest-stained ; axis 122 mm., diameter 78. Breeding-season. January (Reischek, Auckland Island) ; February (BuUer, Auckland Island) ; February (Reischek, Antipodes Island). Incubation period. Nine weeks (Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway). In life these birds have, on each side of the nape, a roseate-pink patch which fades away entirely after death. Bullerf says : “ The young of this species does not leave the breeding- ground tiU their parents return to refit their nests for another brood ” ; and continues : “ The fact is that when the young are left in the nest at the close of the breeding season, they are so immensely fat that they can subsist for months without food of any kind.” Mr. ReischekJ observes : “Its power of flight surpasses that of most birds, and is easily accounted for b}^ the unusual development of the muscles of the breast and wings, the latter being equal to, if not stronger, than those of the eagle. It is worthy of remark that the quills of the wing are spread or brought close together according as the bird is rising or falling in its flight. *In the Plate, the eye-lid is wrongly painted red. t Trans. New Zeal. Inst. 1890, Vol. XXIII., p. 233, 1891. t ib. 1888, Vol. XXI., p. 126, 1889. 247 THE BIEDS OF AUSTRALIA. The steering is done not with the tail alone, but also with the broad-webbed feet. These, when a straight course is being followed, are stretched out, and nearly concealed under the tail ; but when a quick turn is required their position is altered, and the webs are spread in such a manner as to greatly assist the bird in turning. When there is little wind, and the ocean is calm. Albatrosses have great difficulty in rising from the water, when there is a swell they run along the water and rise with a wave. When alighting, on nearing the surface, they bend the head back, curve the wings upwards, beating the air with numerous laboured strokes, then, straightening their feet, they let themselves faU. They are fast swimmers, but cannot dive. Their food, which consists chiefly of some of the lower forms of marine life found floating on the surface of the ocean, they scoop up with their bill in the same manner as the ducks. ‘‘ I found that their nests are always placed on sloping ground, and always on the most exposed side of the hill. They are composed of earth and grass cemented together, and built in the form of a cone. They are usually about 2 ft. in diameter, and about 18 in. high. Outside they are surrounded by a shallow drain, intended to carry ofi the surface-water. “ In most cases I found the female on the nest, the male bird standing close to her, and occasionally feeding her. I noticed that sometimes the male relieved the female, but they never both leave the nest until the young one is able to defend itself against the Skua gull {Lestris parasiticus). “ On my approaching an albatross’s nest, the old bird seldom left it, but set up a croaking noise, clapping its mandibles together, and biting at the intruder. After turning it off and taking away the egg, it returned and sat on the nest as before. “ Notwithstanding the ease and grace of the albatross on the ocean, on the land it is a most clumsy and helpless bird. Its walk is slow and waddling, like that of a duck, and it cannot take flight from a level piece of ground.” Mr. Waite notices that : “ When the bird is walking the head is carried low, below the level of the back, the neck outstretched, producing an appear- ance of cautiousness, though possibly merely to balance the body. Occasionally one would walk with wings expanded. Many birds were discovered asleep on their nests, and it was quite easy to approach close and awaken them with a tap on the beak. “ We were witness of many curious antics, apparently connected with courtship, two birds, after rubbing their beaks together, would first lower almost to between the feet and then raise them vertically in the air, a manoeuvre many times repeated. The wings would be outspread to their fullest extent, * Svbant. lal. New Zeal., p. 570, 1909. 248 AUSTRALIAN WANDERING ALBATROS. the male spreading his tail after the manner of a turkey-cock. The paroxysm would then subside, to be renewed at intervals. Drops of oil oozed out of the beaks as they were rubbed together. The clapping of beaks with which the performance commenced gave place to a vibratory motion, which seemed to be involuntary, like shivering. The sound was a hoUow booming, which gave place to a shriek from both birds, similar to that made by the young when alarmed. This concluded the performance, which was re-commenced after a short interval. The commotion occasioned during this curious display would attract other Albatrosses to the scene. These sometimes paired off, and performed duets similar to that described. The community would then be joined by others which had been flying past, and they alighted among the group not a dozen yards from us, and almost unmindful of our presence. In alighting the legs and toes are spread. These birds walk laboriously uphill, and often sit down as though tired ; they cannot take wing direct, except in the face of a strong wind, when they rise almost vertically. Going downhill they run for some distance to gain impetus, and use the feet to beat the air, even when actually afloat. The tips of the wings only are moved in thus leaving the ground, much as though a man moved his fingers with the arms outstretched.” Mr. J. A. Mellor tells me this bird is found along the coast of southern Austraha, following the steamers to and from the west. He picked up one on Henley Beach, St. Vincent’s Gulf, South Australia. The type figured is a male, collected off the New South Wales coast. For a bird known for such a length of time and with so diverse plumage- changes, it has a very clean synonymy. As a matter of fact, it appears due to the plumage-changes that it can boast so few synonyms, apparently authors preferring to lump different birds in their ignorance rather than name obviously different-looking specimens. Linne named Diomedea exulans in the tenth edition of his Systeina Naturm (p. 132) in 1758, as follows : — D. alis pennatis, pedibus tridactylis. Albatros. Edw. av. 88, t. 88. Alb. av. 3, p. 76, t. 81. Grew Mus t. 6, f. 1. Habitat mtra tropicos Pelagi & ad Cap. b. Spei, aethera altissime scandens ; victitans e Triglis volitantibus a Corypbaena exagitatis. Statura Pelecani Aquili, naribus ovatis prominulis, non vero linearibus ; cauda rotundata brevi nec forficata, Rostrum in hac quadruplo majus. Forster, in his monograph of the Albatros (Jfew. Math. PhyS}, Paris, Vol. X., p. 569, pi. XIII., 1785), renamed this species Diomedea alhatrus. He pointed out that the best generic name would have been Albatros, but as custom had used Diomedea, he would prefer the former for the species-name. This most interesting paper, the very first monograph of these birds, was entirely overlooked for over one hundred and twenty years. 249 THE BIEDS OF AUSTRALIA. when it was brought to light by the researches of Mr. C. Davies Sherborn, working upon his invaluable Index Animalium, Linne based his species upon Edward’s account, and as that writer said his specimen was supposed to have come from the Cape seas, we can accept the South Atlantic as the type-locality of Linne’s species. The chief synonym seems to be D. spadicea Gmelin {Syst. Nat, p. 568, 1789), described as follows : — D. spadicea, fronte, orbitis, mento, gula, tectricibus alarum inferioribus, abdomine pedibusque albis, rostro ochroleuco. Deest broun [sic] or Chocolate Albatross. Cook it, 2, p. 116, 150. Forster it. 1, p. 258. Lath. syn. III., 1, p. 308, n. 2. Habitat in maris australis latitudine 37°, fuliginosa major. Irides fuscae ; margo alarum superior intus albus ; abdomen albicans ; cauda ahs aequahs longitudine, pedes ex caerulescente albi ; ungues albi. This is simply a translation of Latham’s account, quoted by Gmehn, which reads : — Deep brown, or chocolate Albatross, Cook’s Voy., II., p. 116, 150. Lev. Mus. Size larger than the Sooty Albatross. The bill in this bird of a yeUowish-white ; irides brown ; forepart of the head, round the eye, chin, and throat, white ; the plumage in general of a fine deep chocolate-colour, the neck and under parts palest ; the inner ridge of the wing, and under wing-coverts, white ; and the belly inclines much to white ; the tail is short, rounded in shape ; that and the wings equal in length ; the legs blueish- white ; claws white. This bird varies in having more or less white about the head, and in a greater or less degree of purity. Seen in the South Seas, in lat. 37, the end of December. This refers to the young, or rather a stage of plumage of this species which was again described by Tschudi as Diomedea adusta {Journ. fiir Ornith., 1856, p. 157). The best course appears to be to accept as the type-locality of D, exulans, D. spadicea Gmelin, and D. adusta Tschudi, the Cape seas or South Atlantic Ocean. There are no other synonyms of this species, as D. epoinopTiom of Lesson cannot be referred here. This species was described in the Ann. Sci. Nat, Paris, 1st ser., Vol. VI., p. 95, 1825, as follows : — Albatros a epaulettes (Diomedsea epomophora Nob). Taille moindre que celle du precedent. Le corps, le cou, la tete, le ventre, la queue, le dos et le croupion d’un blanc de neige ; les plumes qui couvrent les ailes, d’un noir vif ; deux larges taches blanches en losange sur le coude de chaque aile ; le bee est jaunatre. Se recontrent plus habituellement vers le quarantieme degre. This description has given much trouble to workers, Bonaparte ques- tionably referring it to the synonymy of D. hrachyura Temm. {Consp. Gen. Av., Vol. II., p. 184, 1857), and also admitting it (p. 185) as a questionable vahd species following Tschudi’s determination. Coues (Proc. Acad. Nat Sci. Philad. 250 AUSTRALIAN WANDERING ALBATROS. 1866, p. 177) included it in the synonymy of D. hmchyura Temm., and wrote : “ A specimen before me, unquestionably hrachyura, is in precisely the state of plumage described under the name epomophora by Lesson.” This was decidedly a pure mistake, as D. hrachyura never has “ la queue, d’un blanc de neige.” More recently Salvin and Godman have placed this name in the synonymy of D. exulans, being apparently prejudiced by the fact that Lesson noted that Quoy wrote that this was the young of that species. The first line, “ Taille moindre que celle du precedent {D. exulansY^ has also contributed to the non- recognition of Lesson’s species. If the original specimen were a young bird of course this would be correct, as there can be no doubt that Lesson’s name must be used for the bird recently known as D. regia BuUer. The white tail is distinctive of that species alone, as D. chionoptera does not attain a pure white tail until it has its “ snow-white ” wings, whereas “ D. regia ” has the tail pure white from its first plumage. The confusion surrounding D. exulans, “D. regia,""' and D. diionoptera has not been all dissipated by the treatment in the Monograph ; there we read, “ the true D. exulans, frequenting the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans ... the only authentic nesting-places of this species, are Antipodes Island and other islands of the New Zealand area ; D. regia, of the New Zealand area ; and D. chionoptera, inhabiting the Cape seas and the South Indian Ocean.” D. exulans exulans must be restricted to the South Atlantic bird, which apparently breeds on Inaccessible Island, Tristan d’Acunha group, and Gough Island. D. exulans chionoptera should be used for the bird breeding on Kerguelen Island, as the characters of the bill of this bird agree with that of D. exulans, and it is also said that the young passes through the same plumage-changes as that bird. The New Zealand breeding bird which I have called D. exulans rothschildi is the one we know most about, yet little is known about the plumage-changes as regards age. That the dark-plumaged bird (D. spadicea Gmehn) breeds is well known, as Buller wrote {Trans. New Zeal. Inst. 1891, Vol. XXIV., p. 68, 1892) : “ On Antipodes Island the breeding birds are for the most part in the dark grey plumage with the white face and throat. One of the officers of the Hinemoa told me that he turned many of these dark-coloured birds bfi; the nest, and always found an egg”; and {id., ib., Vol. XXV., p. 77), “All the Albatroses on Antipodes Island are dark birds.” These observations seem confirmed by the photographs given by Waite in the Subant. I si. New Zeal., where a “bird on the nest,” “bird walking,” and “birds mating” are all more or less dark. 251 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. Regarding D. e. chionoptera this would not appear to be the case, as although Hall {Ihis^ 1900, p. 12) concludes that this bird has similar plumage- changes to D, e. exulans, he does not record any other but white-plumaged birds as breeding ; while Moseley {Notes hy a Naturalist, second ed., p. 149, 1892) recorded of the Marion Island birds : — “ The female albatross is sprinkled with grey on the back, and is thus darker than the male, which is of a splendid snow-white with the least possible grey speckling, and was now seen in his full glory and best breeding plumage ; the tails and the wings of both birds are dark.” Here it would seem that the dark-plumaged birds do not breed. The observations made at sea by most observers, do not help at all towards solving such problems, and most recent naturalists who have had the oppor- tunity, have made few notes regarding the plumages of breeding birds through the false impression that such were valueless. At the present time the numerous observations made at sea are practically valueless on account of the lack of land-breeding notes. Wilson {National Antarct. Exp,, Aves, p. 108, 1907) records that an adult male procured in 35° 10' S. lat. and 13° 40' W. long., had the “ Eyelids, both upper and lower, bright scarlet.” Nikolai Hanson wrote that Cape birds had the “ Eyelid bluish-grey,” but this is a peculiar lapse on Hanson’s part, as is noted in many of his specimens of Petrels in the British Museum, where “ blue-grey ” is written concerning soft parts which obviously have never had that coloration, and this seems to be another case. There appears to be many races of D. exulans, but lack of series prevents the discrimination of such. I have concluded that E. e. exulans must be used for the South Atlantic breeding bird, and as it is known to breed on Tristan d’Acunha, I would select that island as the type-locality of Linne’s D. exulans. I have noted that Comer remarks that the Gough Island breeding birds were smaller than the Kerguelen Island ones, and that the South Georgian form also seemed to differ. Another noteworthy point is that made by Moseley when he stated that the tails of the Marion Island birds were dark, though otherwise the birds were very white. Gould suggested, “ That it also breeds on the Mewstone, Eddystone, and the adjacent rocks to the southward of Van Diemens’ Land, I have but little doubt, as some of the finest adult specimens I procured, were shot within a few miles of those barren and inaccessible rocks.” Campbell,’^ commenting on Gould’s conjecture, wrote : “ The lighthouse- keeper on Maatsuyker Island informed me that the precipitous cliffs of Mew- stone Island, which is six miles off, are covered in summer with white objects, * Nests and Eggs Austr. Birds, p. 903, 1901. 252 AUSTRALIAN WANDERING ALBATROS. supposed to be albatrosses. Mewstone Island would be a difficult place to land on.” It has been recorded as breeding on the Chatham Islands, New Zealand, as well as on Antipodes Island and Auckland Islands. The many races, probably restricted to their own breeding-locality, would be responsible for the varied accounts of the bare eyelid coloration, and may also account for the discrepant plumage-changes apparent in the study of this bird. First, as to the eyelid coloration, Wilson gave it for a Cape bird as bright scarlet, while N. Hanson noted it as blue-grey. I have spoken of the latter record as being apparently a lapse, and I find all the Cape skins to have dull yellowish eyelids, which would agree with Wilson’s observation. All the New Zealand specimens have dark eyelids, such as might, in life, have been greenish- purple, as BuUer described. Gould considered his specimens to have had the eyelid “ of a pale green colour ” — may these have been the “ Mewstone ” specimens ? ” I do not see the eyelid coloration of D. chionoptem yet described. Two specimens supposed to have been killed in the South Indian Ocean at sea differ in their eyelid coloration, one inclining to the orange (in the skin) of the Cape birds, the other dark like the New Zealand ones. From the specimens before me I suggest that the eyelid coloration will be found serviceable in differentiating the races, as it appears to be a constant character. Now, to note the diverse plumage-changes. The general routine which can be guessed that these birds would follow, has been outlined in the Monograph of the Petrels. Study of specimens at once shows disparity, and examination of data proves that the birds come from different localities. Thus, two birds in apparently the same state of fairly adult-plumage, differ in that one has a pale-coloured bill, such as is associated with an adult, while the other has a dark-coloured bill, such as is seen in the immature. The obvious conclusion is negatived by the examination of birds which have not reached the white- headed adult stage, but which possess pure pale-coloured (adult) bills. The explanation of such anomafies seems to be in the fact that we are dealing with different races which do not pass through exactly the same plumage-stages. The bird I have described as D. e. rothschildi differs from the Tristan d’Acunha breeding form, in its larger size throughout and in the coloration of its eyelids. Tentatively I would use the following nomenclature as represeri^ing the facts as at present known : — Diofnedea exulans exulans Linne, South Atlantic Ocean (Tristan d’Acunha breeding). Dio7nedea exulans chionoptera Salvin, South Indian Ocean (Kerguelen Island breeding). VOL. II. 253 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. Diomedea exulans rothschildi Mathews, New Zealand and East Australian seas (Antipodes Island, Auckland Island breeding ; ? Chatham Islands breeding). It is interesting to note that Solander carefully separated from the Linnean D. exulans two varieties, the diagnoses of which I herewith reproduce : the largest seems to belong to the bird named by Buber D. “ regia ” : — exnlans Diomedea Linn & Mscr Var. 1. Habitat in Oceano antarctico a Terra del Fuego australi, Latit. austr. gr. LVIII 30 (Febr. 3, 1769) Varietas minor Ga'put album, pileo nigricante Quia et totum Gollum alba Pectus, Latera, Venter, Grissus & Femora exterius albida, lineis punctisque fuscis parvis irrorata Groyygium lineis latioribus undulatum, uti & Dorsum quod et jam maculis longitudinaKbus fuscis majoribus adspersum Ala' supra nigra', subtus nivea Remigibus 'primoribus utrinque fuliginosis Gauda supra nigra, subtus fuliginosa, longitudine tibiarum, Ca'tera omnia uti in ave in Oceano Atlantico Latit. austr. XXXVII capta, ha'c autem major erat Longitude ab apice Fostri ad finem cauda' 4 ped 4 unc. inter apices alarum expans 10 ped 1 unc. Brachii 1641 Cubiti ni Metacarpi cum ala Cauda' 26 1 uncias Digit! intermedi 7 Rostri 54) Pondus 16 Libr Var. 2. Habitat in Oceano austr. Lat. austr. XXXVII : 10 Long. occ. CLXXI : 5 (Octob. 2, 1769) Latit austr. XXXV : 8 Longit. Occident CLXXXVIII : 30 (Jan 6. 1770) Lat. austr. XXXIX : 17 Longit. occ. CCIV : 6 (Apr. 11, 1770) Varietas major Tota avis alba, exceptis Alis supra nigro-maculatisi?emigres enim primores basi tantum- modo alba' ; secundaria' extra medium nigra', uti & tectrices, e quibus superiores solummodo nebulis nigris irrorata' Spatium inter alas expansas 10 ped 7 unc. Pondus 28 libr Carter {E^nu, Vol. X., p. 295, 1911) noted: ‘‘A fine specimen of Dioinedea exulans was received by me ... It measured 3 feet 6 inches in length, 9 feet 6 inches expanse of wing, and weighed 15 lbs.” This is the only recent record of weight I have seen. 254 Order PR0CELLAR1IF0RME8 No. 115. Family DIOMEDEIDjE, DIOMEDEA EXULANS CHIONOPTERA. SNOWY ALBATROS. Diomedea chionoptera Salvin, Cat. Birds Brit. Mas., Vol. XXV., p. 443, 1896 ; Kerguelen Island. Diomedea chionoptera Salvin, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., Vol. XXV., p. 443, 1896; Hall, Ibis 1900, p. 12 ; Mathews, Handl. Birds Austral., p. 19, 1908 ; Godman, Monogr! Petrels, p. 322, 1910. Distribution. South Indian Ocean (Kerguelen Island, Marion Island, Crozets breeding). Adult male. Differs from adult D. e. exulans in its larger size and whiter coloration, only the primaries, outer webs of the outer secondaries, and the lesser wing-coverts and inner secondaries, with the tips of the scapulars, being black ; the rest of the plumage is white. The soft parts do not appear to have been described from hfe. Wing 660 mm. Adult female. Similar ? Nestling. “Covered with pure white silky down” (Layard, Ihis, 1867, p. 460). Nest. “ Made up of peaty grass interwoven with fibrous earth. A typical nest measured 37 inches, diameter of bowl 18 inches, depth of bowl 5 inches. The floor of this bowl would be about 2 inches deep, as all was simply matted with the natural short grass, and appeared as if merely placed upon it. Many nests are raised 1| feet. Some have well-trimmed sides of earth, and are conical, but they are in the minority.” (Hall.) Egg. “Chalky white, coarse to the touch, 5" x 3''. 3'^'” (Layard, Ihis, 1867, p. 460). “ One egg weighed lib., and measured 5.25 inches by 3.20 inches, and this was the largest found ” (Hall). Breeding-season. “January (fresh eggs); February (half -incubated eggs)” (Hall). Under the name Diomedea exulans chionoptera Salvin, I am including birds breeding on Marion Island, the Crozets and Kerguelen Island, though there seems evidence pointing to the later recognition of further races. The few birds at present available are, unfortunately, apparently all picked birds, so that it would be inadvisable to use them as typical. This bird must therefore be included in the Australian List, on the undoubted occurrence of Crozet bird in West Australia chronicled by Campbell {Nests and Eggs Austr. Birds, p. 921, 1901), thus : “ One of these majestic birds was brought prominently under notice some years ago by falling exhausted and dying upon the beach at Fremantle, West Australia, with a tin plate fastened round its neck inscribed with the mournful intelligence of the loss of the French ship ‘ Tamaris ’ and 255 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. that thirteen of the survivors were on Crozet Islands . . . The date on the tin collar was 13th September, 1887 ; the bird was picked up three weeks later.” This example seems a wonderful instance of the sagacity of the observation made by the Editor (/6^s, 1867, p. 191) when Hutton recorded that he caught many sea-birds and let them go with ribbons round their necks, concluding, “ None of these birds were seen again during the voyage.” The Editor’s note reads : “ Some of these experiments are, perhaps inconclusive ; for it seems just possible that the decorations may have had the effect of frightening the wearers to death. I have known the case of a Raven — a bird certainly not less courageous than a Petrel — caught by a shepherd and liberated unhurt, but with a white fillet hung loosely round its neck. That bird was never seen again alive. Some days after, I found its dead body, on which there was not the slightest trace of any injury.” The Crozet bird, with the tin plate round its neck, seems to have suffered in the same way, flying ever eastward, until it fell, “ exhausted and dying.” The Kerguelen bird would seem a more likely bird to occur on the Westralian coast, and it may be that stragglers do so, but much study and many specimens are requisite to understand these birds and their habits. Hall gives the following account of the bird on Kerguelen Island : — “ The feathers of the immature birds in this group were dark on the crown of the head, while those on the back and head were not pure white but like those of D. exulans ; though otherwise these birds of one year old were similar to their parents in appearance . . . Later on I saw eight birds closely assembled, four of which I considered mature and the other four young. One was quite brown, with perhaps a little white on the face, but the others were blotched with sombre colour on their necks ... In the month of February, out at sea (102° E. 43° S., Feb. 2, 1898), I noticed an Albatross which looked like a link between this uniformly brown young bird and the almost mature white-necked one. It was dark brown, except the bill, face, cheeks and throat, which were white, with two white lines of feathers in the wings close to the body as it floated on the water ; the under sides of the wings had two wide bands of bluish-white and black. It was a piebald bird, and the only one seen by me throughout the trip. This was most likely a last season’s bird, late in its moult, but not so late as the very brown one. These three stages may be normal, and probably are such . . . Two of the sitting birds protographed were not mature. In one case the back was barred and in the other the wing coverts were far from being white. I observed sitting birds in three states of plumage, in what I would be inclined to think the second, third, and fourth years of age. The skin prepared by us does not quite agree with Mr. Salvin’s description in his key {Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., Vol. XXV., p. 440) for the scapulars 256 SNOWY ALBATROS. are not ‘ faintly banded ’ ; while the only flush of pink on the bird was over the left eye, and even this was scarcely visible ... We found the male bird taking part in the incubation.” It is rather difiicult to unravel the plumage changes of this bird, but one thing seems certain and that is, that it does not take so long as D. e. rothschildi in becoming white-headed, white-bellied, and white-winged. I have quoted Moseley regarding the Marion Islands bird, but though he stated the tails were dark, the selected specimen brought home has the tail nearly white. It is critically compared with the type of D, chionoptera in the Monograph. The breeding birds at Kerguelen and Marion Islands seem to be generally “ white ” buds, while the breeding colony of D. e. rothschildi at the Antipodes Island are mainly “ dark ” birds. The birds referred to D. chionoptera in the British Museum are from Kerguelen Island, Marion Island and the Crozets, and they all show more or less traces of vermiculations on the neck and upper-back. The amount of white on the wings appears to inversely agree wi^Ji the amount of vermiculation ; from which I conclude that the white becomes more extensive with age, and that the whitest are the oldest birds. The attached drawing is made from the type of D. chionoptera, and shows how closely the bill approximates to that of D. e. rothschildi, the only noticeable difference being its larger size and stouter build. 257 Order PR0CELLARI1F0RME8 Family DIOMEDEIDjE. No. 116. DIOMEDEA EPOMOPHOKA EPOMOPHORA. CAMPBELL ISLAND ROYAL ALBATROS. Diomed^a EPOMOPHORA Lesson, Ann. Sci. Nat., Paris, 1st ser., Vol. VI., p. 95, 1825 ; Campbell Island (breeding). Diomedcea epomophora Lesson, Ann. Sci. Nat., Paris, 1st ser., Vol. VI., p. 95, 1825. Diomedcea regia Buller, Trans. New Zeal. Inst. 1890, Vol. XXIII., p. 234, 1891 ; id., ib. 1891, Vol. XXIV., p. 68, 1892; id., ib. 1892, Vol. XXV., p. 76, 1893; id., ib. 1894, Vol. XXVII., p. 120, 1895 ; id., ib. 1898, Vol. XXXI., p. 31, 1899 ; Salvin, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., Vol. XXV., p. 443, 1896 ; Ogilvie-Grant, Ibis 1905, p. 557 ; Buller, Suppl. Birds New Zeal., Vol. I., p. 138, 1905 ; Mathews, Handl. Birds Austral., p. 19, 1908 ; Waite, Subant. Isl. New Zeal., Vol. I., p. 572, 1909. Distribution. Australian seas (Campbell Island, New Zealand breeding). Adult. Snow-white on the head, neck, back, tail and aU under-surface, including the under wing-coverts and axillaries ; on the lower-back and rump a few narrow cross- bars may be seen, but it is probable these disappear with age ; a few dark speckles are sometimes seen towards tips of outer tail-feathers ; scapulars white at the bases, the ends being solid black ; wing-coloration generally black, an indistinct olecranal patch of white being noticeable on the oldest specimen, the feathers along the bend of the wing showing white tips ; primaries black, the inner webs white towards their bases ; secondaries mostly white on the inner web. Soft parts coloured, probably as given by Buller for D. regia (description reproduced). Culmen (exp.) 170 mm., wing 660, tarsus 117, tail 206. Immature, with down still adhering. Agrees in detail with the preceding ; it has fewer white-markings on the wing, and the cross-bars on rump and lower-back are more pronounced, with longer, black ends to the scapulars ; these seem the only notice- able differences ; the tail is just as white, and the biU is more dully coloured. Nestling, just commencing to lose down. Coloration exactly the same ; bill dark- coloured, but tail pure white. Nest. Apparently like that of D. e. rothschildi (note phot, on p. 573, Subant. Isl. New Zeal.y where, however, no description is offered). Egg. “ Yellowish white, sometimes with a darker zone at the larger end ; ovoido- eUiptical, and measuring 5 inches in length by 3 inches in breadth ” (Buller). Breeding-season. Commence to lay at the end of December (BuUer). 258 CAMPBELL ISLAJ^D EOYAi ALBATROS. The history of this bird is one of the most interesting of this group. Solander met with and carefully differentiated this form, as here given : — Diomedea Exulans var. Habitat in Oceano austr. Lat, austr, XXXVII : 10 Long. occ. CLXXI ; 5 (Octob. 2, 1769) Latit. austr. XXXV : 8 Longit. Occident CLXXXVIII : 30 (Jan. 6, 1770) Lat. austr. XXXIX : 17 Longit. occ. CCIV : 6 (Apr. 11, 1770) Varietas major Tota avis alba, exceptis Alis supra nigro-maculatis. Remiges enim 'primores basi tantummodo alba', secundaria' extra medium nigra', uti & tectrices equibus superiores solummodo nebulis nigris irrorata' Spatium inter alas expansas 10 ped 7 unc. Pondus 28 libr Afterwards it was again described by Lesson as D. e'pomo'phom and this name has been consistently neglected though the diagnosis shows that it indisputably refers to this bird. Buffer, in the Tmns. New Zeal Ink. 1890, Vol. XXIIL, p. 234, 1891, again redescribed it as D. regia, under which name it has been commonly known. Though constantly confused with D. exulans and its subspecies, it appears to be separable in its adult plumage by the shape of the bill. In the Monograph there is a note that if D. exulans had another stage with the back and mantle 259 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. pure white, it would be undistinguishable from D. regia. I consider that the shape of the bill would enable recognition of this form at any time. The features which require notice are the comparative slenderness and the gentle slope of the culminicorn with its much weaker nail ; the examination of specimens makes this much more clear than either descrij)tions or drawings can do, and so far I have had no difficulty in picking out the specimens by the bill-characters alone. The bird recorded by Berg {Commun. Mus. Nac. Buenos Ayres, Vol. I., No. 8, p. 284, 1901) as D. regia, cannot very well be referable to this form, but would appear to be the fully adult of D. e. exulans, more especially as Wilson {National Antarct. Exp., Vol. II., pp. 110-111, 1907) has also noted that white Albatroses were seen close to and north of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is interesting to note that BuUer, when he described his D. regia, was not exactly aware of the diagnostic characters of the Campbell Island breeding bird, and there seems to be reason to suppose that his adult was a very old specimen of D. e. rothschildi, as will be noted from the description here attached. On p. 231 he recorded that his attention was attracted by a bird which he thus described : “It was of small size, and evidently a young bird. The whole of the plumage was pure white without any markings, excepting only the wings which were black on their upper surface, largely dappled with white, especially towards the humeral flexure ; legs and feet flesh-grey.” This agrees very closely with Lesson’s D. epomophora, and there can be no doubt of the identity of the two birds described. Buller’s detailed diagnoses read : — Adult. General plumage pure white ; upper surface of wings blackish-brown, varied with pale brown and white along the edges, and with an extensive patch of white on the humeral flexure ; primaries brownish-black, with paler tips and yellowish-white shafts ; secondaries brownish-black, largely marked with white on their inner webs ; scapulars white on their basal portion, black towards the tips ; tail-feathers largely marked with black in their apical portion, and the outer ones more or less marbled with brown ; lining of wings and under tail-coverts like the rest of the plumage of the under parts, pure white. Irides very dark brown, almost black ; bare eyelids jet black ; biU white, with a roseate or pinky tinge in life, yellowish horn -coloured on the terminal hook ; legs and feet flesh- white. Extreme length (approximately) 51 inches ; extent of wings 122 inches ; wing from carpal flexure 28 inches ; tail 10 inches ; biU, following the curvature of upper mandible 8.5 inches ; length of lower mandible 7.6 inches ; tarsus 5 inches ; middle toe and claw 7.5 inches. Young. Similar to the adult, except that there is less white on the upper surface of the wings, although all the coverts have white margins ; the interscapular region is traversed longitudinally with club-shaped marks of greyish-black, increasing downwards, the larger feathers having their apical portion completely covered ; upwards, towards the shoulders, these marks diminish tiU thev become mere arrow-heads : on the mantle and on the upper tail-coverts there are sometimes marginal bars, but there is no vermiculation. Bill yellowish hom-colour, with a bluish tinge on the upper mandible. Nestling. Covered with pure white down, thick and woolly in appearance. 260 CAMPBELL ISLAND ROYAL ALBATROS. Obs. In the extremely old male specimen exhibited the tail is entirely white ; there is an unusual amount of white on the upper surface of the wings, all the coverts being more or less margined with it ; and the scapulars are obscurely marbled with greyish- brown. The feathers composing the mantle are faintly vermiculated. Adults obtained off the Otago Coast, the young from Campbell Island. As diagnostic features Buller noted : “Dtomedea regia is appreciably larger than the common species, with a far more powerful bill, which differs further in having a broad black line along the cutting edge of the upper mandible. In D. exulans the bare eyelids are greenish-purple ; in D. regia the eyelids from youth to maturity are jet black.” In the Trans. New Zeal, hist., Vol. XXXI., p. 31, Buller again noted : “One fine D. regia readily distinguishable on the wing from D. exulans by the splash of white on the humeral flexure.” There can be little doubt that the adult birds described by Buller are merely the very old stage of D. e. rothschildi, while the young appear to agree better with the form next described. The nestling and egg came from Campbell Island, but his descriptions and facts seem to be mixed up. In the British Museum there are four specimens obtained on Campbell Island, one just losing its down, the other with only remnants of down adhering, and two adults. These all agree to the most minute detail in coloration, and all have white tails, and none have barrings on the interscapular region. There is also a specimen younger still, in down ; while at the Rothschild Museum there is another fine series of Campbell Island birds which agree. McCormick procured two birds on Enderby Island, and these birds, though having the white coloration (including the tail) of the Campbell Island form have the scapulars cross-barred, only the longer ones having black tips ; the olecranal patch is larger, and the wing-coloration is distinctly lighter, being brown, while the Campbell Island bird has the wing black-brown, almost black. For this form I propose the name Diomedea epomopTiora mccormichi, subsp n., as an indication of respect for Dr. McCormick, who made such a splendid collection of sea-birds in the pioneer Antarctic Expedition of 1840, and whose beautiful labelling is a delight to refer to. It is reported that this Enderby Island colony of D. e. mccormichi has been exterminated, but there still exists a colony of D. “ regia ” on Adam Island, Auckland Islands. It should be pointed out that the D. regia figured and described in the Monograph of the Petrels is Diomedea epomophora mccormichi. I have described this bird as a subspecies of D. epomophora and not of D. exulans, as I find that the general bill-characters of the two species are different, and that D. e. mccormichi agrees with D. e. epomophora in that feature. VOL. II. 261 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. I have decided to sink D. regia as a synonym of D. epomophora, as it was based on a mixture, and the first bird mentioned as being described and figured in the Birds of New Zealand ^ 2nd ed., as well as the young and breeding-locality designated, refer to D. epomophora. In my Handlist I included D. regia, but omitted it from my Reference List. I have here included it as it appears to have been met with by Solander, and there seems little reason why it should not occur. It would be interesting to learn of any authentic occurrence in Austrahan waters, but that it does so seems certain. The following extract from a letter received from Mr. Robin Kemp seems to refer to this bird, though it may be that very fine D. exulans approach closely to D. epomophora. One conclusion is that observations made at sea are comparatively valueless in this group. “ April 5th, 1912. No sooner did we enter the Great Australian Bight than we have been attended by one or more pairs of Albatroses during three consecutive days. These Albatroses are white with black terminations to the primaries. This evening (April 5th — 250 miles west of Port Adelaide) I notice for the first time that a pair of black Albatroses are following in our wake in company with a pair of the white variety. Though the light is poor I make out that the pair of black Albatroses have identically the same movement and action as their white congeners. In size of body I judge them to be slightly inferior to the white birds, but the expanse of wing seems to be equal in both varieties. The description of the new comers will be as follows, but owing to the failing light and the distance they keep from the stern of the boat, I cannot give greater detail : Entire plumage sooty-black, with greyish-white under surfaces to the wings, the face and beak white.” The description of the “ black Albatroses ” is quite sufficient to recognise the immature plumage of D. exulans, but what are the “ white Albatroses ” ? The description applies best to D. chionoptera, but it may belong to D. epomophora, or only the very adult of D. exulans rothschildi. A further note made by Mr. Kemp reads : “ April 10th, 1912, — 10 miles off St. George Head, Tasman Sea. The Albatroses I notice this evening are different from those reported above. There are three pairs — description as follows : Head, neck, breast, belly, vent and rump white, back and upper surface of wings black. Tail black above and below. Under surface of primaries white, remainder of under surface of wings black. Beak yellow. “ There is also one pair only — larger than above. Description — entirely white, except the upper surface of wings which are black. But the black does not seem to reach quite up to the body.” Here, again, the first description enables the recognition (presumptive) of D. 7nelanophris. But to what, again, would the second one apply ? 262 CAMPBELL ISLAND ROYAL ALBATROS. I have reproduced these extracts to show the fallacy of accepting sea- made observations as having any finality, and I have therefore considered all such as unworthy of incorporation, when endeavouring to trace the fife- histories of birds of this group. BuUer, under the heading of Diomedea regia, in his Supplement, p. 141, writes : “I can only ask, as I have done before, what is that divinely implanted faculty which enables this bird, after wanderings that defy calculations, and perhaps encircle the globe ”... I have quoted this to emphasize that last phrase, as it seems quite contrary to the facts, that this or any other species should “ encircle the globe.” 263 Genus— T HALASSARCHE. Thalassarche Reichenbach, Nat. Syst.Vog., p. v., 1852 Type Th. melanophris. (Also spelt Thalassiarche.) When Reichenbach generically separated the Albatroses, he introduced Thalassarche for the birds ranged about D. melanophris. We do not know the limits of his genus nor his generic characters, so we are left to guess that he would have included all the MoUymawks under that name. Coues lumped these as “ Group B,” and wrote : “ Melanophrys may be taken as the type of this group, which constitutes the genus Thalassarche Reich.” Forbes con- sidered Thalassarche a good genus. Ridgway, concluding that the type of Thalassarche was a typical Diomedea, introduced Thalassogeron for the Molly- mawks with D. culminata Gould as type. By some authors Thalassarche (written Thalassiarche Forbes) has been considered equivalent to Thalassogeron Ridgway, but I would point out that Forbes’s two species of Thalassarche were Th. melanophris and Th. culminata^ so that his genus was more probably the same as Reichenbach’s. More recently Thalassarche has been considered synonymous with Diomedea, while Thalassogeron has been admitted as a valid genus. Careful examination of the bills of Diomedea melanophris and the other MoUymawks proves that they must be classed together. Essentially they agree in having the bill shorter and weaker than in D. exulans, and in having the nostrils small and placed at some distance from the base of the biU and not as in D. exulans. There can be no good reason for placing D. melanophris in Diomedea if Thalassogeron be retained. And unless Thalassarche be used for the MoUymawks as a whole, and Thalassogeron rejected, both must be utilised. In the American Ornith- ologists’ Union Checklist subgenera are freely accepted, and the value of Thalas- sogeron would seem to be only subgeneric to Thalassarche. Thus the culmen of Th. culminatus is cleanly separated, posterior to the nostrils, from the latericorn by a Ueshy membrane ; the cuTmen however reaches right up to the feathers of the forehead. In D. melanophris the culmen, posterior to the nostrils, broadens and spreads downwards to the latericorn, from which it is 264 THALASSAECHE. separated by a narrow sulcus only, no soft skin being seen there. But in some specimens this sulcus is much more pronounced than in others, and I conclude that juvenile specimens will show even closer relationship than is seen in adults. As a second species of Thalassarche I would class D. bulleri Bothschild, which shows the relationship of Thalassarche and Thalassogeron culminatus even more plainly. In that species the bill-coloration of Th. culminatus is retained though the culmen towards its base spreads downwards towards th© latericorn and very closely resembles that of Th. melanophris. 265 THE BIEDS OF AUSTRALIA. Examination of the preceding cuts in conjunction with the letterpress, shows the points to note. It will be seen that the bill of Thalassarche recalls that of Phoebastria, the chief point of difference being the presence of a cere, at the base of the latericorn, which sharply separates the latericorn from the feathering. The culminicorn posterior to the nasal opening reaches to the latericorn, but does not overlap it as in Plio&hastna. The base of the lower mandible shows an angle, which is not deep as in Diomedea, but is pro- tected by a cere: in the young this angle is more pronounced, showing clearly the reduction from a deeper entrant, and admits the suggestion of evolution from a groove-bearing form. I hope these cuts show the close alliance of the two generic t3^pes Thalassarche and Thalassogeron, and the greater differences between Thalassarche and Diomedea, 266 Order PR0GELLARIIF0RME8 Family DIOMEDEIDjE. No 117. THALASSARCHE MELANOPHRIS IMPAVIDA. AUSTRALIAN BLACK-BROWED MOLLYMAWK. (Plate 96.)* Thalassarche MELANOPHRIS IMPAVIDA/ subsp. n. ; Tasmania ; Type no. 278 in my collection. Diomedea melanophrys Gould, Birds Austr., Vol. VII., pi. 43, 1844 ; id., Handb. Birds Austr., Vol. II., p. 438, 1865 ; Hutton, Ibis 1872, p. 248 ; Buller, Birds New Zeal., p. 292, 1873 ; Ramsay, Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., Vol. II., p. 202, 1877 ; id.. Tab. List Austr. Birds, p. 23, 1888; Buller, Birds New Zeal, 2nd ed., Vol. II., p. 198, 1888 ; id., Trans. New Zeal. Inst. 1894, Vol. XXVII., p. 121, 1895 ; Salvin, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., Vol. XXV., p. 447, 1896 (pars) ; North, Birds County Cumber., p, 115, 1898; Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 96, 1899; Campbell, Nests and Eggs Austr. Birds, p. 926, 1901 ; Buller, Suppl. Birds New Zeal., Vol. I., p. 146, 1905 ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 96, 1906; Wilson, National Antarct. Exp., Aves, p. Ill, 1907 (pars) ; Mathews, Handl. Birds Austral., p. 19, 1908 ; Waite, Subant. Isl. New Zeal., p. 574, 1909; Godman, Monogr. Petrels, p. 339, 1910; Littler, Handb. Birds Tasm., p. 186, 1910. Distribution. Austrahan seas. Adult male. General appearance of the upper-parts dark brown and white ; scapulars, wings and tail dark brown ; rump and upper tail-coverts white, back slaty-black ; quills black, with white shafts towards the base, inner webs whitish at the base ; secondaries blackish, inner webs white at the basal portion ; feathers of the olecranal patch blackish, becoming white at the base ; humeral feathers white, shaded with grey ; tail-feathers blackish, with conspicuous white shafts ; lores, and a streak through and behind the eye black, more intense in front of the eye ; head and neck all round, throat and entire under-surface white ; axillaries and under wing-coverts white, more or less shaded with grey, the smaller coverts round the margin black, like the upper wing-coverts ; quills below brown with white shafts, which are blackish towards the tips ; “ Bill uniform, gamboge-yellow, shaded with orange on the hook and with a very fine line of black round the base of the mandibles ; iris light brown ; feet dehcate blue-grey, darker on the joints and interdigital webs ; claws white-horn colour ” (Buller) ; “ Iris rich hazel-brown ” (Wilson), Culrccn (exp.) 115 mm., depth at base 45; wing 510, tarsus 78.5, middle toe 115. Adult female. Similar to the adult male. *The Plate is lettered Diomedea melano'phrye. 267 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. Young. “ Differs from tiie adult in having the head and neck ash-grey, and the upper surface of wings and inter-scapular region brownish-black, the smaller wing-coverts with paler margins, the bill blue-black, and the legs and feet bluish-grey ” (Buller). Nestling. “ Covered with long, thick woolly down, of a pale grey colour ; biU brownish- black with yellowish horn-coloured tip ; legs and feet yellowish- white ” (Buller). Nest. “A conical mound from 8 in. to 18 in. in height constructed of mud mixed with vegetable substances, the cup-shaped depression is lined with finer materials ” (Waite) . Nggs. Clutch, one ; surface dull, and having a ring round the larger end of reddish- brown specks and blotches; axis 97 to 114 mm., diameter 54 to 69. Incubation 'period. Sixty days (Dougall). Breeding-season. November to January. Very little appears to have been written about the breeding-habits of the Australian form of Th. melano'phris. Though Gould noted, “ It was nowhere more numerous than off the Southern coast of Van Diemens’ Land, where a large company followed our vessel for many days, and continued to hover around us until we entered Storm Bay,” I know of no nesting -place off the Australian coast. Waite* has written : “ Numbers of these birds flew about the vessel as it lay at anchor, and swooped down for food thrown from the galley. On Dis- appointment Island we came across their breeding grounds. The nests are made on a rather steep slope, clothed with Ligusitcum, and consist of a conical mound, varying in height from 8 in. to 18 in. The nest is constructed of mud mixed with vegetable substances scraped from around, and the cup-shaped depression is lined with finer materials. The birds sit but a few feet apart, and they dot the whole of the hillside.” A beautiful photograph, of a bird on its nest is there reproduced. Mr. W. Dougallf writes : “At Campbell Island I ascended one of the highest hills. Mount Honey (1866 feet) amidst hundreds of nests of the Albatros, surrounded by nothing save the unvarying tussock fern and ti-tree scrub. We came on the first Albatros at about 800 feet above sea level, and after reaching the crown of the hill 1,000 feet, found them sitting in their nests and flying about close to the ground in hundreds. The Albatros apparently lays but one egg each year, but one of the party found two nests containing two eggs each. It was suggested that this was only a freak of nature, although it is known that the Gannet of New Zealand lays two eggs, one of which is hatched by the male bird. All up the sides of the hill wild parsley was growing luxuriantly often two feet high, while everlasting daisy clothed the ground like a carpet. The cotton-wood plant in full bloom was also plentiful. As the top (1866 feet) is reached, this variety of vegetation ends, and travelling becomes easier, as there is no growth to impede progress but diminutive tussock, * Suhant. I si. New Zeal., p. 574, 1909. t Buller, Birds New Zeal., 2nd ed., Vol. II., p. 199, 1888. 268 AUSTRALIAN BLAGK-BROWED MOLLYMAWK. among whicli are the Albatros nests and their tenants. These nests are built up of moss and earth about four inches above the surface of the ground. The material to form the nest is so taken from the soil as to leave a trench all round it, and this keeps things dry for the important object in view. The female never leaves the nest during incubation, a period of about sixty days, and is fed by her consort, who faithfully hunts for food for both. If by chance the nest is left unguarded for a single moment the Sea-Hawk which is here in thousands, pounces upon the egg and ‘ love’s labour’s lost,’ at least so far as the Albatros is concerned. The Albatros is a stupid bird, for it will sit, whether hatching or not, till you tumble it head over heels with your foot. At the same time it will resent such liberty, and, if it succeeds in getting a hold, it will take the piece out of trousers, hose and skin. They are very strong birds. The best way to catch one is to make a feint at his head with the left hand, which distracts the bird’s attention, and then quickly seize it by the bill with the right ; but be sure you get the grip, as they turn very quickly, and would snap your fingers off if they got the proper hold. They build on the flat plateau of the hills ; and so far as we have seen, never lower down than 700 feet from the sea-level. At Antipodes Island, on Tuesday, January 31st, the day broke beautifully, and the bay was like a mirror, but the glass was still low ; as the day advanced we were enveloped for half an hour in one of those dense mists characteristic of this locahty, and when it passed the hills were covered with snow. The height of the island is marked on the chart at 600 feet, but this is an error, as the principal hill. Mount Gallaway, is 1,200 feet above the sea- level. From seaward, this hill looks conical or dome-shaped, but on reaching the summit a beautiful clear lake covering an area of thirteen or fourteen acres is found — a lake which a little later in the season than the time of our visit, is much frequented by the Albatros, being virtually surrounded by thousands of their nests.” This species appears to be “ the Mollymawk ” of sailors in the Southern seas, and is recognised when adult by its unicolor yellow or orange bill, when young by its uniform browner bill with a black tip. I would consider that D. gilliana Coues {Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad. 1866, p. 181) was undoubtedly founded on a not fully adult bird of D. mdano- phris, and would designate as type-locality of D. gilliana, the Cape ^eas ; in juvenile specimens the bill-coloration is just as Coues described, while some, according to age, have the under-wing coloration uniform. Though D. melanophris was not characterised in literature until 1828, it is of interest to note that Solander discriminated and described it in manuscript over fifty years earlier. At the same time he also described another species of MoUymawk, noted two varieties of D. exulans, and also described the Sooty ♦ VOL. n. 269 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. Albatros. As he also carefully indicated his knowledge of the confusion in the Linnean-genus Diomedm and restricted it to the long-winged Albatroses^ his accuracy in the study of ornithology is very noticeable. The description given by Temminck {Plan. Col. d’Ois.^ 77 livr., pi. 456^ 1828) is as follows : — Diomedea melanophris. L’espece figuree pi. 456 differt de celui pi. 468 (D. chlororynchos) par les caracteres marquans que nous signalons ici -1° Par la taille toujours d’un tiers plus forte ; 2° Par la grandeur, la force et la couleur du bee ; 3° Par la forme que presente la base nue du bee vers la partie frontale ou les plumes commeneent ; dans le melanophris, la partie nue se dessine en demi-cercle et en plaque relevee qui s’avance entre les plumes : chez le chlor- orhynchos la base frontale est coupee transversalement en ligne droite ; 4° Par la couleur de Firis des yeux, Jaune dans la premiere espece, et brune, dans tons les ages, chez la seconde ; 5° la premiere, a toutes les epoques de la mue, porte une bande sourcilliere ou xm trait noir ou noiratre au-dessus et vers les bords de Forbite des yeux ; cette bandemanque a Fautre espece, dont le bee, dans Fadulte comme chez le jeune, est en grande partie noir. On le trouve assez communement dans la bale du cap de Bonne-Esperance. The plumage-changes which this species undergoes are not yet well known and Hutton’s account {Ihis, 1865, p. 283) seems to have been accepted, though careful reading shows that it cannot be trusted, as Hutton may have confused other Mollymawks with it. He wrote : “ According to my observations, the head in the young is grey, which, as the bird grows older, becomes white — first on the cheeks, and then spreading to the top of the head leaves a collar round the neck, which breaks first in front, and gradually spreads upwards until the whole is white. The beak remains dark blue for some time after the plumage has assumed the colours of the adult. The feet and legs of the young bird are light blue” — but discounted these descriptions as being peculiarly referable to D. melanophris by continuing, “ D. chlororhynchus Lath, differs from D. melanophrys only in the rather lighter tint of the mark over the eye and in the colour of the beak ; in size and habits it is precisely similar ; and as the beak of D. culminata Gould is just intermediate in colour between the two, I am of opinion that all three form one species,” and adding, “ No one acquainted with these birds can read Latham’s description of D. chlororhynchus without at once seeing that he is describing an immature bird.” My interpretation of the plumages of D. chlororhynchos points to the exactly opposite conclusion, viz. that Latham’s specimen of that species was a fully adult one. Wilson {National Antarct. Exp., Aves, pp. III-II2, 1907) also writes about the plumages of D. melanophris, but as his notes refer to sea-flying birds and include specimens in every longitude, confusing races, they do not help much. For instance, after writing — “ Some were pale grey all over the head and neck ; others had merely a broad or narrow collar of grey, incomplete below ; the size also varied considerably, but aU had the bill of D. melanophrys,. 270 AUSTRALIAN BLAGK-BROWED MOLLYMAWK. dusky yellow, and always with a darker tip. We considered these grey-headed and grey-necked individuals, if the biU was broad, yellowish and darker tipped, to be the young of D. mdano'phrys. There was no difficulty in dis- tinguishing the grey-headed D. melanophrys from the grey-headed Th. chlor" orhynchus and Th. culminatus, since the colour of the bill in the two latter is much more clear cut and distinctly black and yellow than the dusky-brownish or yellowish bill of the immature D. melanophrys'^’’ — Wilson himself casts doubt upon these grey-headed birds being immature D. melanophrys as none were procured. It should also be observed that Wilson never notes D. cauta, though some of the subspecies of this bird should have been seen by him. That species, though somewhat larger, has a unicolored bill and is very shy, as noted by Wilson for his unrecognisable birds. The examination of long series of this bird proves the recognition of several races desirable, and I propose the following subspecies as separable, with the material available. D. melanophris was described from the Cape seas, where it is very abundant, and the form there found breeds in the South Atlantic. At various times it has been recorded as breeding on Gough Island, Tristan d’Acunha, and the Falkland Islands, but the last-named locality seems the only authentic one at the present time. The birds from Kerguelen Island have longer bills, and the bill-coloration seems paler than in the typical form ; this is a matter which seems to have escaped serious attention, and the various discrepant accounts of different observers have been lumped as seasonal or sexual features. I am inclined to put such down to the confusion of races, as adult birds seem to show con- stancy in their bill-coloration, as they certainly do in the bill-measurements. For the Kerguelen breeding birds, I propose to use Thalassarche melanophris helcheri, subsp. n. The New Zealand breeding birds, for which I have taken up Solander’s MS. name, whose diagnosis I attach, have short bills and the black in front, above and behind the eye is pronounced, while a strong greyish wash is noticeable on the lores. The Kerguelen birds lack the greyish lore-wash and the black in front of the eyes is not so marked, though the black behind the eye extends further back. The Australian bird (New Zealand breeding) should be, therefore, called Thalassarche melanophris impavida Mathews. ^ impavida Diomedea (alis pennatis, pedibus a’quilibribus tridactylis) rostro lutescente cera nigricante, capite albo ; regione oculorum nigra Habitat m Oceano australi Latit. austr. XXXIX 17 Longit. occid. CCIV 6 (Apr. 11, 1770) Bostrum figura omnino convenit cum Diomedea exulante Lion sed pallide & sordide lutescens, apiee parum incarnatum, la'vigatum 271 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. Oculorum Iris cana, Pupilla nigra Caput niveum ; area oculari nigra Gollum, Pectus, Abdomen, Grissus & Femora nivea Dorsum nigricans Uropygium album Ala' longa', angusta', supra nigra', subtus per medium longitudinaliter albescentes Cauda brevis, rotundata, cinerea, supra nigricans Pedes ex albido-glauci Digiti tres antici ; nuUo postico Ungues albidi A Diomedea exulante Linn. Syst. 214 illiusque varietatibus differt Rostro colore, Cera nigricante, Oculorum Area nigra, Alis subtus minus albis, Cauda longiori ; ut praeteream quod ha'c avis multo minor. Proprius accedit Diomedea' profuga' SIscr. a qua differt pra'cipue colore rostri, et quod ha'c in pluribus partibus nivea ubi ilia cinerea, quod forte a'tate tribuendum The bird from the west coast of South America whose breeding-place is at present unknown, is easily separable by the entire absence of grey on the lores and by the black about the eye being reduced to a very faint marking. Its bill is as long as that of the Kerguelen bird, and is also deeper. For this race I introduce the name Thalassarche 7nelanophris ricTi^nondiy subsp. n. 272 Genus— T HALASSOGERON. Thalassogeeon Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway, Mem. Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard, Vol. XIII. (Water-Birds North Amer.), p. 345, 1884 . . . . Type TJi. cJirysostoma cuhninatus Gould. I HAVE already given most of the history of this generic name, and would here point out that it differs in biU-characters from Thalassarche by the presence of a fleshy membrane between the culmen and the latericorn, posterior to the nasal openings. In the type, the culminicorn reaches right up to the frontal feathers, but in other species it does not. If the presence of the fleshy mem- brane between the culminicorn and the latericorn can be accepted as a generic character, then these other species should be also considered generically separable by the presence of the fleshy membrane between the culminicorn and the frontal feathers. I do not think that these should be utihsed, but they are certainly modifled forms which are of more than speciflc value, and for the use of accurate workers who admit subgenera I have introduced subgeneric names. 273 f} THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. The cuts here given show the appearance of the biUs of Th. chlororhynchos hassi, Th. chrysostoma cuhninatus, and Th. cautus cautus. The bill of the first- named is longer and narrower than that of the second, but the peculiar reduction of the culminicorn at its posterior end to a sharp point, distinctly and widely separated from the frontal feathering by the fleshy membrane Th. chlororhynchos hassi. Th. chrysostoma culmvnatus. Th. cautus cautus. extending upon it, renders its identiflcation easy. In addition, the base of the lower mandible approaches a more perfect fine than the other members, and in this resembles Phmhastria. I would consider it subgenerically separable from Thalassogeron (s. str.), and propose for this form the subgeneric name NEALBATRUS, with type the only species Th. chlororhynchos (Gm.). The bill 274 THALASSOGERON. of the last-named, Th, cautus, is again different from either of the preceding : it is altogether a larger and more stout bill, and the culminicorn is separated from the basal feathering by a wide space of fleshy membrane, and the culminicorn does not become reduced but is almost wider at its base than in the middle. It is certainly subgenerically separable, and I introduce for it the subgeneric name DIOMEDELLA, with type the only species Th. cautus Gould. As a matter of fact Dioynedea cauta Gould is quite an aberrant Mollymawk standing apart from the other members of Thalassarche and TTialassogeron in size as well as bill-characters, and is certainly as worthy of generic distinction as is Th. cuhninatus, but inasmuch as the latter species was first chosen for the honour and has been commonly accepted, I use it, but there seems to me little doubt that the correct nomenclature is not yet fixed. 275 Key to the Species. A. The culminicorn golden-yellow ; sides black ; culminicorn not reaching to frontal feathers (see fig. 1) Th. chlororhynchos bassi, p. 281 Th. chlororhynchos carteri, p. 287 B. Bill all black ; same shape C. The culminicorn yellow, reaching to the frontal feathers ; the lower edges of lower mandible pale (see fig. 2) . . Th. chrysostoma culminatus, p. 277 D. The culminicorn pale grey unicolor ; not reaching to the frontal feathers (see fig. 3) . . . . . . . . Th. cautus cautus, p. 289 Note. — The figures given are by far the best key to the species. 276 f i Order PR0CELLARIIF0RME8 Family DIOMEDEIDM. No. 118. THALASSOGERON CHRYSOSTOMA CULMINATUS. AUSTRALIAN FLAT-BILLED MOLLYMAWK. (Plate 97.)* Diomedea cuLMmATA Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc. (Lond.) 1843, p. 107; Bass Strait. Diomedea culminata Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc. (Lond.) 1843, p. 107 ; id., Birds Austr., Vol. VII., pi. 41, 1848 ; id., Handb. Birds Austr., Vol. II., p. 436, 1865 ; Ramsay, Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., Vol. II., p. 202, 1877 ; id.. Tab. List Austr. Birds, p. 23, 1888 ; Buller, Suppl. Birds New Zeal., Vol. I., p. 154, 1905. Thalassiarche culminata Forbes, Rep. Voy. “ Challenger,” Zool., Vol. IV., p. 13, 1882. Thalassogeron culminatus Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway, Water-Birds North Amer., Vol. II., p. 358, 1884 ; Salvin, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., Vol. XXV., p. 451, 1896 (pars) ; North, Birds County Cumber., p. 115, 1898 ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 96, 1899 ; Campbell, Nests and Eggs Austr. Birds, p. 934, 1901 ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 96, 1906 ; Mathews, Handl. Birds Austral., p. 19, 1908 ; Godman, Monogr. Petrels, p. 354, 1910 ; Littler, Handb. Birds Tasm., p. 188, 1910. Diomedea cJirysostoma Mathews, Nov. Zool., Vol. XVII., p. 497, 1910 Distribution. Australian seas Adult male. Head, hind-neck and mantle grey with white base to the feathers, becoming dark brown or black on the middle of the back, scapulars and wing-coverts ; lesser, median, and greater wing-coverts dark brown, with whitish bases hke the bastard- wing, primary-coverts and quills, the latter with white shafts and pale brown inner webs ; secondaries dark brown with white on the basal portion ; olecranal feathers dark brown with pale inner webs which become white at the base ; rump and upper tail-coverts pure white ; tail dark hoary-grey with white shafts ; feathers above and in front of the eye black ; sides of face, throat, and fore-neck white, more or less washed with grey ; remainder of the under surface white ; axillaries pale grey with whitish tips ; feathers round the margin of the up(^er-wing blackish ; bill black, the culmen yeUow, divided from the tip, which is horn-colour, by a black patch, base and lower edges of mandible yellow ; feet and legs grey, webs fleshy -pink. Total length 910 mm. ; culmen 111, wing 518, tail 213, tarsus 86. Adult female. Similar to the adult male. Nest, Egg, and Breeding -season. Unknown. * The Plate is lettered Diomedea cJirysostoma. VOL. n. 277 THE BIKDS OF AUSTRALIA. I CAN find little regarding the life-history of this species. Continually confused with Th. cMororhynchos and Th. hulleri, little reliance can be placed upon any of the earlier records of the breeding of this species. I have already indicated the conclusion that the name to be used for the species is chrysostoma Foster, but it is fortunate that we can retain Gould’s well- known culminata as the subspecific term for the Australian form. The original description given by Forster, for our knowledge of which we have to thank Mr. C. Davies Sherborn, is here reproduced : — Mem. Math, et Phys. Acad. Boy. Sci., Paris, Vol. X,, 1785, p. 571, pi. xiv. L’Albatros a bee dore {Diomedea chrysostoma) est de la grandeur d’une oie, & sa figure est a peu pres la meme que celle de VAlbatros commun ; il a six pieds & huit pouces d’envergure & deux pieds neuf pouces de longeur, depuis le bout du bee a I’extremite des pieds. II est blanc ; il a la tete cendree, & au dessus des yeux un peu noiratre. Le dos, les ailes, et la queue qui est arrondie, sent noirs. Les pennes sent d’un noir un peu brunatre. Les tiges des primaires sent jaunatres ; ceUes des secondaires sent blanches. Les yeux sont d’une couleur de noisette, et dans Tangle posterieur, on voit, sous la paupiere de chaque ceil, une tache blanche. Le bee est noir, mais il est marque en haut d’une bande jaune longi- tudinale, qui ne s’etend pas jusqu’au bout ; & les marges des machoires sont aussi dorees. Les pieds sont d’une couleur de cendre bleuatre. Au reste, cette espece est en tout conforme en moeurs & habitudes aux autres Albatros, & se trouve dans les memes parages, que la commune ; cependant nous observames qu’il n’y en avoit que tres-peu dans le voisinage du cercle polaire antarctique & dans TOcean pacifique. Elle se trouve en grand nombre dans les mers au sud & a Touest du cap de Bonne- Esperance. The description in the Descr. Aniin., 1844, p. 24, from Forster’s MS., is also added : — Diomedea chrysostoma. The Yellow-Billed Albatross (Fig. picta X). Alis pennatis, alba, rectricibus, dorso, remigibus nigris, rostro supra linea, faucisque margine inferiore aureis. Habitat in Oceano australi extra Tropicum. Corous magnitudine vix Anseris domestici. Alaee xpansae 6 pedum 8 unciarum. Longitude a rostri apice in medii digiti unguem 2 pedum 9 unciarum. Caput canescens. Collum cum abdomine, pectore et uropygio album, a rostro versus et circa oculum canities intensior et nigricans. Dorsum, tectrices alae et caudae nigra. Remiges et rectrices fusco nigra ; rachis priorum flavescens, posteriorum alba. Rostrum nigrum, supra linea flava ; mandibula inferior a plumis divisa margine elevate, membranaceo angusto aureo, decurrente postice per fauces et ultra sub oculis, infra desinente in lineam flavam ante apicem terminatam. Lingua brevis, camosa, lanceolata, apice cuspidato ; lateribus postice villosis, serraturis retro-flexis. Palatum tribus ordinibus serraturarum retro flexorum, sub lingua a mandibula inderior lateribus serie unica utrimque serraturse retro fiexae. Sub oculo a cantho postico ultra mediam oculi macula alba. Irides avellanae. Pedes jequilibres palmati pallide glauci, sone digito et ungue postico. Digitus interior phalangibus 5, medius 4, exterior .3, et hie praeterea membrana marginah instructus ut in congeneribus. Observ. — ^Vidi et quosdam rostro toto superiore flavo. Caro sapida, postquam cutis detracta est. Avis laesa vomit et mordet vehementer. Sternum breve. Nunquara aethera petunt, se pedes circiter 5-6 supra undas volitant. 278 AUSTRALIAN FLAT-BILLED MOLLYMAWK. It will be seen that the details differ though the measurements are the same. I show in the next article the reason for this confusion. In the Proc. Zool. Soc. (Lend) 1843, p. 107, Gould described his Diomedea cuhninata as follows : — Diomedea culminata. Diom. spatio circumocular nigrescenti-cinereo, gradatim pallescente ; facie alba ; vertice corpore subtus et uropygio albis ; dorse, alis et cauda cinerescenti-fuscis ; culmine olivacea-flavo. Space surrounding the eye blackish-grey, gradually passing into the white of the face ; crown of the head, aU the under surface and rump white ; back of the neck sooty-grey ; back, wings and tail dark greyish-brown, the latter with white shafts ; culmen for its whole length olive-yellow ; base of the under surface of the lower mandible fleshy hom- colour, remainder of the bill black ; point of the upper mandible horn-colour ; feet bluish- white. Total length, 30 inches ; bill 4;| ; wing 20 ; tail 9 ; tarsi SJ. Habitat : Southern, Indian, and South Paciflc Oceans. Four years later Gould figured the Australian bird as representing the species, and I am therefore accepting Bass Strait as designated by myself {Nov. Zool.^ Vol. XVIII., p. 205, 1912) as the type-locahty of Gould’s D. cuhninata. Recently Rothschild {Bull. Brit. Orn. Club, Vol. XXIX., p. 70, 1912) has separated a form from Campbell Island, New Zealand, thus : — Diomedia culminata mathewsi. Adult. Differs from D. c. culminata in having the cheeks and throat pure white, and the top of the head almost white, instead of deep blue-grey. The back and hinder part of the neck are also browner and of a less pure white. Habitat. Campbell Island, New Zealand seas. This would appear to be the bird recorded by Filhol ( Buffer, Suppl. Birds New. Zeal., Vol. I., p. 154, 1905) as breeding at Campbell Island, and which New Zealand ornithologists have not recently recognised. Marriner’s note (given by Waite, Subant. Isl. New Zeal., p. 574, 1909) — “ These birds had their rookeries only on the north end of the island [Campbell Island] situated on the top of the cliffs ; individual birds were seen on the harbours ” — may also refer to this form, and not to D. melanophrys, where Waite has placed it. More probably the solution is that both D. c. mathewsi and Th. m. impavida breed in the same colony, and this suggestion is reinforced by the following note, written in Campbell’s Nests and Eggs Austr. Birds, p. 935, 1901 : “Sir James Hector informed me that during a trip southward in February, 1895, he believed he saw the Flat-billed Albatrosses nesting in groups among the Blackbrowed variety on the great cliffs at Campbell Island.” Until series are collected at their breeding-grounds we cannot be sure of this birds’ plumage-changes. The following is suggested from examination of birds from about the same locality: — 279 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. When the young flies it has a dark grey head which extends on to the throat ; the ocular patch distinctly blackish ; the grey is a dirty -brown grey, while the bill is practically all black, but the lower edges of the under mandible show pale brownish. The grey head and neck lose their brownish tinge while the culmen takes on a hght yellowish-brown shade, the strip on the lower edges of the lower mandible becoming paler. The fully-adult has a beautiful pearl-grey head, neck and throat, while the culmen is pale clear yellow and the lower edge of the lower mandible is also clear light horn or yellowish. Some birds, however, in the change, as shown by the coloration of the biU, have the head white and the back of the neck inclining to white. I cannot reconcile these with the pure grey-headed adults, and it is noteworthy that such come from different localities. It will be noted that Gould described his bird as having the “ crown of the head white ” and all “ the under surface white,” so that all is not yet known regarding this species. I would recognise the following subspecies : — Thalassogeron cTirysostoma dirysostoma Forster ; Cape seas (breeding). Thalassogeron dirysostoma harterti, subsp. n.. Type no. 5579 ; South Indian Ocean (Kerguelen Island breeding). Differs from Th. c. dirysostoma in its deeper, heavier bill, and agreeing in coloration of head and neck with Th. c. mathewsi Rothschild. Thalassogeron dirysostoina cuhninata Gould ; Austrahan seas (breeding). Thalassogeron ehrysostoma 'tnathewsi Rothschild ; New Zealand seas (Campbell Island breeding). 280 Order PR0CELLARIIF0BME8 No. 119. Family DIOMEDEIDM. THALASSOGERON CHLORORHYNCHOS BASSI. EAST AUSTKALIAN YELLOW-NOSED MOLLYMAWK. (Plate 98.)* Diomedea BASSI Mathews, Nov. ZooL, Vol. XVIII., p. 206, 1912 ; East Australia. Diomedea cMororhynchos Gould, Birds Austr., Vol. VII., pi. 42, 1844 ; id., Handb. Birds Austr., Vol. II., p. 437, 1865. Diomedea chlororhyncha Buller, Birds New Zeal., p. 294, 1873 ; Ramsay, Proc, Linn. Soc. N.S.W., Vol. II., p. 202, 1877 ; id., Tab. List. Austr. Birds, p. 23, 1888 ; Buller, Birds New Zeal., 2nd ed., Vol. II., p. 202, 1888 ; id., Suppl. Birds New Zeal., Vol. I., p. 154, 1905. Thalassogeron chlororhynchus Salvin, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., Vol. XXV., p. 451, 1896 (pars) ; North, Birds County Cumber., p. 116, 1898 ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 96, 1899 ; Campbell, Nests and Eggs Austr. Birds, p. 935, 1901 ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 96, 1906 ; Mathews, Handl. Birds Austral., p. 19, 1908 ; Godman, Monogr. Petrels, p. 357, 1910 ; Littler, Hand. Birds Tasm., p. 189, 1910. Distribution. East Austrahan seas. Adult male. Back, scapulars and wings slaty-brown, tail-feathers hoary-grey, lesser, median, and greater wing-coverts dark brown with white bases, Kke the bastard- wing and primary-coverts ; primary-quills black on the outer webs, hoary-grey on the inner ones, with white shafts at the basal portion ; secondaries dark brown, white on the inner webs ; some of the feathers of the olecranal region dark brown while others are white with brown tips ; humeral feathers also dark brown ; rump and upper tail -coverts white ; a patch on each side of the breast grey, like the back ; a pale grey hne in front and over the eye ; head and neck all round, mantle and entire under-surface white, as also the axillaries ; under wing-coverts white, those around the margin dark brown ; bill black, culmen yellow, passing into orange at the tip ; a line at the base of the mandible yellow ; legs flesh-colour. Total length 710 mm. ; culmen 118, wing 464, tail 190, tarsus 75. ' Adult female. Similar to the adult male. Nest, Egg, and Breeding-season. Unknown. Apparently nothing is known regarding the life-history or breeding-place of this bird. The plate is lettered Diomedea chlororhynchus. 281 THE BIRDS OE AUSTRALIA. In the following pages I give the history of this bird as regards its nomen- clature, but here would point out that Gould wrote : “ The yellow-billed Albatros is plentiful . . . between . . . the Cape of Good Hope . . . and Van Diemens’ Land ; I also observed it off Capes Howe and Northumberland on the southern coast of Australia, and Mr. Gilbert states that he saw it flying about Rottnest Island on the western coast.” The latter observation would seem to apply to the bird at present called TJi. c. carteri Rothschild, and known by the unique specimen only. Whether the adult of Th. c. carteri will differ from the adult of TTi. c. hassi is at present unknown, but the probability is in the affirmative. It should be remembered that though a few instances are on record of Albatroses flying immense distances, this does not seem to be their custom. I might cite the facts that all the specimens of D. chionoptera Salvin, D. epomophora Lesson, Th. hulleri Rothschild, Th. cautus cautus Gould, Th. cautus layardi Salvin, Th. cautus salvini Rothschild, are only known from their breeding-grounds or its vicinity, while the determination of subspecific forms of species credited with widespread distribution points to localisation. I con- fidently anticipate the discrimination of many subspecies when series from breeding-localities are available, and the plumage-changes of the species understood. Gmelin’s D. chlororhynchos {Syst. Nat.y p. 568, 1789) was described thus : — ■ D. alba, rostro nigro, carina mandibulse superioris basique inferioris flava, capite griseo, cenia, macula supra oculos caudaque obscuris, dorso, alls maculaque inter rostrum et oculis nigris. YeUow-nosed Albatross. Lath. syn. III., 1., p. 309, n. 3, t. 94. Habitat ad caput bonae spei, et m mari australi extra tropicos, 3 pedes longa, 5-6 pedes supra aquae superficiem volans. Irides fuscae ; nucha et uropygium alba ; pedes pallide ochroleuci, anterius cum membrana digitos connectente obscuri. This is simply a Latin translation of Latham’s account, which reads as follows : — Length three feet ; breadth seven. The bill four inches long, hooked at the end, but not very stout ; the colour of it is black, except the upper ridge, which is yellow the whole length, quite to the tip, where it is hooked ; the base of the under mandible is also yellow ; irides brown ; the head is grey ; between the bill and eyes is an obscure black spot ; Just over the ej^e a dusky one ; the hind part of the neck dusky, the lower part white ; back, scapulars and wings dusky blue-black ; rump, and under part of the body white ; the tail dusky ; the legs are pale yellowish-white ; the fore part of them, and the webs, dusky. This species is met AVith in the southern hemisphere, from 30 to 60 degrees, aU round the pole. (One was caught in lat. 57° 30' S. in the month of February.) The specimen from whence the above description was drawn up, was taken off the Cape of Gk)od Hope. Inhabits the South Seas without the tropics. Fly about five or six feet above the surface of the water. 282 EAST AUSTRALIAN YELLOW-NOSED MOLLYMAWK. This name has been used for a species of Mollymawk with very well-marked characters. Gould separated a form, which had been confused with it, as D. cuhninata. Recently, study of Forster’s Monograph of the Alhatroses, brought to hght by Mr. C. Davies Sherborn, enabled me to state that D. chrysostoma Forster, 1785, was applicable to the bird Gould re-named, though D. chry- sosto7na Forster, 1844, had been commonly (and correctly) referred to the S3Tionymy of the bird known as D. chlororhynchos Gmelin. Investigation into this matter showed that Forster had confused both birds under the name of D. ehrysostoma, but in his Monograph he carefully described one only, while in the Descr. Anim. the other one was detailed. This is proven by examination of George Forster’s drawings preserved in the British Museum, where drawing No. 100 is a haK finished painting of the bird commonly known as D. chlororhynchos Gmelin. On one corner is written in pencil, “ Irides brown. Under eyelid white. Head dark, nearly grey, gradually and very softly vanishing into a fine clear white on the neck. A more dark grey spot over the eye. The middle of the Back black gradually turning into pearly grey and then into white towards the Neck, but abruptly bounded by white on the Uropygium end. Feet pale greyish white.” The details are in two different handwritings, and it is now difficult to trace the authority. Drawing No. 101 is an unfinished pencil-sketch with no explanatory remarks. The bill is shaded so as to show the pale coloration of the mandible interrupted on the unguis, the pale lower margin of the under mandible and also the pale streak at the base of the lower mandible ; the head and neck are all shaded dark. This is undoubtedly the bird known as D. cuhninata and the one described as D. chrysostoina by J. R. Forster in 1785. Criticism of Latham’s description appeared to show that he had also confused both species — as “ head grey, hind part of the neck dusky,” was not true of the Australian bird known as D. chlororhynchos Gmeiin. I therefore {Nov. Zool., Vol. XVIII., p. 206, 1912) named the Australian form Diomedea bassi, and quoted D. chlororhynchos Gmelin as a synonym of D. chrysostoma Forster, and noted that Latham’s description apparently was based on both forms. Recent fuller study points to a different conclusion. It will be noted that Latham’s description coincides quite closely with the wordipg on drawing No. 100 of George Forster, and that specimen from which the drawing was made was procured off the Cape of Good Hope. A bird breeding on Nightingale Island and called D. cuhninata is thus described by Moseley {Notes by a Naturalist, 2nd ed., p. 112, 1892) : “ The Mollymawk is an albatross about the size of a goose, head, throat and under part pure white, the wings 283 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. grey and the bill black with a yellow streak on the top and with a bright yellow edge to the gape which extends right back under the eye. The yellow shows conspicuously on the side of the head. It is not thus shown in Gould’s coloured figures.” In the Trans, Conn. Acad., Vol. IX., p. 440, pi. viii., figs. 1-2, 1895, Verrill thus described a bird he received from Gough Island : — Sp. Char. Similar in plumage to T. chlororhyncJius, but the lower mandible lacks completely the transverse yellow bar at its base, and is entirely black, except at the extreme outer end, where it is slightly tipped with light hom-colour. The bright yellow of the culmen begins almost at its extreme base, and gradually deepens and brightens into orange in the middle, and finally into dull red on the unguis, growing paler towards the tip. Sides and back of head pale ash-grey, forehead white. No dark spot behind the eye. Tarsus, tail, and two outer toes longer than in T. cJilororhynchus and bill somewhat deeper at the base. Wing 19.25, tail 8.25, tarsus 3.05-3.07, culmen 4.40-4.62, middle toe and claw 4.44-4.49, outer toe and claw 4.32-4.35. Verrill gives his reasons for separating this bird, but admits that he had not specimens for comparison, but simply depended on literature for his knowledge of D. chlororhynchos. His main point of difference was lack of the transverse bar at the base of the lower mandible and differences in the proportions of tarsus, toes and bill. Recently a bird was procured on Gough Island by the Scottish Antarctic Expedition, and reported upon by Mr. W. Eagle Clarke {Ihis, 1905, p. 265). That author was unable to recognise in it Verrill’ s Th. cximius, though it came from the type-locality of that species, and was comparable in detail with Th. chlororhynchos. The difficulty was that though it was in the fuU plumage of the adult it had a whoUy black bill, and it was supposed that immature birds differed in coloration from the adult and that the bill-coloration was obtained at the same time as the plumage-changes were taking place. In the Monograph of the Petrels this black-billed bird was noted under Th. carteri, but the differences between the two specimens pointed out. Mr. W. Eagle Clarke has generously allowed me to examine this Gough Island specimen, and I conclude that it is the immature of Th. exhnius. It is abnormal in that the outer toe on each foot lacks a joint, but I consider this simply an individual malformation. In every other detail it agrees with a bird procured not far from Gough Island, and which has the bill coloured very similarly to Verrill’s specimens ; this apparently lacks the transverse yellow bar at the base of the lower mandible, but close examination reveals a half-hidden dull red bar which could be easily overlooked. Verrill suggested that the Tristan d’Acunha bird, judging from Moseley’s description, was certainly D. chlororhynchos, not D. culminata, and that more- over it was different from the Gough Island bird. If such were the case, then D. chlororhynchos might be applicable to the Tristan d’Acunha bird. In the 284 EAST AUSTRALIAN YELLOW-NOSED MOLLYMAWK. Rothschild Museum there is a female procured on Tristan d’Acunha, and it agrees very closely with Latham’s description of his Yellow-nosed Albatros, save that the bill-coloration is not so pronounced; in this feature it approaches Verrill’s bird, the transverse bar being reddish-yellow and rather indistinct. Moreover the culmen-coloration is greener and the unguis darker, not so bright a yellow as is seen in Australian specimens. I would therefore suggest that the first plumage of D. cTilororJiynchos and its subspecies resembles the adult plumage in all save the bill-coloration which gradually changes from all black on the culmen, to yellow, more or less bright, and in doing so passes through green and orange tints. If this be conceded D. chlororJiynchos can be retained for the South Atlantic breeding birds, and for the present Th. eximius should be treated as a synonym. If several subspecies are later found to breed in the South Atlantic, Verrill’s name may be revived for the Gough Island bird. In the Rep. “ Southern Cross^'' where the bird-notes in Nikolai Hanson’s private diary are re-printed, all the “ Mollymawks with black bills ” are noted by Sharpe as “ Thalassogeron culminatusP as the skins received are referable to that species. It is quite possible that some of the birds seen and noted by Nikolai Hanson belonged to the present species. Wilson [National Antarct. Exp., Aves, p. 113, and note, 1907) also records the occurrence at sea of “ blackbiiled Albatroses,” but did not procure any. The various races of this bird that have been differentiated have been already noticed, but here appears to belong the bird described by Salvadori [Boll. Mus. Zool. Anat. comp. Torino, Vol. XXVI., No. 638, p. 2, 1911) as Thalassogeron desolationis and diagnosed thus : — Thalassogeron T. culminato valde affinis, sed major, culminicomu frontem non attin- gente, colore flavo culminicomu marginisque inferioris mandibulae obscuriore, unco rostri fusco, baud flavo vel rubro tincto ; capite et collo vix cinereo tinctis ; genis, capitis lateribus et gula albis, macula anteoculari nigricante magis conspicua. Desolation Island, Straits of Magellan. In the sjmonymy of D. chlororhynchos. Gray, from a study of Parkinson’s drawing, places D. profuga Banks, but this is an error. Herewith I append Solander’s description, and if Salvadori’ s name should refer to a subspecies of Th. chlororhynchos and not of Th. chrysostoma, Solander’s name would be available for the latter : — profuga Diomedea alls penatis, pedibusque a' quilibribus, rostro nigro supra & infra (iti\;erdum) pallido, mandibula' inferioris lateribus integris Fig. Piet. Habitat in Oceano Antarctico, a Terra del Fuego Austral! , Latit. austr. LVIII ; 30 (Febr. 3, 1769) dein in oceano austral!, Latit. XL VIII: 27 (Febr. 15, 1769) Rostrum compressum, la’ve, (latius quam in Diomedea antarctica Mscr) diametro longitudinal! 3| transversalem superante VOL. II. 285 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. Mandihula superior basi rotundata, superne convexa, latiuscula, versus apicem compressa, declivis, adunca, sulce a naribus ad sinum exarata Nares laterales, a basi rostri spatio fere unciali remota', e Tubo brevi, prominulo, sursum oblique verso, patulo ; Apertura ovalis, scilicet supeme & infeme obtusa. Inter nares & basin rostri area lata, nuda tecta Mandihula inferior paulo brevior, recta, antice subtus carina tereti cincta, apice abraso truncata, lateribus integris, laVibus, basi lata obliqua, indivisa Color Rostri variat, latera semper sunt nigra, apex autem suprema pars Mandihula superioris margines & inferiores Mandihula inferioris sa’pe albicantes, interdum cornei coloris et non raro nigricantes Oculi majusculi nigri Iride fusco-castanea Palpehra superior nigricans ; inferior albida Caput superne albido-cinerascens, lateribus albis ; regione oculorum nigricante Oula, lugulum, Collum subtus. Pectus, Abdomen, Crissus & Femora alba Collum superne cinereum Dorsum antice cinereum ; postice nigricans Uropygium album Ala' longissima', angusta', supra nigiicantes, subtus fusca'; tectricibus intermediis secundum totam longitudinem albicantibus Cauda rotimdata, subcuneata, cinereo-fusca, pedibus brevior Pedes e glauco-albidi Digiti tres antici, nuUo postico sed illius loco verruca obsoleta Ungues albidi Longitude ab apice rostri ad extremit cauda inter apices alarum expansar Brachii Cubiti Metacarpi cum ala Cauda' Digiti intermedii Rostri -Pondus 54 Libr 2 ped 9 unc. 6 ped 94 unc. 10 11 1 19 n uncias Ee-examination of the Parkinson drawing No. 27 sliows the pencil- drawing to be unmistakeably that of a form of Th, chrysostoma, made from the specimen procured on “ Feb. 3rd, 1769, Lat. 57° 30'.” On the back of the drawing in Parkinson’s handwriting is, “ The beak black excepting the back of the upper mandible and part of the under one, which is a dirty greenish white.” 286 i DIOMEDEA CARTERI ( BLACK BILLED ALBAT.ROSl Order PE0GELLARIIF0BME8 No. 120. Family DIOMEDEIDM THALASSOGERON CHLORORHYNCHOS CARTERI. WESTRALIAN YELLOW-NOSED MOLLYMAWK. (Plate 99.)* Thalassogeron CARTERI Rothschild, Bull. Brit. Orn. Club, Vol. XIV., p. 6, 1903 ; Point Cloates, Nortb-west Australia. Thalassogeron carteri Rothschild, Bull. Brit. Orn. Club, Vol. XIV., p. 6, 1903 ; Carter,, Emu, Vol. III., p. 208, 1904 ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 114, 1906 ; Mathews, Handl. Birds Austral., p. 19, 1908 ; Godman, Monogr. Petrels, p. 361, 1910 ; Carter, Emu, Vol. X., p. 301, 1911. Diomedia carteri Rothschild, Bull. Brit. Orn. Club, Vol. XV., p. 44, 1905 ; Mathews, Nov. Zool., Vol. XVIII., p. 206, 1912. Distribution. Seas of North-west Austraha. Adult. Unknown. Immature. Agrees in general coloration with the adult of Th. cMororhynchos hassi, but differs from that in the colour of the biU, which is in this wholly black (due to immaturity) ; “ Irides black ; feet and legs yellowish-white ” (Carter) ; culmen (exp.) 114 mm. long, depth at base 36 ; wing 462 ; tail 165 ; tarsus 75. Nestling, Eggs, and Nesting-place. Unknown. The, at present, unique specimen representing the subspecies was obtained by my friend Mr. Tom Carter, who wrote : “ On 11th May, 1900, one of the native boys went to the boat to wash her decks down as usual, and returned with a beautiful live albatross, which he had caught from the dingy. It was in fine plumage, and apparently uninjured, except at the point of the wing, but was in a very emaciated condition. I could not quite make it tally with the description of T. cTilororJiynchus, but marked the skin so, as it seemed to be nearest that species.” This skin afterwards passed into the possession \ of the Tring Museum, when it was named by Rothschild after Mr. Carter, thus : — “ Thalassogeron carteri ^ n. sp. “Differs from Thalassogeron chlororhynchus in having the bill, including the culmen, black, the face and sides of the head white, without the grey tinge * The Plate is lettered Diomedea carteri. 287 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. of T. cTilororhynchus, and the feet yellowish-white in life without any blackish colour on the digits and tarsi. Bill black, hides black, legs and feet yellowish white. Point Cloates, N.W. Austraha.” The specimen was figured in the Monograph of the Petrels^ where it was pointed out that it was possibly immature, though in fuU plumage, save for the bill-coloration. Associated as a doubtful second specimen was a bird procured on Gough Island which was also black-billed, though differing shghtly in the coloration of the head and neck. I have stated that I believe the black bill is due to immaturity in that case, and I was impressed with that view when carefully examining the type of Th. carteri. I would point out that the bill though black has the flaky appearance noticeable in the bills of young Albatroses, as instance D. melanophris, and has not the clear black look characteristic of the bill of an adult Albatros. I had figured the specimen through the courtesy of the Hon. Walter Rothschild before my studies con- vinced me that it was immature, and it is here included because we do not know the adult stage from the same locality. 288 Order PR0CELLARIIF0RME8 No. 121. Family DIOMEDEIDjE. THALASSOGERON CAUTUS CAUTUS. SHY MOLLYMAWK. (Plate 100.)* Diombdea cauta Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc. (Lond.) 1840, p. 177, 1841; Bass Strait, Australia. Diomedea cauta Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc. (Lond.) 1840, p. 177, 1841 ; id.. Birds Austr., Vol. VII., pi. 40, 1844 ; id., Handb. Birds Austr., Vol. II., p. 434, 1865 ; Coues, Proc, Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad. 1866, p. 183; Ramsay, Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., Vol. II., p. 202, 1877 ; id.. Tab. List Austr. Birds, p. 23, 1888 ; Le Souef, Ibis 1895, p. 413 ; Ashworth and Le Souef, Viet. Naturalist, Vol. XI., p. 139, 1895 ; Buller, Suppl. Birds New Zeal., Vol. I., p. 153, 1905, Tlialassogeron cautus Ridgway, Man. N. Amer. Birds, p. 53, 1887 ; Salvin, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., Vol, XXV., p. 449, 1896 ; Campbell, Nests and Eggs Austr. Birds, p. 929, 1901 ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 96, 1906 ; Reichenow, Deutsche Siidp. Exp., Vol. IX., Zool., p. 476, 1907 ; Mathews, Handl. Birds Austral., p. 19, 1908 ; Godman, Monogr. Petrels, p. 348, 1910 ; Littler, Handb. Birds Tasm., p. 187, 1910 ; Arm- strong, Emu, Vol. IX., p. 155, 1910. Diomedia cauta cauta Mathews, Nov. Zool,, Vol. XVIII., p. 205, 1912, Distribution. Seas of the Southern portion of Austraha. Adult male. Upper-back slate-grey, with white bases and pale margins to the feathers ; scapulars ash-brown, white only at the extreme base ; wing-coverts dark brown with white bases ; the smaller coverts showing pale edges ; primary-coverts and primary-quiUs dark brown, the latter with white shafts and white on the inner webs ; secondaries also dark brown, with the basal portion of the inner webs white ; tail- feathers hoary -grey with white shafts ; a narrow eyebrow and a spot in front of the eye black, becoming pale towards the base of the bill, a patch behind the eye including the ear-coverts washed with plumbeous-grey ; head and neck all round white, as also the under surface of body, including the axillaries, under wing-coverts white, the marginal ones blackish; “Bill bluish horn, lower mandible darker, upper mandible with a narrow belt of black and on each side of the nostrils ; base of lower mandible with a belt of orange reaching to the corner of the gape ; iris brown; feet bluish-white” (J. Gould). Total length 987 mm.; culmen 137, wing 590, tail 204, tarsus 86, * The Plate is lettered Diomedea cauta. 289 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. Adult female. Similar to the adult male. Nestling. “ Covered with white down ; bill black ” (Le Souef). Nest. “ Composed of chocolate-coloured soil, largely mixed, when in a wet state, with rootlets and other vegetation, which gives it the appearance of peaty substance. It is smoothed over and holds together fairly well, varying in height externally from 3 to 7 inches. The measurements of an average nest are as follows : Internal diameter 11| inches; external diameter 14; basal diameter 16| ; external height 5| ; internal depth 3f.” (Le Souef.) Egg. “ Clutch, one ; creamy-white, freckled more or less with reddish-brown surface- markings on the larger end. In some cases these markings were minute, numerous, and almost continuous, while in others they were much larger and darker, on a shghtly reddish ground, but there were various gradations between the two types. The colour could be washed off , by a little friction. Dimensions in inches 4.6 to 4.1 by 2.7 to 2.6.” (Le Souef.) Breeding-season. October to November (Le Souef). From the notes of Mr. Le Souef,* who found these birds breeding on Albatros Island, I gather the following : The male has darker grey on the sides of the neck and the yeUow markings on the bill brighter. The breadth across the wings, when stretched out, is about eight feet. They build their nests in colonies varying in size from six to forty, sometimes on the rocky ledges of the cliff, but mostly on the top of the island. The surrounding ground is quite bare of vegetation, and mostly covered with white guano. The nests are placed at varying distances from each other, some as near as one foot ; and appear to be used year after year. The male and female sit on the nest in turn. Frequently when one bird is on the nest, its mate will be seen sitting close alongside, and they cackle one to the other, and rub their beaks together. Again, when two strange birds meet, they stretch out their necks, make a loud cackhng noise, and, spreading out their tails, lean forward and put their heads several times first on one side and then on the other side of each other ; when a bird makes its way through the colony, every sitting bird that it passes makes a lunge at it with open beak. Sometimes they come to their nesting-island for rest ; and some of them were seen with their heads turned back and partially under their wing, and were asleep. When one wished to fly, it had to walk to the edge of the cliff and go off with a downward sweep ; but when the wind was blowing very strong the bird could then rise, facing it. They were quite undisturbed by a visitor walking through their nesting-colony, and could only be removed from their nests with difficulty. =» Ibis, 1895, p. 413. 290 SHY MOLLYMAWK. On approaching very close to the birds they would partly stand up on their nests, leaning backwards and apparently resting the tail on the edge of the nest, and facing the intruder. When one was within two feet of them, they would utter a loud, cackling noise, shaking their heads up and down, and opening and shutting their beaks rapidly. A considerable noise was made by the mandibles coming together, and at the same time a strong-smelling, oily secretion was thrown up. In order to secure an egg, the beak of the bird was held in one hand and the egg taken with the other. The bird would sit or stand on its nest for some time after the egg had been removed. The orange-coloured strip of bare skin which goes from the corners of the mouth towards the back of the head, was noticed only when the bird was disturbed and opened its beak wide to eject the oily substance. The use of bare skin seems to be to enable the bird to open its mouth much wider than it otherwise could, for the purpose of letting the young bird put its head well inside the mouth of the parent when being fed. The birds often have difficulty in alighting on a particular spot when the wind is blowing strongly on to their breeding-grounds from the sea, as they always fly against the wind when desiring to alight ; and they sometimes try seven or eight times before they can successfully accomplish their object. They come up with considerable force, holding their heads well back and stretching out their expanded feet at the same time, and the fact of having their wings half-closed gives them a very ungainly appearance. If there is Only a light breeze they can alight easily enough, although they often stumble before gaining a proper foothold. Whenever the birds flew ofi they always shook their tails from side to side a few times, and when excreta was passed while flying they did the same thing. All the eggs hatch out within a few days. The young are very fat and helpless, and if held up by their legs a small amount of oil runs out of their mouths. When feeding they put their head right into the parent’s mouth, their food consisting of an oily substance. On a warm day the parent-bird was often noticed partly standing up in the nest and leaning backwards, so as to leave the chick uncovered, for coolness, and also to let the little one sit up and move about in the nest. One of the adults is always at the nest, the young are never seen alone. \ The birds sit very close on their single egg. This is kept in a kind of longitudinal bag, bare of feathers, just below the breast-bone, into which the egg flts, and is consequently very warm. Even when the bird half stands up in the nest the egg cannot always be seen, but when the bird moves about it falls out of this bag. The nests being dry, the eggs keep fairly clean. The bird figured and described was collected off the Australian coast. 291 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. From Flinders (p. clxxi., 1814), I gather that Albatross Island was discovered by Flinders and Bass on December 9th, 1798, just after they had proved that Tasmania was not joined to the mainland of Australia. Talking about the island Flinders writes : “ This island appeared to be almost white with birds ; and so much excited our curiosity and hope of procuring a supply of food, that Mr. Bass went on shore in the boat whilst I stood off and on, waiting his return. . . . Mr. Bass returned at half past two, with a boat load of seals and albatrosses. He had been obliged to fight his way up the cliffs of the island with the seals, and when arrived at the top, to make a road with his clubs amongst the albatrosses. These birds were sitting upon their nests, and almost covered the surface of the ground, nor did they any otherwise derange themselves for the new visitors, than to peck at their legs as they passed by. This species of albatross is white on the neck and breast, partly brown on the back and wings, and its size is less than many others met with at sea, particularly in the high southern latitudes.” This fine Albatros was first described by Gould in Proc. Zool. 8oc. (Bond.) 1840, p. 177 (1841), thus Diom. vertice albo ; faciei colore e margarita cinereo ; dorso, alis caudaque cinereo* fuscis ; rostro pallide vinaceo -cinereo ; culmine, ad basin praesertim, flavo. Crown of the head, back of the neck, throat, all the under surface, rump and upper tail-coverts pure white ; lores and line over the eye grayish-black, gradually passing into the delicate pearl-gray which extends over the face; back, wings and tail grayish- brown, irides dark vinous orange ; bill light vinous-gray or blueish hom-colour, except on the culmen, where it is more yellow, particularly at the base ; the upper mandible surrounded at the base by a narrow belt of black, which also extends on each side of the culmen to the nostrils ; base of the lower mandible surrounded by a belt of rich orange, which extends to the corners of the mouth ; feet blueish- white. Total length, 31 inches ; bill 4J ; wing 21^ ; tail 9 ; tarsi 3. Hab. Bass’s Straits. The above are the dimensions of a female ; the male is considerably larger. Nearly allied to, but larger than D. melanophrys. In the Bull. Brit. Orn. Club, Vol. I., p. lviii., 1893, Rothschild described the New Zealand breeding form thus : — Thalassogeron salvini. Similis T. cauto, sed rostro multo minore, ad basin minus elevato, plumbescente nec albido, tarsis et digitis brevioribus quoque diagnoscendus. $ mari simihs. Hab. New Zealand. A third form from the Cape seas was added by Salvin {Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., Vol. XXV., p. 450, 1896) Thalassogeron layardi. Allied to T. cautus and T. salvini. From the former it differs in its more slender bill, shorter tarsus, and smaller feet ; from the latter in its slightly smaller and narrower bill, shorter tarsus and toes, and also its much whiter head and neck. Total length about 39 inches, wing 22, tail 8.5, bill from gape 6, from base of culmen 5.4, tarsus 3.5, middle toe 5.04, outer toe a trifle shorter, inner toe 4.4. Hab. Cape seas. 292 SHY MOLLYMAWK. These three forms at present constitute the species which appears to absolutely merit the name given to it by Gould. The nomenclature to be used will therefore be :■ — Thakbssogeron cautus cautus Gould ; East Australian seas (breeding, Bass Strait). Thalassogeron cautus salvini Bothschild ; New Zealand seas (breeding. Bounty Island). Thalassogeron cautus layardi Salvin ; Cape seas (breeding). In the E7nu, Vol. VII., p. 56, 1907, there is the following note regarding this bird and its relationship with Th. salvini, by Mr. D. Le Souef : “ Sir W. L. BuUer quotes from the Hon. W. Bothschild, when writing on the Diojnedea cauta, in which Mr. Bothschild states that he will need a lot of evidence before he can admit that the so-called Thalassogeron cautus is a female of T. salvini. I quite agree with him, and do not for a moment consider that the two birds named are identical, judging by the illustrations of the head of T. salvini in BuUer’s work. Perhaps it would be a help if I gave a description of one of the birds I procured at Albatross Island, in Bass Strait, where they were nesting, and which we consider is T. cautus of Gould : Crown, breast, and neck pure white, the back of the neck gradually changing into greyish black on the lower back ; a dark gre3dsh-black line goes from the upper part of the bill to the eye and thence continued as a much paler broad patch below and behind the eye, running down the side of the neck for from 4 to 5 inches and practically meeting at the back of the crown and forming a conspicuous white cap. In the female the delicate grey colour on the side of the head is much paler and fades away to within a short distance of the eye and does not meet at the back. The rump and upper and lower tail coverts white, the centre under tail coverts slightly tinged with grey ; the tail is grey and lighter below, with the outer webs paler, the shafts are white ; the upper wing coverts are greyish-black, like in the other species ; the primaries are grey on the outer web and white on the inner, the white changing into grey towards the tip ; the shafts are white above and dark below ; the under surface of the body and the under wing coverts are white ; the beak is greyish horn colour, darker below, and the point horn colour. Total length 40, culmen 6, wing 22, tail 9, tarsus 3.25 inches.” The exact differences between Th. c. cautus and Th. c. salvini are better understood when it is fully conceded that they are only subspecifically separable. The latter can always be recognised by means of the bill, as the figure given by BuUer shows. VOL. II. 293 Genus — P HCEBETRIA. Phcebetria Reichenbach, Nat. Syst. Vog., p. v., 1852 . . Type P. palpebrata. Phcehastria (error) Gunning and Haagner, Ann. Trans. Mus., Vol. II., Suppl., p. 76, 1910. This well-marked genus differs from Thalassarche in its more compressed bill, the culmen approaches the frontal feathers at a sharp angle ; and in the presence of a deep groove along the sides of the lower mandible filled with a loose, coloured skin. The tail is long, and wedge-shaped. The nostrils are also placed further back, and approach in position more closely those in Diomedea than in Thalassarche. 294 PHCEBETEIA. The cuts here given show the difference between the two species better than many words : the bill of P. 'pal'pehrata has the groove on the lower mandible narrow, while the bill of P. fusca has a wide mandibular groove ; in the former it is filled with a purple skin, in the latter an orange one. I consider the reduction of the groove in the former points to an intermediate stage between P. fusca and Thalassarche and TJialassogeron, and that the bar at the base of the lower mandible in Thalassogeron is the last remnant of this man- dibular groove skin. In juveniles of Thalassogeron the angle made suggests such origin, and the absolute reduction present in the two species here noted indicates the method of loss. 295 Key to the Species. A. Head and back forming a contrast ; bill with narrow purple mandibular groove P. palpebrata huttoni, p. 297. B. Head and back concolor ; bill with broad orange mandibular groove . . , . P. fusca 'camphelli, p. 304. 296 'fc^is- f 5;^?;#!%- , :■ SJ#! %«*““f-'r’- - 'jr • ^ .N - ' ‘ \ ■ ;'>?i 'if ^>'f- . , • ‘ ;, ;-, .:;:v "'■r:'' '■-. , :si4i ^ ■ ;a^«(rea^ - *tf '■> V V, ,r Yi '.'• ’ • 4 • ^. 1 A • "»r 'i* .1 > V, 1 . id* ■■ -Vi , „.,. ‘ - ^ - ■'■ Y ‘ vw'%^|"-TbJjbrlw V 'bZ m • ‘.f^. ;*■ t •:««- ^■.i. “ I , . ' . V .' 'v> ,'- i ■ ■ V 'Vi '■ r;‘V ■v" t . ■i.r-i- tiv •-'. vl . . . < - - ■;/ ' ^ ' y-f- ••>'-. -Um, : tih. Order PR0CELLARIIF0RME8 Family DIOMEDEID/E. No. 122. PHCEBETRIA PALPEBRATA HUTTONI. NEW ZEALAND LIGHT-MANTLED SOOTY ALBATROS. (Plate* 101.)* Phcebetria PALPEBRATA HUTTONI, subsp. n. ; Type no. 5,959 in my collection ; New Zealand seas. Phcebetria palpebrata palpebrata (not Eorster) Mathews, Nov. Zool., Vol. XVIII., p. 206, 1912. Distribution. Australian waters (Antipodes Island, Auckland Islands, Campbell Island, and Macquarie Island, New Zealand, breeding). Adult male. Mantle pale ash-grey, with lighter edges to some of the feathers ; wings, scapulars, and upper tail-coverts dark greyish-brown ; primary-quiUs blackish- brown on the outer webs and at the tips, with white shafts for the greater part of their length, becoming black at the tips, the inner webs somewhat paler ; tail blackish-brown, the shafts white ; head, sides of face and throat sooty-black ; under- surface ashy-brown, somewhat darker on the lower- throat and under tail- coverts ; axillaries shghtly darker than the under surface of the body ; under wing-coverts pale brown with dark shaft- hnes ; the short feathers encirchng the eye have the frontal portion black, and the hinder part white ; “ Bill black, groove on mandible blue ; iris hazel ; tarsi and feet pink ” (Waite). Total length 820 mm. ; culmen 114, wing 525, tail 28, tarsus 78. Adult female. Similar to the adult male. Nestling. Covered entirely with pale ashy-grey down. Nest. Placed in crevices in the rock. Egg. Clutch, one ; whitish, round the larger end covered with very tiny spots of reddish which merge together at the apex ; axis 103 mm., diameter 66 (collected November 4th, 1894). Breeding-season. November to February (Macquarie Island, Campbell) (Campbell Island, Waite). This would appear to be the Diomedea fuliginosa and Phcebetria fuliginosa of New Zealand writers generally, but whether this can be written regarding Australian authors or not cannot now be decided. I would fain have considered that Australian ornithologists had called the wholly Sooty Albatros by that name, but HaU considered the Kerguelen bird to be typical P. fuliginosa, and that belongs to this species. * The Plate is lettered PhcAetria palpebraia 297 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. Nothing much has been written about the hfe-history of this bird. The accounts are so confused that it seems almost impossible to refer early notes to their correct places. One peculiarity however which appears well estabhshed, is its breeding in crevices on the face of sea-cliffs, as noted in the following extract which belongs to the bird I figure : — ‘‘ As the whaleboat was rowed up the various arms of Carnley Harbour, at the Auckland Islands, we frequently saw the sooty albatros sitting on its nest in a cleft in the perpendicular face of the cliffs. On our way to Musgrave Peninsula, on the 24th November, we discovered two birds nesting close together on a ledge not more than 30 feet from the base of the cliff. A member of our Maori crew climbed to one of the nests and seized the bird by the legs. We thus had an opportunity of examining it alive. The bill is black, and the groove on the mandible is blue ; eye, hazel ; upper eyelid and hinder part of lower lid, white ; head, sooty ; neck, and upper back, pale grey ; wings, dark bluish-grey ; legs and feet, pink (not yellow, as described) ; shafts of wings and tail feathers, white. “ This bird is also known to breed at Antipodes Island, where I saw it wheeling over the cliffs. I have not seen notice of it at Campbell Island, where I obtained eggs in February, 1907, taken on the western cliffs.”* The coloration of the feet had been correctly described by BuUer {Trans. New Zeal. Inst. 1892, Vol. XXV., p. 78, 1893), who also recorded it as breeding at the Campbell Island {id. 1891, Vol. XXIV., p. 84, 1892) where its cliff-ledge nesting-habits are recorded and commented upon. At the present time much confusion exists in the past history of the Sooty Albatroses. The first published note seems to be that of Forster {Voyage Round the World, Vol. I., p. 91, 1777), while in Cook’s Voyages, Vol. I., p. 38, 1777, we read : “ Mr. Forster shot an albatross, whose plumage was of a colour between brown and dark grey, the head and the upper side of the wings rather inclining to black, and it had white eyebrows. Latitude 64° 12' S. and longitude 38° 14' E.” In the Gen. Synops. Birds, Vol. III., p. 309, 1785, Latham described the “ Sooty Albatross ” as follows : — Sooty, or brown Albatross. Forst. Voy. 1, p. 91. Albatross with a white eyebrow. Cook’s Voy. 1, p. 38. Size of a Goose ; length near three feet. Bill black ; hides pale yellow ; at each angle of the eye a nictitating membrane ; general colour of the plumage brown ; the head and tail mclining to black or soot-colour ; for a small space above, behind, and beneath the eye, the feathers are white, but not on the fore part of it ; quills and tail dark brown, nearly black ; the shafts of both white ; the last pointed in shape ; legs pale brownish lead-colour, claws black. * Waite, Subant. Isl. New Zeal., p. 575, 1909. 298 NEW ZEALAND LIGHT-MANTLED SOOTY ALBATROS. This species was first met with in lat. 47 south, but was afterwards observed throughout the Southern Ocean within the antarctic circle. It was called by our sailors the Quaker, from its brown plumage. This description seems to have been drawn up from Cook’s and Forster’s accounts with access to the drawings in the Banksian collection, though it is just possible that Latham had access to Forster’s specimen. In any case there can be no doubt that Latham was dependent on Cook and Forster for his knowledge of the bird. In the Banksian drawings, preserved in the British Museum, No. 102 is a finished painting of a bird with a uniformly-coloured dark bill showing an indistinct groove ; dark head, wings and tail, with grey mantle, back and breast. At the foot is inscribed : “ G. Forster delin. 1773, ad vivum in mari Antarctico. Diomedea palpebrata die 20 jan. Anni. 1773.” When Gmelin {Syst. Nat., p. 568, 1789) latinised Latham’s Synopsis, he included : — Diomedea fuUginosa : D. fusca, capite, rostro, cauda, remigibus et unguibus ex fusco atris, area oculorum alba. Sooty or brown Albatross. Forst, it. I, p. 91, Lath. Syn. Ill, I, p. 309, n. 4. Albatross with a white eyebrow. Cook it. I., p. 38. Habitat in maris australis latitudine 47° et omni circulo antarctico, anseris magnitudine, 3 pene pedes longa. Irides fiavescentes ; remiges rectricesque scapo albae ; hae acuminatae ; pedes ex fuscescente pallide plumbei.” In Froriep’s Notizen for 1822, Vol. III., No. 5 (No. 49), p. 74, Hilsenberg described Dioynedea fusca (as follows) : — Der ganze Leib, die Flugel rmd der Schwanz sind uberall dxmkel graulichbraun. Uber f des Auges sind von einem schonen weissen fast runden Streifen umgeben, die imtere Kinnlade des Schnabels wird von ihren Hintertheile bis fast zur Spitxe mit eiuer schoner weissen Haut durchzogen die nur lose auf dem Horne aufsitzt. Augen und Ffisse wie bei D. exulans. Fliigelausbrietung 5 Fuss 10 Zoll ; Lange 2 Fuss 5 ZoU. der Schnabel 34 ZoU, der Fuss 7 Zoll 3 Linien.” Canal von Mozambique. for a bird obtained in the Mozambique Channel. This entry had been over- looked by ornithologists until this year, when Mr. C. Davies Sherborn generously brought it to my notice, and I used it in the Nov. Zool. (Vol. XVIII., p. 206, 1912) to replace D. fuliginosa Gmefin 1789, which I consider a synonym of Dio7nedea palpebrata Forster, 1785. For once again ornithologists have to thank Mr. Sherborn for indicating the existence of a monograph on Albatroses published by Forster in the Mein. Math. Phys., Paris, Vol. X., 1785, where (p. 571) we get the following beautiful description : — L Albatros a paupieres blanches {Diomedea palpebrata) est de la grandeur d’une oie. Sa figure est plus leste que celle des deux autres Albatros. II a six pieds & sept pouoes d envergure, & deux pieds sept pouces de longueur du bout du bee jusqu’a I’extremite des pieds. 299 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. Son plumage est cendre mais tirant sur le brun ; la tete est de couleur de suie, eomme les pennes des ailes & de la queue, dont celles du milieu sont les plus longues, & dont les tiges sent blanches Les couvertures des ailes sont d’xme couleur brune noiratre, Le bee est long de quatre pouces & noir ; les pieds sont d’une couleur de cendre foncee, & les yeux d’un jaun e pale, & la paupiere d’en haut, avec la moitie de celle d’en bas, est blanche. Cette espece se trouve depuis le degre quarante-septieme de latitude australe jusqu’au soixante-onzieme & dix minutes, oti, avant nous, aucun vaisseau n’avoit jamais penetre. In the Ornith. Biogr.^ Vol. V., p. 116, 1839, Audubon described a Diomedea fusca. This name falls, of course, before the prior D. fusca of Hilsenberg, 1822, and it is moreover the same bird. In the Ibis ( 1867, p. 186) Hutton has written : “ There is a very distinct variety of this bird, which, from its resemblance to the Hooded Crow I have called var. cornicoides. It is quite as common as the normal form, but inhabits rather different localities. The neck, back and body are grey, with a broad black band round the beak ; and the white mark on the lower mandible is very small. It is of the same size as the true D. fuliginosa, and the wings and tail are the same ; but I have often fancied that its flight was not so graceful. We flrst saw this bird on April 14th in lat. 36° 28' S., long. 2° 18' E., but it did not become common until May 5th in lat. 41° 9' S. and long 43° 7' E., from which date we saw from one to ten every day until June 6th in lat 37° 26' S. and long 163° 54' E., when they dis- appeared. They vary a good deal in colour, from almost white on the back of the neck and shoulders, through all intermediate grades, up to that of D. fuliginosa. They got more and more white as we sailed eastward as far as about 86° E., when they again got darker and darker until we left them.” Not much notice was taken of this variation until very recently, though Salvin {Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., Vol. XXV., p. 453, 1896) had mentioned it, and con- cluded : “If these birds (with a much greyer abdomen and back) can be traced to a definite breeding place, where they alone are found, it would be well to assign them specific rank.” Eagle Clarke {Ibis, 1905, 1906, 1907), dealing with the results of the Scottish Antarctic Expedition, showed that two very distinct forms were being confused : and giving them both specific rank, called the wholly -sooty one P. fuliginosa Gmelin, and the grey-mantled bird P. cornicoides Hutton. He apparently overlooked the fact that in the Descr. Ani7n (ed, Licht., 1844) Forster’s description of D. palpebrata absolutely referred to the light-backed form and would have priority over Hutton’s P. cornicoides. Lonnberg {Fauna South Georgia, p. 71, 1906) called the Grey-backed Sooty Albatros, P. fuliginosa cornicoides. In the Monograph of the Petrels (pp. 363-367, 1910), following Eagle Clarke, two species are admitted, P. fuliginosa Gmelin and P. cornicoides Hutton. 300 NEW ZEALAND LIGHT-MANTLED SOOTY ALBATROS. In the A.O.U. CTiecTclisty 3rd ed., 1910, PJioehetria 'palpehrata Forster 1785, was used to replace P. fuliginosa Gmelin. I at once pointed out {Nov. Zool., Vol. XVIL, p. 497, 1910) that Forster’s name would replace P. cornicoides Hutton ; and later in the same journal (Vol. XVIII., p. 206, 1912), synonymised P. fuliginosa Gmelin, 1789, with P. palpehmta Forster, 1785, and made use of Hilsenberg’s name for the wholly-sooty bird — calling the two forms, P. p. palpehrata Forster, the Light-mantled Sooty Albatros, and P. p. fusca, the Sooty Albatros. Prolonged study now prepares me to put forward the following results, as approximating to the truth regarding these two birds : — I conclude that a somewhat parallel case to that which I have endeavoured to show with regard to the forms of the genus Macronectes here occurs, but that the Antarctic and Subantarctic forms are here specifically differentiated, and that the Antarctic forms have pushed the Subantarctic forms further north, and in some places occupy Subantarctic stations as breeding-grounds. This would of course be exactly the opposite view to that taken by Wilson with regard to Macronectes, but the facts seem to favour my conclusions. One of the most pecuHar points in connection with these birds is that most of the literature refers to the Grey-backed bird, and that it is the (well- known !) Sooty Albatros of which we are most ignorant. The specific name to be used for the Grey-backed bird is unquestionably, palpehrata ; while the earhest name given to the wholly-sooty one is fusca. Regarding the type-locality of the first named, I conclude that we must accept that of the bird killed by Forster in 64° S. 38° E., and figured by George Forster. It should be noted that through a slip in the Nov. Zool., Vol. XVIII., p. 206, 1912, I gave the locahty as 47° S. 71° W. ! ! Where would the bird killed in 64° S. 38° E. breed ? This locality is due south of Prince Edward and Marion Islands. On Gough Island and Tristan d’Acunha the wholly-sooty bird undoubtedly breeds, while it may also breed on the Croze ts, as Layard {Ibis, 1867, p. 458) wrote : “ This species is called ‘ Bluebird ’ by the sealers [at the Crozets] who readily distinguish it from the equally sooty Giant Petrel by the white eyehds and white mark along the bill.” I have noted no other breeding-place though Gould, who did not dis- tinguish between the two species, when he figured this bird, wrote, “ It was constantly seen between the island of St. Paul’s and New South Wales, as well at at the entrance of Bass’s Straits, between Van Diemens’ Land and Cape Howe.” Although Hall {Ibis, 1900, p. 19) stated that he did not meet with any specimens agreeing with Hutton’s description of var. cornicoides Kerguelen Island, all the specimens received from that Island are referable to palpebrata. VOL. n. 301 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. and a photograph taken by Hall and reproduced in Campbell’s Nests and Eggs, opp. p. 912, is obviously a true palpehrata. This species also breeds on the Auckland Islands, Antipodes Island, and Campbell Island, while another form breeds on South Georgia. For this may be used Solander’s name, as here again a most beautiful description, which I reproduce, was prepared by him from a bird killed south of Terra del Fuego. I find that the two species can be separated by the shape of the biU and the character of the groove in the lower mandible, as well as the colour of the skin in the groove which has been commonly used. Eagle Clarke’s conclu- sions that the Grey-backed bird is a more southern one, I would accept ; and that the sooty one breeds in a warmer region, would Seem as certain. That both occur together at sea is only what would be expected, as it seems a common law that the Antarctic breeding birds range north in their non-breeding season. The type-locality of P. palpehrata being 64° S. 38° E. — the nearest breeding- station from which birds are available being Kerguelen Island, about 50° S. 70° E. — for the time being these are accepted as typical. The extract quoted shows Hutton’s var. cornicoides to be based upon typical palpehrata, and I would designate as type-locality of Hutton’s variety the breeding-resort of P. palpehrata. The limits of range given by Hutton prohibit the acceptance of cornicoides for the New Zealand breeding bird, which I have therefore named P. p. Jiuttoni. These specimens from New Zealand seas are noticeably paler on the mantle than the Kerguelen Island birds, while the South Georgia breeding-form should carry Solander’s name of antarctica, as that splendid ornithologist carefuUy detailed one of these birds, as here given:—- antarctica Diomedea alis penatis, pedibus a'quilibribus tridactylis rostro nigro, lateribus mandibula' inferioris fissis, alis utrinque fuscis Fig. Piet. Habitat in Oceano antarctico, a Terra del Fuego australi, Lat, LIX austr. (Febr 1, 1769; Rostrum totum nigrum, compressum, la've, diametro longitudinali 4es transversalem superante Mandibula superior basi angulo acuto calva, compressa, carinata, apice declivis, adunca, sulco a naribus ad sinum exarata, lateribus infra sinum convexis Nares laterales, basi approximata', e tubo brevi, subcimeiformi, autrorsum verso, prominulo, obliquo, patulo ; apertura ovata, antice angustior Mandibula inferior paulo brevior, recta, antice subtus carina tereti aucta, apice truncata, ae si secta vel abrasa esset ; utrinque a basi ad partem apicis auctam. Lacuna longitudinalis angusta seu rima recta extenditur, cute unda pallide violacea fusco nebulata suppleta ; infra banc sinu^ acutangulus, plumis tectus basin dividit. Oculi nigri ; Iride fusco-castanea Palpebra' superiores & dimidia pars inferiorum subnuda', albicantes Caput dilute fuliginosum, supra & infra pallidius Collum, Humeri & Pectus cinereo-albicantia 302 NEW ZEALAND LIGHT-MANTLED SOOTY ALBATEOS. Dorsum antice cinereum, postice fuscescens Abdomen cinereum AW longissima', angusta', utrinque fusca' Cauda' obtuse cimeata, nigricans, pedibus vix brevior Crissi pena' longa', abdomine obscuriores Pedes e cameo -glauci Digiti tres antici, nuUo postico sed illius loco verraca parva Memhrana conectens glauca Ungues alba Longitudo ab apice rostri ad finem Cauda' 2 ped 8| ' inter apices alarum expansarum 6 ped 11 11 Brachii Cubiti Metacarpi cum ala Cauda' Digiti intermedii Rostri 10 3 Pondus 6 libr, 3 unc. This description is delightfully accurate, and all the essential features are correctly indicated. The names I would at present use are : — PTioRbetria palpehrata palpehrata Forster ; South Indian Ocean (Kerguelen Island breeding). Phcebetria palpehrata Tiuttoni Mathews ; East Australian seas (New Zealand subantarctic islands breeding). Phcebetria palpebrata antarctica Mathews ; South Atlantic Ocean (South Georgia breeding). Order PROCELLARIIFORMES No. 123 Family DIOMEDEIDM. PHCEBETRIA FUSOA CAMPBELLI. AUSTRALIAN SOOTY ALBATROS. Phcebetria ftjsca CAMPBELLI, subsp. n. ; Australian seas ; Type no. 5578 in my collection. Diomedea fulginosa and Phoebefria fuliginosa of AustraKan authors generally. Phoebetria palpebrata fusca (not Hilsenberg) Mathews, Nov. Zool., Vol. XVIII., p. 206, 1912. DiSTRiBBTioiir. AustraKan seas. Adult. General colour above and below sooty-brown, sKghtly darker on the top of the head ; blackish on the lores and above and behind the eyes ; wings and tail blackish-brown ; shafts of the tail-feathers and primaries straw-coloured. Short feathers round the eye, interrupted in front, white ; bill black, the groove on the lower mandible long and deep, and filled with a yefiow skin. Total length 790 mm. ; cuhnen (exp.) 115, wing 482, tail 250, tarsus 73. Immature, Nest, Egg, and Breeding-season. Unknown. I HAVE not attempted to guess any synonymy of this and the preceding bird, as at first I concluded the former might be the common Australian form. It certainly was the New Zealand breeding bird, and was accepted for P. fuliginosa by such authorities as Campbell and Hall. Gould had however figured the present bird, and the majority of the early specimens procured and at present in Museums referable to this species, are labelled Australian seas. I am therefore including both. As I have noted, this species may breed on the Crozets, in which case that would probably be the breeding-locality of Hilsenberg’s D. fusca, as that name was given to a bird obtained in the Mozambique Channel. We know that a breeding-station is Gough Island ; and as we have not found the eastern breeding-stations, I am simply recognising an Eastern and Western form, the latter being larger in aU its dimensions. 304 AUSTRALIAN SOOTY ALBATROS. The nomenclature to be used pro tern, is : — Phcebetria fusca fusca Hilsenberg ; South Atlantic and Indian Oceans (Tristan d’Acunha, Gough Island and ? Crozets breeding). Phcehetria fusca ca7npbelli Mathews ; * Australian seas (? breeding-place). If nothing else has been effected by this review of the Procellariifor7nes, I hope that I have provided a working-basis for Australian ornithologists, and shown our absolute ignorance of this most interesting group. * Named after Mr. A. J. Campbell of Melbourne, whose work in aid of Australian ornithology is so well known. 305 Oedee IX.— LAEIFOEMES. This Order consists of sea-birds with webbed feet, which, resembling the medium-sized Petrels in general appearance, differ in the nature of their bills. This resemblance has been clearly shown to be due to homoplasy, and is not indicative of close relationship, as their general appearance would suggest. They have further been shown to be most nearly allied to the Charadriiformes although superficially very different-looking birds. Three families have been recently recognised, the Laridce^ Stercorariidce {—Catharactidce) and the Rhynchopidce, members of the last-named not entering into the Austrahan avifauna. The first-mentioned family has been divided into two subfamilies, Larince and SternincBf and these are certainly well-marked groups. The Sternince, or Terns, are well represented in Australia, and I propose here to sketch the attempts at classification, and the present state of our knowledge, to enable Australian ornithologists to follow my treatment. Terns vary in size but not much in coloration, the majority being pale- grey above and white below with more or less black caps, the remainder being brownish or black above and in some cases also below. The chief differences lie in size, length and strength of biU, size of legs and feet, and more or less webbing of the latter. They all agree in having forked tails, varying in the depth of the fork in relation to the outer lateral feathers, which are very often so long that they have been given a name to distinguish them, viz. streamers. On account of their similarity of coloration, systematists have been long troubled as to the value of the differences observed. Until 1822 they were aU classed in the Linnean genus Sterna ; Boie, in that year, working upon European forms, indicated several genera ; in 1826, Stephens, probably ignorant of Boie’s work, proposed a couple of others, while the same year Boie added one more ; in 1829 Kaup again divided Sterna, introducing new names for similar divisions to those of Boie ; two years later Brehm again renamed Boie’s and Kaup’s genera, while the succeeding year Wagler, as well as again renaming the previously-named genera, indicated others among the extra-European Terns. This left very little for anyone else, and I can only note one generic name introduced in this group since 1846. In 1862 Cones {Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad., pp. 535-559) reviewed the Terns of North 306 LARIFORMES. America and included six genera. As far as I can judge, Coues’s idea of generic groups approximated very closely to those held by American systematists of the present time, though subgenera are more commonly used just at this present than formerly ; hut the recognition of these seems to be on the decrease, the practice to use only one term, and that of generic value, apparently coming into stronger favour, as is acknowledged in the preface to the third edition of the Checiclist of North Ainerican Birds ^ p. 9 : “ Many changes in generic names have resulted from raising to generic rank various groups recognised merely as subgenera in the first and second editions of the Checiclist^ their reduction in grade by the original Committee having failed to meet with general approval.” In this third edition the Terns seem to he accepted as laid down by Howard Saunders in the Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., Vol. XXV., 1896, but as that author did not recognise subspecies it seems probable that readjustment will later be made. That author was practically the only ornithologist to specialise in this group for over twenty-five years, and it would seem necessary to bring up-to-date the knowledge accumulated since the Cat. Birds Brit. Mus, was concluded. In the Proc. Zool. Soc. (Lond.), 1876, p. 638 et seq., Saunders first mono- graphed the SternincB, and noting the recent reviews, pointed out the difficulties attending the study of these birds owing to the shght differences present in their general coloration when adult, and the close resemblance of the immature of the species. This paper is most interesting, as Saunders there deals with the genera, and only admitting five — viz. Sterna, Hydrochelidon, Ncenia, Gygis, and Anous — commented upon the differences between the two Sooty Terns in the structure of their feet, and concluded: “It would strike anyone as absurd to separate these two Sooty Terns generically, seeing that their resemblance is so close that for some time even their specific characteristics were by no means well known ; yet, unless this is done, it is fully as inconsistent to separate them from true Sternce ... Of the discarded genera even the best seem to be based upon the size and shape of the bill — a very variable character in Terns, and one which, when taken alone, does not seem to be of so much value in this family as in many others.” When admitting Hydrochelidon he noted “ this very natural genus ” of which “ the most characteristic dis- tinctions are the short, rounded tail, and the long slender toes connected by deeply incised webs,” but regarding Gelochelidon, which he did not fidmit, he wrote : “In spite of its stout bill, the short and somewhat rounded lateral feathers of the tail, and the long hind toe, I do not think we can consistently allow a generic distinction without admitting a number of indifferent genera. . . . Although the shape of the tail is somewhat rounded as in Hydrochelidon, it must be remembered that 8. caspia has a similar tail, and that both these 307 THE BIEDS OF AUSTRALIA. species have the strong and fully webbed feet of the Sea-Terns.” Twenty years afterwards in the monograph in the Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., Vol. XXV., Saunders had so revised his views that no fewer than eleven genera were there included : viz. Hydrochelidon, PhcetTiusay Gelochelidon, Hydroprogne^ Seena, Sterna, Ncenia, Procelsterna, Anous, Micranous and Gygis. The most peculiar feature in this treatment is, that under Sterna are lumped forms much more diverse than some of those allowed as distinct. Thus the differences between Anous and Micranous (a genus introduced by Saunders himself) seem lighter than those between the two Sooty Terns of which Saunders wrote, and the young are so ahke that Saunders himseK confused them. Since the Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., these birds do not appear to have been treated as a whole, but in the A.O.U. Checklist, 3rd ed., 1910, where no reasons are given, I find the following system accepted : four genera, Gelochelidon, Sterna, Hydro- chelidon, and Anous ; while the genus Sterna is subdivided into five subgenera : Sterna, Thalasseus, Actochelidon, Sternula, and Onychoprion. The only difference between this and Saunders’s treatment is, that the Caspian Tern is only admitted as possessing characters of subgeneric value under Sterna in the A.O.U. Checklist, while Saunders acknowledged it to differ generically, the former using the name Thalasseus, and the latter Hydroprogne. The diversity between the treatment of genera and subgenera by the American and British ornithologists is well seen in the Hand-List of British Birds just published, which bears the names as joint authors, E. Hartert, F. C. R. Jourdain, N. F. Ticehurst, and H. F. Witherby. It is acknowledged that Dr. Hartert is mainly responsible for the nomenclature, but that all have discussed the points. Therein subgenera are entirely rejected, and apparently Saunders’s 1876 disposition absolutely followed, the later 1896 revision being disagreed with. The difficulty with this acceptance is well pointed out by Saunders in the sentences quoted above, viz. the recognition of the “ very natural genus ” Hydrochelidon with very little, if any, better features for separation than exist between Gelochelidon and Sterna ; while the inclusion of S. caspia (= tschegrava) as a member of the genus Sterna in the A.O.U. Checklist, though Gelochelidon is separated, seems just as arbitrary. The most reasonable method, though admittedly imperfect, seems the recognition of various well-defined groups which may be considered as of equal value, whatever value may be allowed them ; and in this place I propose to use names generically which are more commonly considered subgenera. It should be remembered that generic names are matters of convenience only, and are used to indicate relationships ; and if by means of them we can more clearly fix distinctions, we should use such means. To particularise : we have the Sooty Tern ; this constitutes a group separated from the majority of Terns by 308 LARIFORMES. coloration, and as there are structural features approaching the Noddies while the juvenile-plumage is quite unlike that of other Terns, the recognition of Onychoprion as a genus is necessary. By the use of this we fix the essential nature of this group, and the great difference between this bird and (say) Sterna hirundo Linne is not overlooked, as it may be by the use of the generic Sterna to cover all Terns. This practice is inferentially recognised by the admission that Hydrochelidon is “ a very natural genus ” : the members are Marsh-Terns with short tails, distinct coloration, and incised webs. The natural result of the examination of many Terns, is acceptance of groups of species which may be termed “ natural genera ” or artificial groupings, according to the point of view of the individual systematist, but which undoubtedly are aids to the student and appear to be based upon reasonable characters. VOL. ri. 309 Genus— H YDROCHELIDON. Hydrochelidon Boie, Isis 1822, p. 563 . . . . Type (Also spelt Hydrochiledon Blyth, Journ. As. Soc. Beng., Vol. XV., p. 373, 1846.) Viralva Stephens, in Shaw’s Gen. Zool., Vol. XIII., pt. I., p. 166, 1826 . . . . . . . . . . Type Pelodes Kaup, Skizz Entwick-Gesch. Nat. Syst., p. 107, 1829 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Type Chlidonias Rhoads, Auk, Vol. XXIX., p. 197, 1912 . . Type H. nigra. H. nigra. H. leucopareia. H. nigra. Small Terns with slender, short bills, long wings, small legs and feet, and short tails. The diagnostic features of this genus are the short tail and deeply-incised webs of the feet. The metatarsus about equals the middle toe alone, and is only about two-thirds the length of the culmen. The tail is less than half the length of the wing, and is slightly forked, the lateral feathers not developed into streamers but still the longest. The species H. leucopareia has a more powerful bill and the webs of the feet more deeply incised, and for it the genus Pelodes was provided ; but this seems unnecessary. Note. — In the Auk, Vol. XXIX., p. 197, 1912, Rhoads has recorded the generic name Chlidonias, which was introduced by Rafinesque in the Kentucky Gazette (Vol. I., No. 8, Feb. 21st, 1822, p. 3, col. 5) for a new species, C. melanops. This, Rhoads has identified with Sterna surinamensis Gmelin, and he has therefore claimed priority for Rafinesque’s name over Hydrochelidon, which was published two months later. As far as I can judge from Rhoads’s account, the Kentucky Gazette was a newspaper, and as I do rwt admit names pubhshed in newspapers as having any scientific standing, I quote Chlidonias as of Rhoads 1912, and give the note so that the matter can be discussed and the question of the recognition of Rafinesque’s name settled. 310 Key to the Species Summer-plumage. A. Back black ; under wing-coverts black, and tail whitish. . . . . . . . H. leucoptera grisea, p. 312. B. Back, wings and tail uniform grey. a'. Throat greyish, belly dark slate . . H. leucopareia fluviatilis, p. 316. h'. Throat and belly lighter . . . . H. leucopareia rogersi, p. 323. W inter-plumage. G. Bill slender ; wing shorter ; distinct black spot in front of eye and dark patch on the ear-coverts, with forehead and front of top of head pure white . . . . H. leucoptera grisea, p. 312. D. Bill heavier ; wing longer ; no dark patch on ear-coverts, and when fore-part of head is pure white, back part is also almost pure white leucopareia fluviatilis * p. 316. \H. leucopareia rogersifl^ p. 323. * I have not material whereby I can differentiate the subspecies in the winter-plumage. 311 Order LARIFORMES No. 124. Family LARIDJS. HYDROOHELIDON LEUCOPTERA GRISEA. EASTERN WHITE-WINGED TERN. (Plate 102.)* Sterna geisea Horsfield, Trans. Linn. Soc. (Lond.), Vol. XIII., p. 199, 1821 ; Java. Sterna grisea Horsfield, Trans. Linn. Soc. (Lond.), Vol. XIII., p. 199, 1821. HydrocJielidon leucoptera Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc. (Lond.) 1866, p. 218 ; Hutton, Cat. Birds New Zeal., p. 43, 1871 ; Buller, Birds New Zeal., p. 287, 1873 ; id., ib., 2nd ed., Vol. II,, p. 77, 1888 ; Saunders, Oat. Birds Brit. Mus., Vol. XXV., p. 6, 1896 (pars) ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 87, 1899 ; Campbell, Nests and Eggs Austr. Birds, p. 828, 1901 ; Buller, Suppl. Birds New Zeal,, Vol. I., p. 157, 1905 ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 87, 1906 ; Mathews, Handl. Birds Austral., p. 20, 1908. Hydrochelidon leucoptera grisea Mathews, Nov. Zool., Vol. XVIII., p. 207, 1912. Distribution. North Australia (winter-visitor) ; ? New Zealand (accidental) ; Java (winter- visitor) ; China (breeding). Adult male in breeding-plumage. Head and neck all round glossy-black like the breast, abdomen, sides of body, axillaries, and under wing-coverts ; spot below the eye white ; back and scapulars dull slaty-black ; lesser wing-coverts white ; bastard- wing and primary-coverts pale silvery-grey, becoming darker grey on the median and greater coverts, the innermost greater-series dark slate-grey ; primary-quills silvery-grey along the outer webs, inner webs dark brown near the shafts with the remainder white ; inner primaries almost entirely silvery-grey ; secondaries slate-grey, becoming much darker on the innermost feathers ; upper and under tail-coverts, as also the tail, white ; bill red ; iris brown ; feet red. Total length 221 mm. ; cuhnen 24, wing 217, tail 73, tarsus 21. Adult female in breeding-plumage. Similar to the adult male, but duller black on the back, breast, abdomen, sides of body, and under wing-coverts, the latter inclining to white on the greater series ; the tail shows a distinct grey wash, while the measure- ments are distinctly smaller. Adult in winter-plumage. The forehead, back of the neck, all the under surface and under wing-coverts white ; back of the head and nape dark brown with whitish tips ; the feathers of the upper-back are dark brownish-grey ; the tips fighter, and their bases white ; the back fighter ; the rump and upper tail-coverts fight grey ; the tail-feathers are grey, the outer whitish on the inner webs ; there is a distinctly defined black spot in front of the eye, and the ear-coverts form a dark brown patch ; the primaries are all worn duU brown, while the scapulars and median wing-coverts retain their grey colour. * The Plate is lettered Hydrochelidon leucoptera. ‘ft 312 I HYDROCHELIDON LEUCOPTERA . ( WHITE - WINGED TERN ) . -i. 1 M i' 'V as i m. -S" I in kX-' ' "t'ji 'ir i'V>,* •VA "553sa ’’■t P. ''Pl&r: :Sf -s-^ Kr.lrtJ '.JfT! rf-J j'l . «fV J;.' m M'.'^ ' ' '. m Iw Pi »* Mi .lU m. 19’' ' I J#^< 1 w - hlifi ,515 M • ^ I, iL J' -^’, H * !«<• « ^i> ' I III /'V ^i»r ■p- ''>'. ■ * ■hW Lk m. vt:; ;ri: »: ■*!. rai Hit. Tl^'rdS kli' iff U'J «■ 'l‘l af. £V< nil Xt^' S iy.rlv If Ki' i" r ■ifr*il u ^ *1 ' l ' » '*l'' u ' ^i,v fflVi li t isf Rnsii&j*. ..■, , . • '!''■.■■ ■. ‘{■J I - • tVi t'S'j uV, P ■• • t /•■ -‘W' i -i/'-’ 'v if ■ , I . ^ ■ B ? vjy J I m .ii rv#'-. dt - ig ii.',* !'■ ’iKij I'. til ,'»' L*; i iff' V, rt7. * I »fi I ■4'* ’ H N* ^1 H .fff »”J ■I "I, 'I rr, V “ it' w ‘ H '■.„. -r '• i . ■ Sir. I I. "'f ■ .1 f , /•y - '- iW f’J if Vi tv <'' lev.TiLJa ' ' ^ J I, 1, ■ .* M ‘I ■ it il f-, '■■'tv nr i j*. j f il-t! ■ ^ i "*^3 A.*; r . ■ -■ .. ' - S •:^ ft >»• M ;ii '^*1 ' f ' I* ^ , I ii lA'ii A JCiv »«'<, i ir ,«'fc >ii. • I -jW :! i Nji .fV' JUv'* I ■ < m »?i 'ini 19-. . " ia '■ 4*1—1 EASTERN WHITE-WINGED TERN. This description is drawn up from one of Gould’s Cape York specimens, and agrees very closely with the type of Sterna grisea Horsfield from Java with which I have instituted comparison. Another bird collected on the Voyage of the “ Rattle- snake,” “ Female, Gape York, Nov. 9th, 1849,” agrees, but it is not so worn ; there are fewer white tips to the back of the head-feathers, and the two outer tail- feathers are pure white, the rest whitish on the inner web. Another bird collected by Elsey, “ Victoria River, March, ’56, Male,” is in the same plumage, and has the additional information on the label, “Iris blue-black.” Adult in change. The feathers on the lower-back are coming blackish ; the rump, upper tail-coverts, and the tail are all white, save the fifth pair from the outside which are still grey ; the second outside pair and the centre pair are only half grown ; about half the scapulars and secondaries are new black-grey feathers ; all the primaries are new grey feathers while the outside half of the inner wing- coverts are new black feathers ; the inside half and the whole of the under surface are still pure white, while the head- and neck-coloration is still as in the winter- plumage. This description is drawn up from another of Gould’s Cape York specimens. Another bird collected by Elsey, “ Victoria River, March, 1856, Female,” is in much the same plumage, but the tail contains fewer white feathers ; the head is missing, and on the label is noted, “ Stomach contaiued grasshoppers.” The preceding descriptions taken from specimens procured m Australia may be supplemented by accounts of further plumage-changes as these may occur. A bird from the Andamans, April 16th, 1879, shows a further change than the preceding ; the whole of the tail is white ; the whole of the inner wmg-coverts are black ; the primaries, upper wing-coverts, and secondaries are all completely new ones ; the black feathers are beginning to come on the back and under- surface, commencing on the belly and lower-breast. Immature. “ Pegu ? 13/10/78, very young and small, E. W. Oates,” is much like what I have described as the winter-plumage, but the head-feathers are deep brown, while the feathers of the upper-back as well as the scapulars have dark brown tips ; the upper tail-coverts are white ; the tail-feathers brownish-grey, the outer ones lighter. Nestling, Nest, Eggs, and Breeding-season. Unknown. This bird was added to the Australian avifauna by Gould {loc. cit.) just after the appearance of his Handbook, and was apparently regarded with suspicion by later Australian ornithologists. After the publication of the Gat. Birds Brit. it was included by Hall in his Key Birds Austr., p. 87, 1899, as a “ Doubtful visitor,” as five specimens were catalogued by Saunders as being in the British Museum. Since then it has been generally accepted, but I know of no recent specimens. Examination of the British Museum examples proves this bird to be an undoubted visitor, and if the authenticity of Gould’s record were questioned, there are three other instances — Elsey having procured two on the Victoria River, Northern Territory, in March, 1856, and a third obtained at Cape York on the Voyage of the “ Rattlesnake.” Upon these records no doubt whatever can be thrown. I do not impugn Gould’s record myseK, but a third specimen in the British Museum from the Gould Collection 313 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. is labelled Cape York, hut is in full breeding-plumage ; this bird I would not admit as no label is attached, and I would rank it on a par with the New Zealand record, which is of a pair in full breeding-plumage from Nelson, South Island, procured on December 1 2th, 1868. I have examined many birds and no such condition seems possible to me. The birds breed in China and migrate south in winter. Captain Stanley’s “Rattlesnake” bird, obtained at Cape York in November, 1849, is in fuU winter-plumage, and one of Elsey’s specimens in March, 1856, is Just beginning to take on its summer-plumage. I therefore conclude that the New Zealand record is had, as birds in New Zealand in December would be in fuU winter-dress, not breeding. It should be noted that it is a Nelson record, and the majority of the early Nelson New Zealand records are unrehable. This bird was first clearly described by Temminck {Manuel d'Orn.^ p. 483, 1815) as Sterna leucoptera : — Bee et pieds d’un rouge de corail ; membranes des doigts tres decoupees, I’inteme ne formant qu’im petit rudiment ; longueur du tarse 9 lignes ; queue tres peu fourchue, les ailes s’etendent de 2 pouces 4 lignes au de la de son extremite. Tete, cou, haut du dos, poitrine, ventre, couvertures du dedans des ailes et abdomen d’un noir profond ; partie inferieure du dos et scapulaires d’un noir cendre ; petites et moyennes couvertures des ailes, croupion, pennes de la queue et ses couvertures tant superieures qu’inferieures d’un blanc parfait ; grandes couvertures des ailes et pennes secondaires d’tm cendre bleuatres ; sur les barbes inferieures des deux premieres remiges est une large bande longitudinale et d’un blanc pur ; iris noir ; bee et pieds d’lm rouge de corail. Longueur 9 pouces 3 ou 4 lignes. Habite : les bords de la Mediterranee. It had been noted by earlier writers under the erroneous name of Sterna nigra Linne, which name was however used for a different bird by Linne in the tenth edition of the Syste^na Natures. The bird there described was not in full plumage, and confusion arose through attempting to identify the state of plumage there detailed with some phase of this bird. Other Linnean and Gmelinian names given to immature specimens of this group of Terns, have at times been considered to refer to the present species, but as far as I can judge they have been correctly relegated to the synonymy of Lump’s Sterna nigra. These Marsh-Terns in winter- and immature-plumage are not easy to differentiate, especially by means of written descriptions. The summer-plumages however are so distinct, that there can be no confusion in that state. In the Trans. Linn. Soc. (Lend.), Vol. XIII., p. 199, 1821, Horsfield described a Tern from Java as, “ S. supra grisea, corpore subtus annulo collari fronteque albis, remige exteriore nigricante, rostro nigro. Longitudo 9 poll.” I should consider this indeterminable save that the tj^pe is still existent, and is recognisable as this species in the winter-plumage. I am therefore 314 EASTERN WHITE-WINGED TERN. using it to designate the form which breeds in China and wanders southward to Java, Celebes, and North Austraha. Series of breeding birds compared with similar series from Europe, show that the Chinese birds have more powerful bills and longer wings, and of course winter-birds show similar differences. When examining the breeding series, I found that the females were distin- guished from the males by the tail showing a distinct grey-wash and distinctly shorter bills ; the grey wash is more pronounced in the Eastern birds than in the Western, but it appears to be a constant feature which has not been previously recorded. While this was in the press, Nicoll {Ihis, 1912, p. 453) has inde- pendently confirmed this observation regarding the Western form, writing: “Females of the present species differ from the males in having less white on the shoulders and grey tails, and in being less sooty black below ; whereas adult males have pure white rectrices, and are jet black on the under- parts.” I also found the wings of the females to be constantly shorter, and of course the measurements show similar differences in the winter-plumage, but the birds do not then have white tails, as stated by Saunders in his Key to the Species in the Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., Vol. XXV. 315 Order LARIF0RME8 No. 125. Family LARIDM. HYDROCHELIDON LEUCOPAREIA FLUVIATILIS. EAST AUSTRALIAN WHISKERED TERN. Hydeochelidon FLUVIATILIS Gould, Proo. Zool. Soo. (Lond.) 1842, p. 140, 1843 ; Interior of New South Wales. Hydrochelidon fluviatilis Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc. (Lond.) 1842, p. 140, 1843 ; id., Birds Austr., Vol. VII., pi. 31, 1848 ; Sturt, Narr. Exped. Oentr. Austr., Vol. II., App., p. 58, 1849 ; Mathews, Emu, Vol. X., p. 320, 1911. Hydrochelidon leucopareia Gould, Handb. Birds Austr., Vol. II., p. 406, 1865. Hydrochelidon hyhrida Ramsay, Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., Vol. II., p. 201, 1877; id.. Tab. List Austr. Birds, p. 23, 1888 ; North, Austr. Mus. Cat., No. 12, pp. 353, 402, 1889 ; Saunders, Oat. Birds Brit. Mus., Vol. XXV., p. 10, 1896 (pars) ; North, Birds County Cumber., p. 112, 1898 ; Keartland, Trans. Roy. Soc. South Austr., Vol. XXII., p. 191, 1898 ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 87, 1899 ; Campbell, Nests and Eggs Austr. Birds, p. 829, 1901 ; Belcher, Emu, Vol. II., p. 33, 1902 ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 87, 1906 ; Mathews, Handl. Birds Austral., p. 20, 1908. Hydrochelidon leucopareia fluviatilis Mathews, Nov. Zool., Vol. XVII., p. 497, 1910 ; id., ib., Vol. XVIII., p. 207, 1912. Distribution. East and South-east Australia. Adult in breeding-plumage. Similar to H. leucopareia rogersi, but the upper coloration is shghtly darker while the under surface is darker, more especially noticeable on the upper-breast ; the bill is also stouter, and the axiUaries are distinctly pale grey ; the axiUaries in H. 1. rogersi are pure white. Adult in winter-plumage. I have only examined birds in the change, and they differ from the same plumage of H. 1. rogersi in the stouter bill. Immature and Nestling. Appear to be undescribed. Nest. “ Built up from the bottom, in water about two feet deep, the under part formed of dry stalks of slender reeds ” (Belcher). “ Composed of green rushes, in most cases quite flat, the whole structure floating on the surface of the water ” (Bennett). Eggs. Clutch, two to three ; ground-colour greenish-buff, blotched all over with blackish ; with some underlying ones of grey ; axis 35 to 38 mm., diameter 27 to 28. Breeding-season. October, November, and December (Bennett). All observers have commented on the grace of these birds as they fly over the inland waters near which they make their home. Their progress is easy and graceful, every now and then darting down into the water after food, which consists of hve fish mostly, but they do not dive right under water. 316 EAST AUSTRALIAN WHISKERED TERN. Mr. Belcher tells me this species is a regular visitor to Geelong, in Victoria : “ They arrive in October and leave in the autumn. In the western district it is resident aU through the year on some of the better-protected lakes on private property, and it is interesting to recall that Terrinallum, a weU-known property at Darlington, takes its name from this bird, which was called by the blacks of the Colac tribe ‘ Djerinallum.’ Of recent years the Whiskered Tern has been a common summer visitor to the marshes close to Melbourne in the West, from the Salt Water to near Werribee. Whether these birds, and those which appear about the same time in the Geelong district, come from the Murray river-system or from the Western lakes, is not yet clear, but it is more hkely to be from the latter, as the intervening country would suit them better to travel over. “In December, 1901, I found a nesting-colony on Lake Reedy, a marsh of some thousands of acres on the north side of the Barwon River. But the rats had destroyed all the eggs, only shells being found in the nests.” The following* is the account of a breeding-colony at Yandenbah, in New South Wales, written by the man who collected the eggs in my collection. After finding, on October 31st, a breeding- place of this species, Bennett writes : “ About a week previously, when riding around this swamp, I was led to the conclusion that these birds intended breeding there, as numbers were flying about above the water, whilst many others were perched on the slender tops of the dwarf Polygonum bushes, which projected a few inches above the water, and I also noticed that several of the birds flying about were carrying rushes in their bills. I made a careful search at the time, but beyond finding a few green rushes placed in a loose, careless manner on the top of one of the Polygonum bushes, I saw nothing else to indicate that it was a contemplated breeding site. On visiting the place to-day, I observed numbers of the birds on the tops of the bushes, but not more than one on each bush, whilst numbers were also flying about hi an excited manner, and as I neared the edge of the swamp, kept up a continuous croaking. On wading in for a closer examination, I found that each bird was sitting on a nest (if nest such a structure could be called) each of which contained one to three eggs, the latter number apparently being the full set. These nests were simply a few green rushes, in most cases quite flat, and the whole structure rising and falling with the motion of the water, caused by a shght breeze, and it was a mystery to me how the birds managed to leave, or return to, the nests, without knocking the eggs off. Although this swamp is of considerable extent and similar throughout, the breeding place was confined to a space of not more than twenty yards square, showing that hke Sterna anglica {^nacrotarsa^ they breed in companies.” * K. H. Bennett in Austr. Mus. Cat, No. 12, p. 402, 1890. VOL. II. 317 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. Again, on December Ilth, the same writer goes on : “ To-day I passed the swamp in which I obtained the Marsh Tern’s eggs, at the end of October and beginning of November, and noticed they were in far greater numbers than on the previous occasion, and that they were breeding all over the swamp, and had not only constructed fresh nests, but had utilised the ones from which I had taken the eggs, and also the disused ones of Trihonyx ventralis, and other birds. I examined a great number of nests, all of which contained eggs.” Mr. Edwin Ashby says a large flock of these birds were Ashing on Lake Alexandrina in South Australia on December 30th, 1901. Though this species has been burdened with many names it has never yet received fair treatment ; at about the same time four names were given it, and the one formerly accepted as having nine years priority has recently been shown not to have been published until sixteen years after the presumed date and therefore seven years later than the others. I refer to Sterna hylrida Pallas, Zoogr. Rosso. Asiat., Vol. II., p. 338, 1827, more commonly quoted as of 1811, which is wrong. In the second edition of his Manuel d’Orn.^ Vol. IL, p. 746, Temminck introduced Sterna leucopareia ; in the TaU. Ency. Meth. Ornith., Vol. I., p. 350, Vieillot proposed Sterna delainotta, while in the Trans. Linn. Soc. (Lond.), Vol. XIII., p. 198, Horsfield described a bird as Sterna javanica. These three names were nominally of the same date, but investigation shows that Temminck’s Manuel d'‘Orn., in two volumes, was published in October, 1820, while the part of the Tabl. Ency. Meth. Ornith. containing Vieillot’s name was not recorded in the Bihl. Franc, until the January-6th-1821 number, and Horsfield’s name was not issued until late in 1821. Owing to the difference between the summer- and winter-plumage, this bird continued to receive names, the Indian form or forms apparently suffering the most, as Saunders considers that Stephens’s Viralva indica (1826), Gray’s S. shnilis, Blyth’s H. marginata (1846), and Beavan’s S. innotata (1868), were all given to this species in India. Gould named the Australian form H. fluviatilis in 1842, and Boie in 1844 recorded a H. leucogenys Licht., a nude name at that time. Brehm however, in 1855, describes the typical bird as H. leucogenys, and added H. meridionalis for an Egyptian bird, recognising also in this species Gmelin’s S. nilotica. Though the Cape bird was named H. delalandii by Bonaparte in 1856, it has not yet been described. In the Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., Vol. XXV., pursuing the lumping policy he had adopted, Saunders called the species H. hybrida and gave it an Old-World range. He however carefully noted that the Indian, South African, and Australian races were well characterised. Examination shows that this bird has very many easily-defined subspecies when breeding series are examined, but that there are not long enough series of 318 EAST AUSTRALIAN WHISKERED TERN. winter-birds to accurately fix the range of each subspecies. The Western Palsearctic forms are well provided with names, however many subspecies are hereafter recognised. The type-locahty of Temminck’s S. leucopareia may be fixed as Hungary, according to the original description here given: — Sterna leucopareia. Temminck, Manuel d’Orn., Vol. II., p. 746, 1820. Bee et pieds d’un rouge de laque ; doigt du milieu avec I’ongle beaucoup plus long que le tarse qui mesure 10 lignes ; queue tres peu fourchue ; les ailes s’entendent de pouce au dela de son extremite. Front, sommet de la tete, occiput, cou et toutes les parties inferieures d’un blanc pur ; une tache noire derriere les yeux ; manteau, dos, ailes, remiges et queue d’un meme nuance de gris cendre ; bee et pi^s d’rm rouge de laque fence ; iris noir. Longueur, 11 pouces. Le male et la femelle en plumage parfait d’hiver. Plumage de printemps ou des noces. Un capuchon d’un noir profond couvre la tete, engage le region des yeux et se prolonge sur la nuque ; du blanc pur forme au dessous des yeux une large moustache qui vient recouvrir I’orifice des oreilles ; gorge d’lm blanc cendre qui se nuance par demi-teinte en cendre pur sur la poitrine, et en cendre noiratre sur le ventre et sur les flancs ; toutes les parties superieures, les ailes et la queue d’une seule nuance de cendre fonce ; couvertures interieures des ailes et couvertures du dessous de la queue d’un blanc pur, bee et pieds d’un rouge vif. Hab. “ des parties orientales du midi de I’Europe ” — Hungary. Of this, Hydrochelidon leucogenys Brehm {Vdgelfang, p. 350, 1855) from Unterungarn is an absolute synonym. If the West European birds are separable, then Vieillot’s Sterna delamotta {Tabl. Ency. Meth. Ornith., Vol. I., p. 350, 1820), founded on a Picardy bird, might be available ; while as Pallas’s name {loc. cit.)^ S. Tiyhrida, was proposed for a bird from South Volga, it would have to be considered for a race whose breeding-headquarters were in that locahty. Should the North African birds constitute a further race, then Brehm’ s introduction of H. 7neridionalis {Vdgeljang, p. 351, 1855) would be at hand, as his H. nilotica is only a misiden- tification (following Riippell) of Gmehn’s Sterna nilotica. For the North Indian breeding bird four names are available, as noted above, but the first name I conclude may be used as here detailed by Stephens in Shaw’s Gen. Zool., Vol. XIII., pt. i., p. 169, 1826 : — Tehary viralve Viralva indica Vi. corpore subtus capite colloque albis, pileo, occipite nuchaque nigris, alis dorso caudaque griseo-caeruleis. Viralve with the body beneath the head and neck white, the pileus, occiput and nape black, the wings, back and tail bluish grey. Tehary Tern. Lath. Gen. Hist. X., 103. Inhabits India. “ Beak stout and black ; irides dusky ; head, neck, and under parts whi^e ; from the middle of the crown to the nape, black ; back, Avings, and tail, pale ashy -blue, the last moderately forked, the wings exceed it by about two inches ; legs deep dull red.” — Latham. The other names cited would fall as synonyms. From examination of the Hume collection in the British Museum, it seems probable that more than one subspecies will be recognisable in the Indian Peninsula. One of the 319 THE BIEDS OF AUSTRALIA. difficulties in connection with this bird, is that it appears to lose its fuD breeding-plumage while it is still engaged in breeding. The North Indian birds are easily separated from Mediterranean birds in summer-plumage by the characters noted by Saunders, viz. obviously darker under - coloration, especially of the upper-breast, and smaller size. A series of breeding birds from Ceylon differ from the North Indian birds in their hghter under-coloration, though agreeing in their small size. These I propose to name Hydrochelidon leucopareia leggei, subsp. n. South African birds are again quite different from Mediterranean, as pointed out by Saunders. They are very dark-coloured above ; so much so that the black cap does not seem well-defined, the deep sooty on the abdomen is scarcely darker than the plumbeous on the breast, while the throat is such a deep grey that the white “ moustache ” stands out more prominently than in any other form ; the axillaries are deep smoky-grey. From the darkest Indian birds they are easily separated by their superior size. I propose to name them Hydrochelidon leucopareia delalandii, subsp. n., as in the Gomptes Bendus Sci., Paris, Vol. XLII., p. 773, 1856, Bonaparte introduced the name Hydrochelidon delalandii {leucopareia ex Cap-b-Spei Mus. Par.), but no description has since been offered. Saunders noted that he had examined the bird so named in the Paris Museum, and that it belonged to this species. A series of birds from Foochow, China, agree quite closely with Allahabad (India) birds in their under-surface coloration, but have the throat much lighter — almost white, and are constantly shorter in the wing. These I name Hydrochelidon leucopareia swinhoei, subsp. n. Birds from Thatone, Tenasserim, and Lower Pegu, seem to provide another race, but as the type of S. javanica Horsfield from Java is a winter- bird just commencing to assume the summer-plumage, it may be that it was a straggler from the north. A series from the Togian Isles are all in winter- plumage, apparently confirming the suggestion that they have travelled from the north. In our imperfect acquaintance with the movements and distribution of these birds in the East, it seems best to use Horsfield’s name to cover the preceding at this juncture. Gould described the East Australian bird as attached : — Hydrochelidon fluviatilis. Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc., 1842, p. 140. Hyd. fronte, vertice, et nucha nigris ; corpore superiore, alls caudaque pallide cinereis ; facie et gula albis, hoc colore gradatim ad pectus cinerescente et hoc ad abdomen necnom ad latera nigrescente. 320 EAST AUSTRALIAN WHISKERED TERN. Forehead, crown and nape deep black ; all the upper surface, wings and tail light grey ; sides of the face and the throat white, gradually deepening into grey on the chest, and the grey into black on the abdomen and flanks ; under surface of the shoulder and under tail-coverts white ; irides black ; bill blood-red ; feet light blood-red. Total length 9J inches ; bill If; wing 8f ; tail 3| ; tarsi Hab : Rivers and lakes of the interior of New South Wales. This form is identifiable at sight by its very light upper-coloration and the under coloration is also so much lighter that it becomes white on the throat and the white “ moustache ” is undefined. It should be noted that the upper coloration of all the forms would appear to be lighter in the winter- than in the summer-plumage, while the adult male seems noticeably larger in all its measurements than the adult female. At present I would suggest the following nomenclature as representing the beginning of the dismemberment of the species Hydrodielidon leucopareia : — Hydrochelidon leucopareia leucopareia Temminck ; South and Central Europe, and North Africa may be further separable into other races, for which are available : Sterna delamotia VieiUot, Picardy ; Sterna hybrida Pallas, South Volga ; and Hydro- chelidon meridioncdis Brehm, Egypt. H. leucogenya Brehm is an absolute synonym of H, leucopareia Temminck, Hungary being the type-locality of each. Hydrochelidon leucopareia indica Stephens ; Northern India. As synonyms of this form should be noted. Sterna similis Gray, H. marginata Blyth, and S. innotata Beavan. It seems probable that hereafter other races wiU be recognised as inhabiting India. Hydrochelidon leucopareia leggei Mathews ; Ceylon Hydrochelidon leucopareia delalandii Mathews ; South Africa Hydrochelidon leucopareia swinhoei Mathews ; China with which I would associate, for lack of material, Formosan specimens and very doubtfully refer here birds from the Philippine Islands. Hydrochelidon leucopareia javanica Horsfield ; Java (winter) ; ? Lower Pegu; ? Tenasserim (breeding) ; ? Togian Islands (winter). This incongruous mixture results from study of birds without knowledge of their movements ; it is quite possible that two or three races are here represented, but nothing definite can be stated. Hydrochelidon leucopareia fluviatilis Gould ; East and South Australia. Hydrochelidon leucopareia rogersi Mathews ; North and North-west Australia. 321 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. This last-mentioned I diagnosed in the Nov. Zool., Vol. XVIII., p. 207, 1912, thus : — “ Differs from the E. 1. fluviatilis in being lighter on the abdomen, when in full breeding plumage. “ Parry’s Creek, North-west Australia.” It is the subject of the next article. 322 'V . -i • ’ r ^ '■\» i| ■.: ‘ i' r-ip r,r"- k> 'iv ■' mM mXm' rf - - ,■ ' 1 M 111 .« '*>1 I-: s7 . i y -'^ ;.7i\ m 1^3 IfSi '»> V Iv .*' »' .•» ., < mrS ,p '« ^ “ l ' J l^i"' r ■ ■P -i: f, • .• I 1 V - , : V ■ ' • 1. - - . ' v. ■■>• V ■ 1 \:Jn ■■ ."'iV-:.*i^ ' * 7 * ' .l*A» \- ‘ I'ff '■' , »*f. f\ i •^'''’‘!ii:5lO.''r.> 'V^ • ■'■il lU-' '■■•'.■ / [ :■ '^rV' •r(.. .'■' I'v .1 ^ I V •VV3 ^ va m •/fW ' i ^S'S fp‘p lW;Ssc' m. ; I ■.,■''■ A_- V. I'.. .■TM" ' 'iV \ I ' ■'>. ..:*v,i.,.,? • ■ : I. ’■■rn. I TV' I I ,s:a . '‘"L", 1', It .W Sq X '' ' 'V '■ i n Sa i" • • <* '/* I ' ^ I ' /je m' Ti ij ^ i. ',' ■I'fcJtT'. ■'■^ J-Vir ' ‘.1% ■v'C ., , , . ..' i ; 1' A .. ■ 'i'‘ 'A ■ Mm r Mfc '•,:&■■ ■ I ■ SM ■ff'H . aik*! ^ ■'< M to: ii/jwf .c V HYDROCHELIDON HYBRIDA (MARSH TRRNJ Order LABIFORMES No. 126. Family LABIDJE. HYDROCHELIDON LEUCOPAREIA ROGERSI. WEST AUSTRALIAN WHISKERED TERN. (Plate 103.)* Hydeochelidon leucopaeeia eogersi Mathews, Nov. Zool., Vol. XVIII., p. 207, 1912 ; North-west Austraha. Sterna gracilis (not Gould) Ingram, Ibis 1907, p. 392. HydrocTielidon hyhrida (not Pallas) Hall, Emu, Vol. II., p. 67, 1902 ; Carter, il)., p. 104 ; Mathews, ih., Vol. IX., p. 54, 1909 ; Crossman, id)., Vol. X., p. Ill, 1910. HydrocTielidon leucopareia rogersi Mathews, Nov. Zool., Vol. XVIII., p. 207, 1912. Distribution. North-west Australia ; Northern Territory. Adult male. General colour pale grey including the back, wings, and tail ; outer web of first primary dark brown, and showing scarcely any grey, the remainder silvery- grey on the outer webs, darker at the tips, and on the inner webs near the shafts as also the inner margins ; basal portion of inner webs white, which extends in a narrow line towards the tips of the feathers ; inner primaries and secondaries pale grey with white on the inner webs ; tail pale grey, the outer feathers margined and tipped with white ; head and hind-neck black ; sides of face, throat, under tail-coverts white, hke the axillaries and under wing-coverts ; fore-neck pale grey ; breast and abdomen dark slate-colour, more intense on the latter ; “ Bill dusky red, base of upper mandible black, tinged with red ; iris blackish-brown ; feet and legs red” (J. P. Rogers). Total length 274 mm. (“in the fiesh, 269 mm.” — J. P. Rogers) ; culmen 31, wing 231, tail 90, tarsus 23. Adult female. Similar to the adult male, but paler on the upper-parts and the dark slate grey of the under-parts restricted to the abdomen, the breast being similar to the fore-neck. Total length, “ m the flesh, 250 mm.” (J. P. Rogers) ; cuhnen 28, wing 213, tail 70, tarsus 22. Adult male in winter. Differs from the adult male in breeding-plumage, in having the crown of the head white with minute pear-shaped black spots, which increase in size on the nape ; the ear-coverts dusky-black, and the entire under surface pure white. A male example, which I do not consider to be quite adult, appears to be just assuming the breeding-plumage, and has the head black with the remains of white feathers intermixed, and the dark lead-grey of the breast approaching. Immature. Almost pure white below with only a tinge of grey on the abdomen ; more or less streaked with dusky on the lesser wing-coverts ; head black with a mixture of white on the forehead ; feathers of the nape black, with a brownish tinge. * The Plate is lettered HydrocTielidon hybrida. 323 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. Young. Differs from the adult in having the feathers of the back white, tipped with dark brown and edged with ochreous-buff ; scapulars and innermost secondaries dark brown edged and barred with ochreous-buff like the inner greater wing- coverts ; tips of tail-feathers brown, edged with white ; head dark brown with ochreous-buff tips to the feathers ; forehead white, tinged with buff ; lores white, tipped with dark brown ; an indicated band of buff on the middle of the abdomen, which appears to be the remains of a younger plumage. Nestling, Nest and Eggs. Appear to be undescribed. Breeding -season. Unknown. Mr. Tom Carter says this species has only been observed in two seasons, near Point Cloates in North-west Australia. In 1898 large flocks were seen at a flooded white gum-flat of considerable size, about twenty-five miles inland from Point Cloates. This flat was again filled with water in the record wet year of 1900, and large numbers of these birds were again noted, but did not breed. A few specimens were also seen in July, 1900, at a salt-marsh filled with rain-water about thirty miles south of Point Cloates, and close to the beach. “It flies about 40 feet above the water and then diving goes under with its head and body and half-closed wings. The wings do not go under the water. Sometimes a sharp turn is made just before reaching the water, and it shoots upward rapidly into the air again. I should consider the fish changed its position. It feeds largely on small « sardine-like ’ fish.” * The stomach of those collected in the North-west of Australia by Mr. J. P. Rogers, contained large tadpoles and frogs. The type figured and described is a male, collected at Parry’s Creek, Wyndham, North-west Australia, by Mr. J. P. Rogers, on February 10th, 1909. * Hall and Rogers, Emu, Vol. II., p. 67, 1902. 324 Genus—G ELOCHELIDON. Gelochelidon Brehm, Vogel Deutschl., p. 771, 1831 . . Type G. nilotica. (Also spelt Chelochelidon Brehm, and Gelichelidon Gray, List Spec. Birds Brit. Mus., pt. ni., p. 176, 1844.) Laropis Wagler, Isis 1832, p. 1225 . . . . . . . . Type G. nilotica. Larger Terns, with short stout bill, long wings, short tail, and long legs. The diagnostic features of this genus are the short stout bill and short tail with feet fully webbed. The metatarsus is longer than the middle toe and claw, but shorter than the culmen, which is also shorter than the head. The tail is deeply forked, but still less than half the length of the wing. Regarding the nomenclature to be used for these large short-tailed Terns, I have written in the Nov, Zool. (Vol. XVII., p. 497, 1910) advocating the claim of Hydroprogne for the Sterna tscliegrava Lepechin. To again review the subject I would note Thalasseus was proposed for three species caspia, cantiaca, and anglica ; no type was designated. Brehm, nine years afterwards, separated these three species, allotting a generic name to caspia, another to anglica, and retained Thalasseus for cantiaca. According to the laws now in force this action must be endorsed, and it is worthy of note that Gray designated as type of Thalasseus, S. cantiaca {List Gen. Birds, p. 79, 1840), and in the Isis, 1844, p. 181, Boie, the author of the name Thalasseus, himself endorsed Brehm’s and Gray’s action. I can see no reason whatever against Brehm’s restriction, and would accept S. cantiaca as type of Thalasseus. In the Skizz Entwick-Gesch. Nat. Syst., 1829, Kaup had proposed new generic names for Terns without recognition of Boie’s prior work : thus Actochelidon was intro- duced for S. cantiaca, Thalasscea for S. dougalli, and Hydroprogne for S. caspia and aranea. The last named was diagnosed from S. caspia, and S. aranea was added from literature only. The description of the generic charact)6rs of Hydroprogne refer only to S. caspia; and Gray, in the Gen. Birds, Vol. III., p. 658, January, 1846, noted that S. caspia Pall, was the type of Hydroprogne, at the same place writing that S. cantiaca was the type of Thalasseus Boie. When Brehm {Vogel Deutschl., pp. 767 et seq., 1831) divided Boie’s genus Thalasseus, he proposed Syhchelidon for 8. caspia, and introduced Gelochelidon VOL. n. 325 THE BIEDS OF AUSTRALIA. for 8. anglica. After careful consideration, if generic names are used for these Terns, the correct usage must be : — Thalasseus Boie, 1822 . . . . . . Type T. sandvicensis. Hydroprogne Kaup, 1829 . . . . Type H. tschegrava. Gelochelidon Brehm, 1831 . . . . Type G. nilotica. The action of Kaup in introducing Actochelidon for 8. cantiaca cannot be claimed as invalidating Brehm’ s almost simultaneous splitting of Boie’s genus. If such be accepted, scarcely any of the presently-accepted genera will stand the test, and much confusion would result without the serving of any good purpose. As a matter of fact the type-designation by Gray, 1840, could not be abrogated on account of Kaup’s separation of 8. cantiaca as type of a monotypic genus previously, as by means of that argument Gray’s selection of 8. caspia type in 1855 was doubly invalid : 8. caspia was the mono- typic type of 8ylochelidon Brehm, 1831, and had previously, in 1846, been designated as type of Hydroprogne Kaup, 1829, by Gray himself, as well as being the monotypic type of Helopus Wagler, 1832. It might be noticed here that in the A.O.U. Checklist, 3rd ed., p. 42, 1910, the prime entry of Gelochelidon is given as : — “ Gelochelidon Brehm, Isis, XXIII., 1830, p. 994. Type, by monotypy, Lachseeschwalhe, Gelochelidon ineridionalis Brehm = 8terna nilotica Linnaeus.” I beheve the entry I have selected at the beginning of this article to be the correct one, as Brehm, at the place quoted {Isis, 1830) only indicates the species by means of vernaculars and nude Latin names, the descriptions not being offered until afterwards. In this case Brehm had previously named a 8terna meridionalis, but that is no reason for accepting Brehm’s name, as Brehm used the same specific name so commonly in closely-aUied groups. 326 Ill GELOCHELIDON MACROTARSA ( GULL - BILLED TERN ) . Order LABIFORMES No. 127. Family LARIDM. GELOCHELIDON NILOTICA MAOROTAESA. LONG-LEGGED TERN. (Plate 104.) Sterna macrotarsa Gould, Synops. Birds Austr., pi. 37, Jan., 1837 ; {? Tasmania) Victoria. Sterna macrotarsa Gould, Synops. Birds Austr., pi. 37, 1837. Oelochelidon “ macrotarsa ” Boie, Isis 1844, p. 187 ; Gould, Handb. Birds Austr., Vol. II., p. 403, 1865 ; id., Suppl. Birds Austr., pi. 81, 1869 ; Ramsay, Proc. Zool. Soc. (Bond.) 1877, p. 348 ; Mathews, Nov. Zool., Vol. XVII., p. 497, 1910. Sterna anglica (not Mont.) Ramsay, Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., Vol. II., p. 201, 1877 ; id.. Tab. List Austr. Birds, p. 23, 1888 ; North, Austr. Mus. Cat., No. 12, p. 355, 1889 ; Campbell, Viet. Nat., Vol. IV., p. 187, 1888 ; Keartland, Trans. Roy. Soc. South Austr., Vol. XXII., p. 192, 1898. Oelochelidon anglica Saunders, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., Vol. XXV., p. 25, 1896 (pars) ; Campbell, Nests and Eggs Austr. Birds, p. 830, 1901 ; Carter, Emu, Vol. III., p. 207, 1904 ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 88, 1906 ; Berney, Emu, Vol. VI., p. 114, 1907 ; Mathews, Handl. Birds Austral., p. 20, 1908 ; Ingram, Ibis 1908, p. 462. Oelochelidon nilotica macrotarsa Hartert, Nov. Zool., Vol. XII., p. 199, 1905. Thalasseus niloticus macrotarsus Mathews, ib., Vol. XVIII., p. 207, 1912. Distribution. Austraha generally. Adult male in breeding-plumage. General colour above very pale grey on the back, wings, and scapulars ; primary-quills silvery-grey, white on the inner webs, the outer quills edged with dark brown on the outer webs ; upper tail-coverts and tail pure white ; crown of head black ; feathers of the nape white with black tips ; chin, throat, and entire under -surface white, like the axillaries and under wing-coverts ; “ Bill black, mouth orange ; iris dark hazel ; feet and legs black, soles with an orange tinge ” (T. Carter). Total length 432 mm. ; culmen 45, wing 342, tail 141, tarsus 36. Adult female. Similar to adult male. Adult male in winter. Differs from the male in breeding-plumage in the abseneb^ of the black on the head and nape, which is represented by white feathers more or less streaked with black ; ear-coverts and feathers surrounding the eye black. The female in winter has the same plumage as the male in the same season. Immature and Nestling. Do not appear to have been described. Nest. “ Placed close to one another, and composed of a few bits of dry grass or stems of cane grass, on a small piece of ground surrounded by water ” (Godfrey). 327 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. Eggs. Clutcli, two to four ; “ Buffy-white or whitey-brown, sparingly marked with light umber, the remainder of the surface being boldly splashed and spotted with purplish-red and purplish-grey, some with obsolete patches of a Ughter tint appearing as if beneath the surface of the shell. “ Axis 51-55 mm., diameter 37-38.” (North.) Breeding-season. April (Belcher) ; May (Carter) ; November (Bennett). The type of this species was supposed by Gould to have come from Tasmania, but Littler does not mention it in his Handhooh of the birds of that island ; so we must accept the mainland as the typical locality. As I pointed out in the Nov. Zool., Vol. XVII., p. 497, 1910, we must use Gould’s name for this bird, and “ nilotica ” for the European form. Mr. Charles Belcher tells me he has' eggs of this species in his collection taken on Kilfera, Ivanhoe, New South Wales, in April, 1900. The birds breed- ing at that unusual season he attributes to the heavy rainfall after a long drought. He records having seen the species in Victoria, on Lake Cooper, on February 1st, 1906, but he says it does not occur in the Geelong district. Mr. Godfrey sends the following note to Mr. A. J. Campbell* from Hay, New South Wales : — “ In November there were large numbers of these birds seen every day skimming in hawk-like fashion over the salt-bush plains, generally about 12 or more in company, about 10 or 12 feet above the ground, watching most keenly, with head turned down, for insects or small reptiles ; and on dis- covering one they darted down and carried it up into the air, then dropped it, and caught it while falling. The prey they seemed to be in pursuit of — which was found in the stomachs of those shot — consisted of small Hzards and centipedes ; one specimen having two hzards, each about three inches long, and three very large centipedes, of about the same length, in its stomach.” Mr. K. H. Bennett sent Mr. A. J. Northf the following : — “ On two occasions (1870 and 1872) I have known [this species] to breed in the Ivanhoe district. In both instances the sites chosen were similar, viz., a sandy bank rising some two or three feet above the surrounding plain, and thickly covered with dwarf salt-bush ; these breeding places were about forty miles apart, in one case close to a wide sheet of water, and in the other quite two miles away from the nearest water. At both places hundreds of the birds were breeding, and the eggs, two in number for a sitting, were deposited on the bare ground, and so closely together that care was required when walking so as not to step upon them.” * Viet. Nat, Vol. IV., p. 187, 1888. t Austr. Mus. Gat, No. 12, p. 355, 1889. 328 LONG-LEGGED TERN. Mr. Tom Carter says : “ The only occasion on which this interesting species came under my observation was in May, 1900, when about five pairs of birds were seen on the flooded salt marsh at Maud’s Landing near Point Cloates, North-west Australia. Two nests each containing one egg, were found by me on one of the low islands on the marsh. Of nesting material there was hardly any, the eggs being laid in slight hollows. I shot two of the birds, as they hovered above me. Upon skinning them, I found that one had been feeding almost exclusively on grasshoppers, and the other bird on small lizards.” The male figured and described (in full breeding-plumage) is one of the birds mentioned by Mr. Carter ; the one in winter-plumage is also a male, and was collected by Stalker at Inkerman, Queensland, on April 28th, 1907. Known as Sterna or Gelochelidon anglica, it has now been accepted that the earliest-known name for the species is Sterna nilotica Gmelin, whose name is based upon Hasselquist’s description, thus : — Syst. Nat., p. 606, 1789. St. supra cinerea, subtus alba, capite coUoque nigro-maculatis, orbitis nigris albo guttatis. Hasselq. it., p. 273, n. 41. Egyptian Tern. Lath. syn. 2, p. 656, n. 8. Habitat in Aegypto, gregaria, frequens cum aliis, in limo, quern Nilus retrocedens relinquit, infectis et piscibus minoribus victitans, columbse magnitudinae Rostrum et ungues nigri ; pedes incamati. Latham’s “ Egyptian Tern ” also depends entirely upon Hasselquist’s account, and that is so clear that there can be no excuse for the rejection of Gmelin’s name ; consequently all accurate workers have now adopted it. Saunders, in the Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., Vol. XXV., p. 25, 1896, recognised the species as having generic characters in itself, but admitted no subspecies. Without much care for priority he accepted Montagu’s name for the species, calling it Gelochelidon anglica (Montagu, Suppl. Ornith. Diet., 1813, pi. 21). In the recent third edition of the A.O.U. Checklist, p. 40, 1910, I find the following : — Oelochelidon nilotica — ^The Gull-billed Tern. “ Range.” Nearly cosmopolitan. Breeds in North America on coasts of Texas, Louisiana, North Carolina, Virginia (formerly to New Jersey) and in the Bahamas ; wanders casually to Maine and Ohio ; winters in southern Mexico, southern Guatemala, and from Brazil south to Patagonia and Chile. Breeds also in Europe, Asia, and Australia, and winters south to northern Africa. This seems to imply that it is only a winter-visitor to South America, which is incorrect. Moreover, as subspecies are recognised it would have been better to have noted that distinct races were known, as five years previously Hartert {Nov. Zool., Vol. XII., p. 199, 1905) had shown that the Australian 329 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. breeding-bird was a well-differentiated subspecies. In the recent Hand-List of British Birds, by Hartert, Jourdain, Ticehurst, and Witherby, p. 192, 1912, I note : — Sterna nilotica nilotica Gm. The Gull-billed Tern. Breeds in Europe in a few small colonies . . . Asia Minor, on Black and Caspian Seas, and north-west Africa . . . Across temperate Asia to Mongolia, but breeds in Persia and the Pimjab (India). In winter, ranges all over Africa and tropical Asia. Also breeds in North and in South America, and winters in eastern South America. Represented by closely allied race in Australia, and probably other forms are separable. Examination of long series confirms the latter suggestion, and it seems strange that North American ornithologists should have lumped their form. When Coues wrote the Review of the Sternince {Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad. 1862, p. 536) he lumped ; but admitted, “ I have not a sufficient number of skins before me for a perfectly satisfactory comparison,” after noting that the American form had been commonly known as G. aranea. It would appear that little has been done since then, as I find that, as usual, the birds are constant when series from different localities are studied. Thus, accepting Europe as the type-locality, as the Egyptian birds are wanderers from more northern breeding-haunts, I at once note that American birds from Corpus Christi appear to differ in their shorter bills ; South American birds have longer bills than the preceding, while Chinese birds have as short bills as North American, but in this case they are stouter. Australian birds differ in the size of the bill, the length of the tarsus, and in coloration. The European bird appears to have had a large number of names bestowed upon it, while the Chinese and South American races have not yet received any recognition. I would recommend adoption of the following nomenclature : — Gelochelidon nilotica nilotica (Gmelin) ; Europe (breeding) ; North Africa (winter). In the synonymy of this form would be cited 8. anglica Montagu ; 8. risoria Brehm, 8. meridionalis Brehm, G. halthica Brehm, G. agraria Brehm, and G. palustris Macgillivray. Measurements of series give average of culmen 39-41 mm., wing 310-320. Gelochelidon nilotica aranea (Wilson) ; North America (breeding). The only synonym appears to be 8. nuttalii Nuttall. Measurements of series give culmen 34-37 mm., wing under 305. There seems no reason whatever why this subspecies should not be recognised ; it is quite well marked. Gelochelidon nilotica affinis (Horsfield) ; Java (winter) ; ? India (breeding). This name may, pro tern., be used for Indian birds which may straggle to Java ; these have as long wings as the typical form, but have shorter bills, averaging about 36 mm. Their upper coloration is also lighter. 330 LONG-LEGGED TERN. Gelochelidon nilotica macrotar sa (Gould) ; Australia (breeding). This form was first described in the Synops. Birds Austr., and the head figured. The description reads : — St. vertice et nucha nigris ; corpore supra primariisque argenteo-cinerascentibus ; partibus reliquis corporis albis ; rostro pedibus que nigris. Long. tot. 16 unc., rostro 2^, alae 12, caudae 5^ tarsi If. Crown of the head and back of the neck black ; all the upper surface and primaries light silvery-grey; Ijhe remainder of the plumage white; bill and feet black. This subspecies differs in its more powerful and longer bill, its longer legs, its long wings, its lighter coloration above, and its white tail. This is a most distinct form to have suffered lumping. Gelochelidon nilotica addenda, subsp. n. ; China (breeding). This form approaches nearest to the North American it its short bill, but it is stouter in this form, and the stoutness in conjunction with its shortness, gives it an unmistakeable appearance. Measurements of culmen 36-37 mm., wing 310. The coloration of the tail is lighter than that of the back, showing an approach to the preceding form. Gelochelidon nilotica grdnvoldi, subsp. n. ; South America (breeding). The birds from South American breeding-localities are separable from North American birds by their longer bills and longer wings. The measurements of the culmen are 42-45 mm., wing 325. 1 \ 331 I ' 1 1 - • - « Genus— H YDROPROGNE. Hydroprogne Kaup, Skizz Entwick-Gesch. Nat. Syst., p. 91, 1829 Type Sylochelidon Brehm, Vogel Deutschl., p. 767, 1831 . . Type Helopus Wagler, Isis 1832, p. 1224 . . . . . . Type Heroprogne Buller, Suppl. Birds New Zeal., Vol. I., p. 157, 1905 Type Thalasseus, Auct. not Boie, 1822. H. tschegrava. H. tschegrava. H. tschegrava. H. tschegrava. Largest Terns, with long stout biUs, long wings, short legs, and short tails. The diagnostic features of this genus are the large size and the long, stout bills and short tail. The metatarsus is much shorter than the culmen, which is longer than the head. The tail is forked and only about a third of the wing. 332 HYDROPROGNE CASPIA ( CASPIAN TERNJ^ - Order LAB1F0BME8 No. 128. Family LABIDJE. HYDROPROGNE TSGHEGRAVA STRENUA. AUSTRALIAN CASPIAN TERN, (Plate 105.)* Sylochelidon strbnuus Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc. (Lond.) 1846, p. 21 ; southern coasts of Australia. Sylochelidon strenuus Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc. (Lond.) 1846, p. 21 ; id., Birds Austr., Vol. VII., pi. 22, 1848. Sylochelidon strenua Bonaparte, Comptes Rendus Sci., Paris, Vol. XLII., p. 772, 1856. Sylochelidon caspia Gould, Handb. Birds Austr., Vol. II., p. 392, 1865 ; Masters, Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.V7., Vol. I., p. 62, 1877 ; Ramsay, ib., p. 386 ; North, Austr. Mus. Oat., No. 12, p. 352, 1889. Sterna caspia Ramsay, Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., Vol. II., p. 201, 1877 ; id.. Tab. List Austr. Birds, p. 23, 1888 ; Wallcer, Ibis 1892, p. 257 ; Mathews, Emu, Vol. X., p. 320, 1911. Hydroprogne caspia Saunders, Oat. Birds Brit. Mus., Vol. XXV., p. 32, 1896 (pars) ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 88, 1899 ; Campbell, Nests and Eggs Austr. Birds, Vol. II., p. 832, 1901 ; id.. Emu, Vol. III., p. 207, 1904 ; id., ib., Vol. IV., p. 105, 1905 ; Hartert, Nov. Zool., Vol. XII., p. 199, 1905 ; HaU, Key Birds Austr., p. 88, 1906 ; Mathews, Handl. Birds Austral., p. 20, 1908 ; id., Nov. Zool., Vol. XVII., p. 497, 1910 ; Littler, Handb. Birds Tasm., p. 146, 1910 ; Ogilvie-Grant, Ibis 1910, p. 185. Thalasseus tschegrava strenuus Mathews, Nov. Zool., Vol. XVIII., p. 207, 1912. Distribution. South and west Austraha (breeding) ; North and East Australia. Adult male in breeding-season. General colour above pale grey, including the back, scapulars, wings, and tail ; primary-quills silvery -grey on the outer webs, dark brown on the inner edge of the inner webs ; head and nape black, with a short white line immediately below the eye ; cheeks, chin, throat and neck all round as well as the under surface of body white, like the axillaries and under wing-coverts ; bill red ; feet black. Total length 555 mm. ; culmen 77, wing 422, tail 146, tarsus 4’^ Adult female. Similar to the adult male. Adult in winter. Distinguished from the adult in breeding-plumage by the absence of the entire black head, which is represented on the forehead by black feathers with white margins, the black increasing in extent on the nape, ear-coverts, and feathers in front of the eye. * The Plate is lettered Hydro'progne caspia. VOL. n. 333 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. Immature. Pure white below, except for a few minute grey spots on the fore-neck ; the feathers of the back with substantial dark brown spots and fringed with sandy- buff ; lesser wing-coverts blackish, fringed with white hke the bastard-wing and primary-coverts ; median and greater coverts ash-grey fringed with white ; primary- quills hoary-grey fringed with white on the inner webs, the inner primaries tipped and margined with white on both webs ; secondaries white with dark slate-colour on the outer webs ; scapulars white at base becoming sandy-buff towards the tips, with two longitudinal brown streaks on each side of the shaft which converge at the tip. These brown marks do not always follow the same course : sometimes they form twin spots, whereas in others they are irregular bars ; rump and upper tail-coverts faintly marked with grey, but some of the feathers have darker pear- shaped spots ; middle tail-feathers are white, with dark grey running longitudinally towards the tips and margined with white, the outer feathers dark brown, tipped with white and fringed with the same colour near the base ; feathers of the hind- neck white, with an apical spot of black and fringed with sandy-buff ; feathers of the head white at the base, centred with black and fringed with buff, the black being more pronounced on the nape and sides of crown ; a black spot in front of each eye. Nestling in down. Buffy-white, darker on the throat and paler on the abdomen, with an admixture of black on all the upper -parts, except the head. Nest. A depression in the sand. Eggs. Clutch, two ; ground-colour stone, marked aU over, but more at the larger end, with dark purple and brown spots ; axis 63 mm., diameter 45. Nesting-season. March, April, May, August, September, and November, West Austraha (Carter) ; October and November, island in Franklin Sound (Belcher). The succeeding notes will show once more the necessity of only quoting habits which absolutely refer to the subspecies under notice. Though the Australian form has been lumped with the Palsearctic, it has quite a different life-history from the northern forms. Gould, conversant with both Palsearctic and Australian birds, immediately indicated these differences upon receipt of Gilbert’s notes. The European forms appear to breed in colonies, but, as will be gathered from the following, our Australian subspecies never does. It would seem that Peron was the first naturalist to note this form, as on p. 216 i Voy. Decouv. Terres. Austr., Vol. L, 1807) is written : “ La troisieme etoit egalement inconnue aux naturalistes, et d’apres ses rapports avec le Sterna Caspia, Lin., elle requt le nom de Sterna Gaspioidesy Owing to the death of that clever ornithologist, the description was never published, so that the nude name above quoted may be referable to the next species, as I wiU there point out. Mr. Tom Carter says this species is “ A resident and fairly common species on the north-west coast, not being seen in large flocks, but one or two pairs would frequent each sandy point or small island. I have seen a few' birds in the harbours near Albany. Two eggs is the usual full clutch, and they are laid in a slight hollow in the sand on islands, and sandy spots, and occasionally I have found them on the mainland at some httle distance from the sea (100 yards or so) on a sand hill about thirty feet in height. The loud, harsh notes 334 AUSTRALIAN CASPIAN TERN. of the parent birds always betray the vicinity of eggs or young birds, about which they display much anxiety. According to my experience at Point Cloates, eggs may be found at almost any month of the year, as the following dates will show : May 3/1896, two fresh eggs ; March 25/1893, several clutches on Fraser Island, Point Cloates ; April 5/1894, two eggs ; September 16/1894 and November 9/1894, two eggs ; August 25/1891, half-grown yoimg birds noted. September 21/1890, young birds in nest about a week old.” Captain S. A. White sends me the following note : — “ This bird is plentiful in Bass Straits, frequenting Kangaroo Island and all the islands of St. Vincent and Spencer Gulf. I have never seen them there congregate in numbers at breeding time hke other Terns. They are pugnacious at that time, and will attack almost any bird that comes near them. Eggs are generally two in number, of a stone color, blotched with brown.” Mr. J. W. Mellor writes : “ These fine birds are moderately plentiful in South Australian waters, and breed on the small islands. It used to breed freely on the spit near Kingscote, Kangaroo Island, but has been driven from here by the inroads of civilization. I have also seen them in Victorian and Tasmanian waters.” Mr. Edwin Ashby found it numerous at Venus Bay in South Australia in February, 1910 ; he also records it up the Murray River. Mr. Charles Belcher says : “ The Caspian Tern is a very rare visitor to Southern Victoria. I once saw one at Campbell’s Point, Connewarre Lakes, but have never met with the bird again in that district. The species breeds on numerous small islands of the Furneaux group, not in colonies, as do most other Terns, but each pair keeping an islet to themselves. The nest is a shallow depression lined with a few broken shells, and is always placed near the highest point of the island. The birds make a great commotion if anyone lands near their nesting-place, and so readily betray its whereabouts. I took a pair of eggs on an island in Franklin Sound at the end of November, 1901, but the breeding season is at its height rather earlier than that, as we found several nests with young about the same time.” The nomenclature of this species has been unfairly treated. As long ago as 1862 Coues {Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. PTiilad., p. 538) noted : “ The proper specific appellation of the Caspian Tern is not ‘ caspia Pallas,’ but ‘ tschegrava Lepechin,’ which latter name is proposed in the same work in which Pallas called the bird ‘ caspia^^ but has priority by several pages. As, however, the word is not only barbarous, but also exceedingly cacophonus, and especially as caspia has become so well established by common consent, I do not think it would be expedient to supersede Pallas’s name, in view of the very slight priority of that of Lepechin.” 335 THE BIKDS OE AUSTRALIA. Since then, various other excuses have been constantly urged against the adoption of Lepechin’s name ; but now the claim of priority is being granted Lepechin, but so grudgingly. Yet a fair criticism of the facts can yield little satisfaction to the upholders of the name given by Pallas. Lepechin’s description and figure are good and complete ; indeed, Lepechin’s figure is preferable to that of Pallas ; the former’s description I here reproduce, especially as it is in a rare journal. To those that have claimed that Lepechin’s name should not be given priority because it appeared only 82 pages anterior to that given by Pallas, I would point out that Lepechin described and exhibited his bird at the meeting held the month previously to that at which Pallas showed his bird. Lepechin’s description reads : — Lepechin, Nov. Comm. Acad. 8ci. Imp. Petrop., Vol. XIV., pt. i., p. 500, 1770. Sterna tschegrava, Tab. XIII., fig. 2. Sterna superne ex albo cana, inf erne nivea, capiUitio nigro albedine irrorato, rostro coccineo pedibus nigris. Longitude totius, 1 ped. 10-|, poll, pars crurum pennis denudata 6 lin reliquus pes cum digito et imgue 1 poll, et 11 lin membrana palmarum longior, quae medium eum extimo junguit. Alarum extremitates 3 pedum et 2 poUicum interim albo distant. Rectricum iongissimae 5 poll et 6 lin adaequant. Rostrum coccineum, nares nudae, lineares, sulcatae, oculi nigri iride obscura, frons, capillitium, et occiput, intense nigra sunt bine inde albedine irrorata. Oculorum ambitum itidem nigredo amplectitur, excepta parva Irmula albicante in palpebra inferiore. Genae, collum lateraliter, uropygium utrinque atque tota avis subtus nivea ; supeme vero ex cinereo cana. Remiges 6 primores saturate cinereae marginibus apicibusque undique nigricantibus. Reliqua remigum cohors dorso concolor est. Cauda forcipata 12 rectricibus niveis constat. Pedes omnino nigri. Ad mare caspium frequentissima ; voce risum aemulatur. “ Exhibit d. 15 Mart. 1770.” The forms of this species are not easy to separate, but there can be no doubt that subspecies should be recognised. The type-locality is the Caspian Sea, and European birds have received names by Meyer and Wolf, and Brehrn, viz. S. 7negarJiynchos Meyer and Wolf, Taschenb. d. Vogel, Vol. II., p. 457, 1810 ; Sterna schillingii Brehm, Beitr Vdgelkunde, Vol. III., p. 641, 1822, and Sylochelidon halthica Brehm, Vogel DeutscM., p. 769, 1831. Swainson [Birds West Afr., Vol. II., p. 253, 1837) named a bird from West Africa Thalassites 7nelanotis, and breeding-colonies are reported on the West coast of Africa, for which this name may be used. Series are not yet available from that locality to decide the matter, and northern birds are migratory. Gould, after due consideration, named the Australian bird, on account of its larger size, as follows : — Sylochelidon strenuus. Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc. (Lond.) 1846, p. 21. Syl. fronte vertice et nucha nitide nigris ; dorso alis caudaque paUide cinereo -griseis ; reliquis plumis albis. Forehead, crown and nape deep glossy black ; back, wings, and tail pale ashy-grey, becoming lighter on the tail and deepening into dark grey on the primaries, the shafts 336 AUSTRALIAN CASPIAN TERN. of which are white ; remainder of the plumage pure white ; irides black ; bill scarlet, staiued with yellow on the sides and tip, and with greenish-yellow near the extremity. Total length 20J inches ; bill 4, wing 16|-, tail 6J, tarsi 2. Hab. Southern coasts of Australia. Rbmabk. — The above is the description of the plumage of the breeding-season ; at other times the head instead of being wholly black is mottled with black and white. Afterwards this name fell into disuse, and Saunders, in the Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., lumped the form without question. In his Review of the Terns of North America, Coues {Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. PJiilad. 1862, p. 538), from a comparison with two European birds, concluded that the North American birds were larger in all their dimensions, and thereupon introduced for them the name of TJialasseus im'pcrator. Recently it appears that American ornithologists do not admit any distinction at all for their form. It would seem that in this group the Americans have followed the Cat. Birds Brit. Mus.y though they admit subspecies, while Saunders, the author of the monograph in the Catalogue, did not. I consider that these birds do show differences worthy of subspecific rank, but the series at hand do not permit the diagnosis of the Palsearctic forms.* The North American form is however quite worthy of recognition, as I find that the bill, wing, and tarsus are constantly longer than those of the Palsearctic birds ; Austrahan birds are larger still, the bill noticeably so. Probably the West African breeding-birds are also separable. I would recognise the Palaearctic form as Hydro'progne tschegrava tschegrava (Lepechin) (about the Caspian Seas, breeding). As an absolute synonym must be quoted Sterna caspia Pallas ; if the West European bird is separable. Sterna 7negar}iynchos Meyer and Wolf is available. Sterna schillingii Brehm and Sylochelidon balthica Brehm being synonyms ; if the West African birds prove distinct, Swainson’s T. inelanotis may be used. Hydroprogne tschegrava hnperator (Coues) (North America, breeding). I conclude this name should be used for the North American breeding bird. Hydroprogne tschegrava strenua (Gould) (Australia, breeding). The Austrahan birds are absolutely larger and should never have been lumped. It is interesting to note that in this respect it agrees with Oelochelidon nilotica 7)iacrotarsa Gould, which is also larger than the Palaearctic form of the species. I have also noticed that Sclater {Birds South Africa, Vol. IV., p. 435) records a breeding form in South Africa. I have not specimens, but the locality suggests a race quite distinct from any of the preceding. * I note Buturlin (Nasa ochota, St. Petersburg, 4, 1910, 5, p. 64) has proposed Sterna tschegrava leptorhyncha for birds from Ussuri-Gibiet (Zool. Record, 1910). I have not seen this paper. 337 Genus— T HALASSEUS. Thalasseus Boie, Isis 1822, p. 563 . . . . Type T, sandvicensis. Actochelidon Kaup, Skizz Entwick-Gesch. Nat. Syst., p. 31, 1829 . . . . . . . . Type T. sandvicensis. Felecano'pus Wagler, Isis 1832, p. 277 . . Type T. bergii pelecanoides. (Also spelt Pelanopus Gray, Handl. Gen. Sp. Birds Brit. Mus., pt. ni., p. 120, 1871.) Large Terns with long slender bills, long tails, long wings and short legs, and decided occipital crest in their breeding-plumage. The diagnostic features of this genus are the long, slender bills, long tails, and small feet. The metatarsus is about half the length of the culmen, which is longer than the head, while the tail is just about half the length of the wing. It might be here noted that when Wagler {Isis, 1832, p. 1,225) introduced his genus Laropis for Sterna anglica Mont., he wrote : “ Her Fr. Boie bring t diese Schwalbe, welche nach Xema zu stehen kommt, zu seiner Sippe Thalasseus {Isis, 1822, p. 563), fur welche er als Typus Sterna cantiaca angibt, die jedoch einen ganylich anders gebildeten Schnabel als St. anglica hat ” ; and regarding Thalasseus added, “ Eine zweite species dieser Sippe ist Th. velox, Biipple Sterna velox {Zool. Atl., t. 13).” 338 Key to the Species, A, Larger; wing over 320 mm. a\ Wing 325-350 mm. h'. Wing 350-370 mm. ; lighter . . c'. Wing over 370 mm. ; lightest B. Smaller ; wing under 320 mm. . . Th, bergii poliocercus, p. 340. . . Th. bergii pelecanoides, p. 348, . . Th. bergii gwendolence, p 350. Th. bengalensis torresii, p. 352. \\ 339 Order LABIF0BME8 No. 129. Family LABIDjF. THALASSEUS BERGII POLIOGERCUS. BASS STRAIT TERN. (Plate 106.)* Sterna polioceeca Gould, Synops. Birds Austr., pi. 37, fig. 3, 1837 ; Tasmania. Sterna 'poliocerca Gould, Synops. Birds Austr., pi. 37, fig. 3, 1837 ; id., Proc. Zool. Soc. (Bond.) 1837, p. 26 ; Legge, Papers and Proc. Roy. Soc. Tasm., 1887, pp. 95 and 130, 1888. Sylochelidon poliocerca Gray, List Spec. Birds Brit. Mus., pt. m., p. 175, 1844. Thalasseus poliocercus Boie, Isis 1844, p. 182 ; Gould, Birds Austr., Vol. VII., pi. 24, 1848 ; id., Handb. Birds Austr., Vol. II., p. 396, 1865 ; Keartland, Birds Melb. Distr., p. 120, 1900. Sterna novce-hoUandice Pucheran, Revue Zool. 1850, p. 545. Pelecanopus poliocercus Bonaparte, Comptes Rendus Sci., Paris, Vol. XLII., p. 772, 1856. Pelecanopus nigripennis id., ib. Sterna bergii Ramsay, Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., Vol II., p. 201, 1877 (pars) ; id.. Tab. List Austr. Birds, p. 23, 1888 (pars) ; Saunders, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., Vol. XXV., p. 89, 1896 (pars) ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 88, 1899 (pars) ; Campbell, Nests and Eggs Austr. Birds, p. 837, 1901 ; Dove, Emu, Vol. V., p. 160, 1906 ; HaU, Key Birds Austr., p. 88, 1906 (pars) ; Campbell, Emu, Vol. VI., p. 138, 1907 ; Mathews, Handl. Birds Austral., p. 20, 1908 ; Hull, Emu, Vol. VIII., p. 85, 1908 ; Littler, Handb. Birds Tasm., p. 147, 1910 ; Hull, Emu, Vol. XI., p. 205, 1912. Sterna hergii cristata Mathews, Nov. Zool., Vol. XVIII., p. 208, 1912. Distribution. New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, and Tasmania. Adult male. Back, scapulars, wings, and tail ash-grey ; primary-quills silvery-grey on the outer webs, somewhat dark on the outer web near the base, inner webs grey next the shaft, inner portion white ; inner primaries silvery -grey with white on the inner webs ; secondaries white with grey on the outer webs, the grey increasing in extent on the innermost feathers ; middle tail-feathers like the back, the outer ones grey with white inner webs, the outermost pair almost entirely white ; crown of head and long nape-feathers black ; forehead, lores, neck all round, and under- surface of body white, like the axillaries and under wing-coverts ; a small patch of grey feathers on the sides of the breast ; bill yellow, base green ; iris brown, feet black. Total length 480 mm. ; culmen 55, wing 345, tail 176, tarsus 27. * The Plate is lettered Sterna hergii. 340 I BASS STRAIT TERN. Adult female. Similar to the adult male ; cuhnen 52, wing 326, tail 164. Adult in winter-plumage. Differs from the adult bird in breeding-plumage by the absence of the black on the crown of the head ; the feathers on the fore-part of the head, face, and sides of nape with white margins, becoming black on the occiput. Immature female. Differs from the adult female in having some of the feathers of the upper-back with dark shaft-streaks, the lesser wing-coverts rusty-brown, bastard- wing and primary-coverts brown ; primary-quills brown, inner webs white ; secondaries white with brown on the outer webs, middle tail-feathers white tipped with grey, outer feathers brown with white on the inner webs, the outermost pair white tipped with brown ; the feathers on the fore-part of the head black margined with white, while those on the nape are brown. Nest. A depression in the sand. Eggs. Clutch, one ; sometimes two ; ground-colour dark to light stone, marked with blotches and wavy lines of very dark purple, other markings of lavender which appear as if beneath the shell ; axis 56, diameter 39. Breeding-season. October (Hull) ; November (Campbell) ; January (Mellor). Me. H. Stuaet Dove* says, when diving for its food, this bird does not go any depth beneath the water, and in some cases only half submerges itself, and rises on the wing immediately afterwards. It has a peculiar way of bending its head down when on the wing, looking for prey, and this, combined with its sharp-pointed beak, gracefully curved wings, and forked tail, render it unmistakeable. Leggef writes : “ This handsome Tern breeds at the Little Actseon. The nests were sHght depressions among shingle, overgrown with herbage, just above high water mark, a few herbs and strips of seaweed being the only lining in the bottom. “ The eggs were two in number. The ground colour varies from pale yeUowish-stone to stony-white, and the markings, which are very handsome, are hieroglyphic in character, consisting of zigzag and otherwise irregular linear blotches, slightly confluent in parts, and laid on over light, inky grey or lilac streaks and spottings. They measure from 2.24 to 2.3 inches in length, by 1.52 to 1.55 inches in breadth ” : and noted that Hume’s measurements of twenty- flve eggs from the Island of Astolah off the Mekra coast gave 2. 3-2. 7 inches bv 1.63-1.78 inches.” %/ The same writer J says : “A single example seen near Penguin Island. The so-called ‘ Bass Straits ’ Tern, is common in the Derwent from August until midsummer. It breeds down the Channel and at the Little Actseon Islands, but it is apparently more abundant in the Straits than in the South, breeding on many of the islands on the former. I have entered this Tern in * Emu, Vol. V., p. 160, 1906. t Papers and Proc. Roy. Soc. Tasm. 1887, p. 130, 1888. J i6., p. 95 : “ Birds of Maria Island.” VOL. II. 341 THE BIRDS OP AUSTRALIA. my systematic list as S. poliocerca, not with, the idea of reversing my opinion, given at page 1027 of the Birds of Ceylon, where I agreed with Mr. Saunders, our chief authority on these interesting birds, that it was identical with the Indian Ocean crested Tern, S. Bergii, but in order to retain it for the present as a local race or subspecies under Gould’s name, S. poliocerca. Terns of wide range vary much in size, and the Bass Straits Tern is the smallest form of the Crested Tern of Indian seas ; the graduations in size, however, in specimens from various localities being so regular that the Southern bird is not considered by Mr. Saunders to hold its own as a distinct species. When examining the specimen in his collection I found 8. poliocerca to range as low as 12.75 in the wing against 15.12 in the largest specimens from the Persian Gulf. Since coming to Tasmania I have procured a fully adult specimen with a wing of 12.0, and I find that the bird is different in its note and habit from the Indian Tern, and that its plumage is beautifully suffused with rose-colour on the under surface — a feature not observed in specimens of true 8. Bergii. Should individuals from all parts of Australian seas show the same small size, I am of opinion that 8. poliocerca may stand as a distinct species.” Mr. Littler says that this Tern is less plentiful on the northern coast of Tasmania than on the southern, where it nests in fairly large colonies on some of the small islands, notably the Acteons. Mr. Charles Belcher tells me this bird is common about Geelong, Victoria, where it is plentiful in autumn and winter. The young birds of the preceding year make their appearance about February. It is very unlikely that this Tern breeds anywhere in Victoria west of Port Phillip, and the birds which visit that part of the country probably come from the islands of Bass Strait, or possibly from the smaller mainland rookeries near Cape Wollomai. Mr. Mellor says he found this Tern common in South Australia, where it breeds on Dangerous Beef, Spencer Gulf. On January 16th, 1907, he visited this rookery, and found the birds sitting on their one egg ; they were with difficultv flushed. Mr. A. J. Campbell* found this Tern breeding on an islet in Guichen Bay, South Australia, on November 26th, 1906. The birds were in hundreds, and were sitting upon fresh eggs in little, shallow hollows on the rock or sand among the short vegetation on the summit of the islet. He found one egg to be the usual clutch, two being found in only two nests. Mr. Hull,t writing of these birds on Montagu Island, says the colony there consists of about 3,000 birds. In September of 1907, when he left the island a few birds had arrived, but they did not lay until late in October^ ■f * Emu, Vol. VI., p. 139, 1907. t Vol. VIII., p. 85, 1908. 342 BASS STRAIT TERN. In 1908 the Terns arrived before the 15th of August, but had not laid by September 14 th. The bird figured and described was collected in December, 1886, on Troubridge Island, South Australia, by Mr. Edwin Ashby, who gave me the specimen. This species was first described in the Gen. Synops. Birds., Vol. III., pt. II., p. 351, 1785, where Latham described a bird in the British Museum “ Supposed to inhabit China,” as var. B of the Caspian Tern. This “ var. B ” did not receive a name until Stephens named it S. cristata. Before this however, Lichtenstein {Verzeichn douhl. zool. Mus., p. 80, 1823) introduced Sterna bergii for a Cape bird as follows : — St. rostro elongate compresso subarcuato albo basi fusceseente, cauda forficata alls complicatis paulo breviore, occipite cristato. Longit 18" rostri (ab anguloris) 3", tarsi 1" 3'". Pileus tempore aestivo (mense Nov. et Dec.) ater, caeterum antice albo maculatus aut albus ; frons omni tempore alba. Colores et pictura remigum ut in St. anglica. Pedes nigri. Cap. b. sp. I have noted that Peron named a bird Sterna caspioides without any description, on account of its likeness to Sterna caspia, and that it might be Hydroprogne tschegrava strenua Gould that Peron so named. The other alternative is that this is the species Peron discovered ; and this view has some support from the fact that there is a bird in the Paris Museum brought home by Peron and Lesueur which belongs to this species, and whose history will be later told. Stephens’s description is here attached : — Stephen’s, in Shaw’s Gen. Zool., Vol. XIII., pt. i., p. 146, 1826. Crested Tem. Sterna cristata. St. cinereo-cana, corpore subtus coUoque albis, vertice nigro, occipite suberistata, rectrice externa a medio ad apicem alba. Hoary ash-colored Tern with the body beneath and neck white, the crown black, the occiput slightly crested, the outer tail-feathers from the middle to the tip white. Sterna Caspia y Lath., Ind. Orn., II., 804. Caspian Tern /3 Lath., Gen. Syn., VI., 351. Crested Tem, Lath., Gen. Hist., X., 101. Length about twenty inches ; beak three inches, stout, pale and yellow ; nostrils pervious ; the crown black, the feathers elongated and forming a pinnacle crest at the nape ; the rest of the head, neck, and under-parts of the body white ; back and wings pale ashy- grey ; quills grey with the ends dusky ; inner webs, half way from the base, white ; tail grey, the end half of the feathers white ; the shafts of the quills and tail wLite ; legs black. The female ? has the crown somewhat mottled with grey, and the wings darker yoloured. Inhabits China, and many of the south-eastern islands of Asia. ' About the same time King published Sterna pelecanoides in the Survey Intertrop. Coasts Austr., Vol. II., p. 422, April 18th, 1826, as here given : — Sterna pelecanoides. S. alba : capitis vertice nigro albo variegato ; dorso, alis, caudaque canis ; remigibus fusco-atris, rhachibus albis. 343 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. Colli latera parce cano-maculata ; tectrices secimdariae primoribus obscuriores ; remiges fusco-atrae, pogoniis internis fere ad apicem albo-marginatis ; rectrices extemae fuscae basi apiceque albis ; rostrum subflavum ; pedes nigri. Longitude corporis 19 J ; alae a carpo ad remigem primam, 13| ; caudae 6| ; rostri,, ad frontem, 2^ ; ad rectum 3^ ; tarsi 1^. Another name added simultaneously was Sterna velox, by Cretzschmar in Atlas Reise nord. Afr., Riippell, Vol. II., tab. 13, p. 21, for the form inhabiting “ Die Kusten des rothen Meeres.” It seemed of interest to find which of these names had priority, and there can be no doubt that Stephens’s work appeared first. It is quoted 1826, but it would seem to have been published in 1825, as it is reviewed in Froriep’s Notizen at the beginning of April, 1826, and it is quite unlikely that an English work would receive notice at the earliest opportunity in that foreign periodical. Although King’s Narrative bears the date 1827 on the title-page, investigation by Mr. C. Davies Sherborn proved it to have been issued in the middle of April, 1826 ; this date is confirmed by a notice of the work in the Dubfin Philos, Journ.y No. IV., p. 288, May, 1826. Riippell’s Atlas has been generally quoted as 1826, the date it bears on the title-page, but here exactly the opposite state of affairs occurs, and once more Mr. C. Davies Sherborn merits the thanks of all working-ornithologists for the wonderful work he is engaged upon, and especially for his unrivalled skill in elucidating the intricate problems surrounding the publications which appeared in parts in the beginning of the last century. In this case the part including Sterna velox was not published until 1827 ; the other details will later be published by Mr. Sherborn himseff, and I have to thank him for his usual graceful permission to make use of this instance. Lesson, in the Traite d'Orn., p. 621, 1831, named a bird from the Cape, Sterna longirostris. As this is the type-locality of Sterna hergii, Lesson’s name becomes an absolute synonym. In his Synops. Birds Austr., pi. 37, fig. 3, 1837, Gould introduced Sterna poliocerca for the Tasmanian form, as follows : — Sterna poliocerca fig. 3 : St. fronte cinerascenti-albo in nigrum ad occiput margente ; gutture, collo antice et postice, corporeque subtus albis ; corpore supra, alis, caudaque cinerascentibus ; rostro flavo ; pedibus nigris. Long. tot. 17| inc. ; rostri 2f ; alae 12f ; caudae 7 ; tarsi 1. Forehead greyish- white, gradually passing into black at the occiput ; throat, back and front of the neck and all the imder surface, white ; remainder of the upper surface, wings and tail grey bill yellow ; feet black. Hab. Van Diemen’s Land. In the U.S. Expl. Exp.^ Zool., p. 281, pi. lxxv., fig. 2, 1848, Peale proposed Sterna rectirostris for the Fijian form (c/. 2nd ed., p. 384, 1858). 344 BASS STRAIT TERN. When Pucheran reviewed the types of Cuvier in the Paris Museum {Revue Zool., p. 545, 1850), he noted that the bird named Sterna novcB-hollandicB by Cuvier was not noticed by Lesson, and that it had been collected by Peron and Lesueur, commenting : — Elle ne differe du Sterna poUocerca recemment decrit et figure par M. Gould, que par le noir de ses remiges primaires, bordees de blanc sur leur face interne, sauf a leur tiers terminal, noir comme la face externe. J’insiste sur cette base differentielle, car le mode special de coloration des remiges primaires m’a ete d’un grand secours dans le deter- mination que J’ai recemment faite des especes de Sternides que possede notre collection nationale and afterwards indicating that it could scarcely be 8. novce-Jiollandice of Stephens. I have suggested this might be the bird named by Peron S. caspioides. In the Co7nptes Rendus Sci., Paris, Vol. XLII., p. 772, 1856, Bonaparte proposed Pelecanopus nigripennis for S. novce-hollandicB Cuv., and as the type-locality I designate Tasmania. Saunders examined the type, and concluded that it belonged to this species, and of this I think there can be no doubt. Of course. Sterna novoe-hollandicB Stephens (in Shaw’s Gen. Zool., Vol. XIII., pt. i, p. 161, 1826) which Saunders, misled by the coincidence of names, mistook for Cuvier’s S. novoe-hollandicB, has nothing to do with this bird, as I will show later on. In the Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., Vol. XXV., p. 89, 1896, in accordance with his principles regarding non-admission of subspecies, Saunders included Sterna bergii only, but under that name carefully indicated all the variations pointing to the existence of many subspecific forms. As a natural consequence, the receipt of a collection of birds from the Liu Kiu Islands, gave Outram Bangs the opportunity of reviewing the species from an up-to-date standpoint. In the Bidl. Mus. Comp. Zool., Vol. XXXVI., p. 256, 1901, he introduced Sterna bergii boreotis with the diagnosis : — As small as the pale grey Sterna bergii poUocerca of Tasmania and South Australia ; differing from it in ha\fing the wings, tail, and mantle very dark smoky -gray, almost mouse gray. Ishigaki, Liu Kiu Islands. On the following page he recorded : — The principal races of Sterna bergii may be indicated as follows : — 1. Sterna bergii bergii Licht., South Africa, large, gray of upper parts pale. 2. S. bergii velox (Cretzschm.), Red and Arabian Seas and Bay of Bengal, large, gray of upper parts very dark. 3. S. bergii pelecanioides (King) northern parts of Australia, intermediate bety^een the last two in size and coloration. 4. S. bergii poliocerca (Gould) Tasmania and South Australia, small, gray of upper parts pale. 5. S. bergii boreotis Bangs, Liu Kiu Islands and Northern China Sea, small, gray of upper parts very dark. Still another race that may prove distinct is the Polynesian S. rectirostris Peale, described from the Fiji Islands. 345 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. Though the general facts of Bangs’s review are accurate, inasmuch as he did. not take into consideration Stephens’s S. CTistata, a rearrangement is unavoidable. In the Nov. Zool., VoL XVIII., p. 208, 1912, I used this for the New South Wales form, because of Latham’s acceptance of the Port Jackson bird as typical. I was influenced into this incorrect usage by the fact that Sharpe had written that the Watling Drawing No. 270 was the type of Latham’s Sterna caspia y, which it is not. Careful re-reading of Stephens’s description and facts, shows that view to be inaccurate, as the original description by Latham of his Caspian Tern, var. B. {Gen. Synops. Birds, Vol. III., pi. 2, 1785, p. 351), which I here reproduce, is only copied by Stephens: — Length nineteen or twenty inches. Bill three inches, stout, and of a pale yellow ; nostrils pervious : the crown of the head black ; the feathers longish, and forming a kind of pensile crest at the nape ; the rest of the head, neck, and under parts of the body white ; back and wings pale cinereous grey ; quills grey, with the ends dusky ; the inner webs, half way from the base, white ; tail grey, forked ; the end half of the outer feathers white ; the shafts of quills and tail white ; the last is exceeded by the first by an inch ; legs black. Supposed to inhabit Chinsj. We have also seen the same, or one greatly resembling, from the Friendly Isles in the South Seas. Is also found at Hapaee, one of the Sandwich Isles. There can be no other course than the adoption of Stephens’s name for the Chinese bird, as Stephens indicated China absolutely as the habitat. Therefore this name will prohibit the use of S. bergii horeotis Bangs for the Chinese bird. Inasmuch as I have found these birds to be very local, series may prove the Liu Kiu bird separable, and in that case Bangs’s name may be revived. Comparatively long series of breeding birds of this species are avail- able, and the subspecific forms seem well marked. I would consider the following disposition to be an advance on Bangs’s review : — Thalasseus bergii bergii (Lichtenstein) ; Cape of Good Hope. Of this form S. longirostris Lesson is a synonym. This subspecies has the grey of the upper-parts light and the wing is long. Thalasseus bergii velox (Cretzschmar) ; Red Sea. This subspecies is rather smaller than the preceding, but the upper coloration is much darker. Thalasseus bergii baheri, subsp. n. ; Mekran Coast and Northern India. This subspecies is even darker than the preceding, and is also larger ; probably two subspecies are here confused, while the Laccadive specimens are smaller and may belong to the next form. Type from Mekran Coast. 346 BASS STRAIT TERN. Thalasseus hergii edwardsi, subsp. n. ; Ceylon. Agrees with the last-named in coloration, but is much smaller than Th. h. velox Cretzschmar. Thalasseus hergii pelecanoides (King) ; North Australia. Has about the same measurements as Th. h. velox Cretzschmar, or rather s mailer than Th. h. hergii Lichtenstein than which it is darker, but lighter than Th. h. velox. Thalasseus hergii 'poliocercus (Gould) ; South East Australia. Noticeably smaller than Th. h. pelecanoides King, and of the same pallid color- ation, but slightly darker than that form ; Sterna novoe-hollandice Pucheran and Pelecanopus nigripennis Bonaparte are s3monyms of this form. Thalasseus hergii gwendolenm (Mathews) ; South-west Australia. Larger than Th. h. pelecanoides King, and lighter in coloration. Thalasseus hergii cristatus (Stephens) ; China. A very small form, as small as Th. h. poliocercus Gould, but very dark in comparison, almost as dark as Th. h. edwardsi, the Ceylon form, but smaller. Th. h. horeotis Bangs may be quoted as a synonym, but the Liu Kiu form may be separable from the mainland one. At the present time the Philippine birds are attached, but there must be much doubt in such action. Thalasseus hergii rectirostris (Peale) ; Fiji Islands. Agreeing with Th. h. pelecanoides in size, but noticeably paler; the paleness is more marked in the juvenile- and winter-plumage ; the bill is much shorter than in Th. h. pelecanoides when fully grown adults are compared. It should be noted that the bills of all Terns grow with age, and that birds in the first year’s adult-plumage have short bills when contrasted with those of older birds. \ 347 Order LARI FORMES Family LARIDM. No. 130. THALASSEUS BERGII PELECANOIDES. TORRES STRAIT TERN. Sterna pelecanoides King, Survey Intertrop. Coasts Austr., Vol. IT., p. 422, 1826 ; Torres Strait, Queensland. Sterna pelecanoides King, Survey Intertrop. Coasts Austr.,VoL II., p. 422, 1826. Pelecanopus pelecanoides Wagler, Isis 1832, p. 277. Thalasseus pelecanoides Gould, Birds Austr., Vol. VII., pi. 23, 1848. Thalasseus cristatus (not Stephens) Gould, Handb. Birds Austr., Vol. II,, p. 394, 1865 ; Masters, Proc. Linn. Soo. N.S.W., Vol. I., p. 62, 1876. Sterna hergii North, Austr. Mus. Cat., No. 12, p. 354, 1889 ; Saunders, Cat. Birds Brit, Mus., Vol. XXV., p. 89, 1896 (pars) ; Campbell, Nests and Eggs Austr. Birds, p. 837, 1901 (pars) ; Tunney, Emu, Vol. I., p. 73, 1902 ; Carter, ib., Vol. II., p. 105, 1902 ; id., ib., Vol. III., p. 208, 1904 ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 88, 1906 (pars) ; Mathews, Handl. Birds Austral., p. 20, 1908 ; Ingram, Ibis 1908, p. 462. Sterna bergii pelecanoides Bangs, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. Harv., Vol. XXXVI., p. 257, 1901 ; Mathews, Nov. Zool., Vol. XVIII., p. 208, 1912. Distribution. Northern Coasts of Austraha, from Torres Strait to North West Cape. Adult male. Similar to the adult male of Th. b. poliocercus, but larger and sMghtly hghter in the colour of the upper-parts ; cuhnen (exp.) 65 mm., wing 360, tarsus 30. Adult female. Similar to the adult male. Immature. Agreeing closely with the young stages of the next form but somewhat darker. Nest. A depression in the sand. Eggs. Clutch, one ; ground-colour stone, the markings being much heavier than is the case with the eggs of Th. poliocercus ; axis 60-61 mm., diameter 41-42. Breeding-season. March and April (Carter) ; May, June (MacgiUivray), July (North). The type of this species was collected by Captain King during his Survey of the Northern Coasts of Australia. MacgiUivray,* writing of this Tern from Torres Strait, says : “ This hand- some Tern, which supplies the place of the Thalasseus poliocercus upon the north-east coast, is generally distributed from Lizard Island to the southward as far northward as Bramble Quay, and is also to be found in Endeavour * Gould, Handb. Birds Anstr., Vol. II., p. 394, 1865. 348 TORRES STRAIT TERN. Strait. It was breeding on Lizard Island in the beginning of May, and on Raine’s Island in June, when both eggs and young birds were procured ; in the latter locality I found it in three small parties upon a low ridge on one side of the island, depositing its single egg in a slight hollow scooped out of the ground in a bare smooth spot surrounded with herbage. This bird was so much more shy than the Sooty Tern and Noddy, that I was obliged to resort to the gun to procure specimens, as it would not allow me to approach sufficiently near to throw a short stick with effect.” Mr. Tom Carter says he only twice noted this species breeding, namely on Fraser Island, Point Cloates, North West Austraha, on April 26th, 1902: “ Each egg was laid singly in a slight depression in the sand, on one of the highest points of the island (about 25 feet above sea-level). There was no nesting-material, and the eggs (14 in number) were all within a radius of three feet. On March the 25th, 1893, my natives brought about 60 eggs from Fraser Island.” The bird described is a male, collected near Broome, North-west Australia, on October 22nd, 1903, by Mr. J. P. Rogers. Gould separated this form as larger than the one inhabiting the South- eastern coasts which he had named S. poUocerca, and figured both in his Birds of Australia. I have already given the extract where Colonel Legge, though inclined to lump all the forms of S. hergii, admitted that the Tasmanian bird certainly merited its subspecific name. On account of the common occurrence of forms of 8. hergii all round Australia, httle attention has been paid to them, and it is at present difficult to define the limits of the subspecies admitted. When fully adult specimens are measured I find that the New South Wales, Victorian, Tasmanian and South Austrahans all have a wing-measurement of under 350 mm. ; Torres Strait and North-west Australian specimens agree in having the wing longer, and also the beak more powerful as well as longer. From South-west Australia comes an unexpected form which will be fully treated in the next article. VOL. n. 349 Order LARIF0BME8 No. 131. Family LARIDM. THALASSEUS BEKGII GWENDOLENiE. WESTEALIAN CRESTED TERN. Sterna bergii Gwendolen.®* Mathews, Nov. Zool., Vol. XVIII., p. 208, 1912 ; South- west Austraha. Sterna bergii Grant, Ibis 1910, p. 185. Distribution. South-west Austraha. Adult male. Paler and larger than the preceding ; “ bill pale ochre yellow ; legs dark slate ; soles of feet yellowish; iris dark brown (almost black).” Guhnen (exp.) 72 mm., wing 380, tail 210, tarsus 30.5. Adult female. Similar to the adult male. Immature [before moulting into full breeding-plumage). Head more or less dark brown, feathers with white bases and whitish tips ; forehead and lores whitish with a few brown speckles ; a spot just in front of the eye dark ; a few brown tips to the feathers on the sides of the neck ; feathers of the bend of the wing whitish, greater wing-coverts dark brownish-grey ; median wing-coverts ashy-grey ; lesser wing-coverts darker ashy-grey. Immature [in change from juvenile plumage). A few brown-tipped feathers remain on the upper-back ; the majority of the feathers slaty ; the scapulars and median coverts however, show the juvenile-plumage to still predominate. Juvenile [young bird just ready to fly). The feathers of the head have white bases and tips, the middle being dark brown, the head having thus an even mottled appearance ; the sides and back of the neck are white, some of the feathers having brown spots on the tips, giving a speckled appearance. These brown tips become larger and more frequent on the feathers of the upper-back, with fewer but more strongly marked on the lower-back, rump, and upper tail-coverts ; the tail-feathers have white bases and white tips, the anterior portion brown in varying proportions ; the middle feathers are mostly grey, with a brownish marking towards their apices, but all the tips white ; the next pair have more brown, less grey, and less white tipping, and so on outwards ; the scapulars are marked hke the middle tail-feathers ; the bend of the wing is white ; the greater wing-coverts are deep brown with white tips ; the median white with brownish tips, the extreme tips, however, white again ; the lesser wing-coverts ashy-brown tipped with white ; the secondaries ashy-grey with white tips ; the primaries deep brown on the outer and half of the inner web ; the inner half white, distinctly marked off ; the remainder of the under surface white. Nest. A depression in the sand. Egg. Ground-colour stone, heavily blotched with dark reddish-brown ; axis, 60-61 mm., diameter 40-41. * Named after Miss Gwendolens Carter, as a mark of appreciation of the help given me by her father. 350 WESTRALIAN CRESTED TERN. Collection of a series of birds nesting on the islands off South-west Australia, has revealed the fact that Australia possesses not only one of the smallest races of Th. hergii, but also one of the largest. While South-east Australian birds rarely, if ever, have the wing-measurement reaching to 350 mm., and the other measurements proportionately agreeing, the flying young of the South-western form reaches this figure, the adult in the first year surpassing it, and the full-grown equalling in size the very largest subspecies. Why tins anomaly should be is not apparent, the method of distribution being apparently via North Australia in each case. The birds travelling down the East Coast have become smaller, culminating in the least form in Tasmania, while the birds travelling along the North Coast and down the North-west have grown larger, culminating in the largest form in the South-west. While investigating the forms of this species as outlined {antey p. 340) under Th. h. poliocercuSy I was struck by the diversity in coloration of the juvenile of some of the subspecies. Series have not been collected so that the exact characters of the juvenile cannot be definitely stated, but the difference between the juveniles of Th. h. gwendolenoB, Th. h. cristatusy and Th. b. recti- rostris seems worthy of remark. I have carefully described the juvenile of the first-named, and irrespective of size I note that the juvenile of Th. b. cristatus has none of the deep brown coloration there noted, but it is only a light brown, the bird having quite a faded appearance in comparison. The juvenile of Th. b. rectirostris is about the same size as that of Th. b. cristatuSy but the light brown coloration is now lost, ashy-grey predominating, so that comparatively speaking this bird looks washed out. The juvenile of Th. b. cristatus seems remarkable, as the adult of that form is much darker than the adult of Th. h. gweudolenoe. 351 Order LARIF0RME8 Family LARIDM. No. 132. THALASSEUS BENGALENSIS TORRESII. LESSER CRESTED TERN. (Plate 107.)* Thalasseus torresii Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc. (Lend.) 1842, p. 140 ; Port Essington. Sterna media Horsjfield (not Vieillot), Trans. Linn. Soc. (Lond.), Vol. XIII., p. 199, 1821. Salvador!, Ornith. Papua e Moll, Vol. III., p. 437, 1882 ; Ramsay, Tab. List Austr. Birds, p. 23, 1888 ; Walker, Ibis 1892, p. 258 ; North, Rec. Austr. Mus., Vol. II., p. 20, 1892 ; Saunders, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., Vol. XXV., p. 86, 1896 (pars) ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 88, 1899 ; Campbell, Nests and Eggs Austr. Birds, p. 835, 1901 ; Cornwall, Emu, Vol. III., p. 46, 1903 ; Carter, ib., p. 208, 1904 ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 88, 1906 ; Mathews, Handl. Birds Austr., p. 20, 1908 ; id., Nov. Zool., Vol. XVIII., p. 208, 1912. Thalasseus torresii Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc. (Lond.) 1842, p. 140 ; id., Birds Austr., Vol. VII., pi. 25, 1848. Pelecanopus torresii Bonaparte, Comptes Rendus Sci., Paris, Vol. XLII., p. 772, 1856. Sterna torresii Gray, Cat. Birds Trop. Isl. Pac. Ocean, p. 58, 1859. Thalasseus hengalensis (not Lesson) Gould, Handb. Birds Austr., Vol. II., p. 397, 1865 ; Masters, Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., Vol. I., p. 62, 1875 ; Ramsay, ib., p. 386, 1876. Distribution. North Austraha, as far South as Oyster Bay in Queensland and North- west Cape in North-west Austraha ; extrahmital to Java. Adult male in breeding-plumage. Head and nape deep black; upper wing-coverts, scapulars, back, and middle tail-feathers dove- grey ; bend of wing white ; primary- quills silvery-grey, inner webs white at base, dark brown near the shafts, this colour increasing in extent and becoming pale towards the tips ; the inner primaries and secondaries grey on the outer webs, fringed and tipped with white on the inner ones, the white increasing in extent on the secondaries ; tail for the most part grey hke the back with a certain amount of white on the inner webs of the feathers ; lores, hind- neck and upper mantle, throat and entire under-surface silky white, including the axiUaries, under wing- coverts, and under tail-coverts ; biU reddish- orange ; iris dark brown; feet black. Total length 420 mm; culmen 50, wing 308. tail 152, tarsus 26. Adult female. Similar to the adult male. * The Plate is lettered Sterna media. 352 \ STERNA MEDIA (LESSOR CRESTED TERN). LESSER CRESTED TERN. Adult in winter. Differs from the breeding- plumage in having nearly the whole of the head white, with the exception of a black spot in front of each eye, a few on the crown, and the nape-feathers, which are black, more or less fringed with white ; bill pale in colour. Immature and Nestling. Do not appear to have been described. Nest. A slight depression in the sand or coral. Eggs. Clutch, one ; ground-colour light stone, blotched or spotted with very dark purple, with lavender ones appearing as if beneath the surface ; axis 54.5 mm., diameter 35-36. Breeding- season. November (South Barnard Island). Mr. H. Grensill Barnard,* writing of these birds on South Barnard Island, where he was on November 23rd, 1891, says : “ The bank [on which the birds were breeding] was a very small one, not more than twenty jmrds across, and about three of four feet above high water in the centre. On approaching it we could see the Terns sitting on the sand in hundreds, also several of a very much larger species of sea bird (probably a Skua) which I ascertained after- wards on landing were engaged in eating the eggs of the Terns, as I found a great number of the eggs with a large hole pecked in the side. The eggs of the Terns were placed on the bare sand, one to each bird for a sitting, and so close together as only to give the birds room to sit ; there could have been no less than five or six hundred eggs on that portion of the bank occupied. Though the birds had been breeding more than a month there were no young ones, the fishermen informing me that the larger species we saw on the bank devoured the young ones directly they were hatched. I shot two of the parent-birds, and the men collected about two buckets full of eggs to cook.” Gilbert found this species plentiful on all the sandy points about Port Essington. Mr. J. Walker found a breeding-station of this bird on Adele Island to the North-west of Australia ; the young ones were almost full-grown in May (1891), but not yet able to fly. Mr. E. J. Christian tells me he saw this bird in Victoria in full breeding- plumage on August 24th, 1908, about 130 miles from the sea and 170 miles from the ocean at Bass Strait. He saw it again on February 16th, 1909, in the same locality. Mr. Tom Carter says this species is common along the North-west Coast of Australia, especially in the summer months. The bird figured and described is a female. , \ This species has been generally known as Sterna media following Horsfield, who, in the Trans. Linn. Soc. (Lond.), Vol. XIII., p. 199, 1821, described a Javanese bird thus : — S. fronte cervice postice et partibus inferioribus albis pileo albo nigroque vario, nucha atra, alis dorso uropygioque glaucis, remigibus supra fuscis cano pulverulentis, subtus * Bee. Austr. Mus., Vol. II., p. 21, 1892. 353 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. dimidio exteriore intense glaucis interiore albis. Longitude 15 poll. The feet are black, the bill is greatly lengthened, and the interior border of the sixth, seventh, and eighth remiges, which is white, is very regularly defined. It has been generally overlooked that this name is preoccupied by Vieillot, who in the previous year had introduced it for a quite different bird, thus {Tdbl. Ency. MHh. Ornith.y Vol. I., p. 347, 1820) : “ Latham rapporte a cette espece, comme un jeune oiseau, la Guissette, de la pi. enlum. de Buffon, n. 924 (Sterna media) ; mais nous croyons qu’il se meprend.” The next name is that of Lesson {Traite d'Orn., p. 621, 1831), who called it Sterna hengalensis : “ Mus. de Paris. Katel Kako des Indus. Front et tete blanc tachete de noir ; occiput noir ; corps blanc ; manteau et ailes gris ; bee jaune ; tarses noirs. Cotes de ITnde.” In RiippeU’s Atlas, Vol. II., taf. 14, p. 23, 1827, Cretzschmar described a form from the Red Sea as Sterna afflnis, but as that name is preoccupied by Sterrm afJinisHovs^eld, 1821, it is unavailable. In the last volume of the second edition of his Manuel d’Orn., p. 456, 1840, Temminck, having used Cretzschmar’s name, as he argued that Horsfield’s name, being a sjmonym, did not invalidate Cretzschmar’s later use, noted : “ M. Ehremberg en a fait Sterna arahica, parce qu’il s’est procure cet oiseau, grand voilier et cosmopolite, dans le cadre geographique de F Arabic.” This must be considered a noynen nuduin, as is also Lichtenstein’s Th. ynaxuriensis {Noynencl. Av. Mus. Zool. Berol., p. 98, 1854), proposed for birds from the same locality. Gould named the Australian form Th. torresii, thus : — Thalasseus Torresii. Thai, fronte, facie, et cello dorse superiore, partibusque infe- rioribus lucide albis, plumis verticis et illis oculos circumdantibus albis, gutta parvula centrali nigra notatis, occipite et nucha nigerrimis ; dorso alisque staurate cinereis, cauda pallide cinerea. Forehead, sides of the face and neck, upper part of the back and all the under surface silky white ; feathers of the crown and surrounding the eye white, with a minute spot of black in the centre of each ; occiput and back of neck black ; back and wings deep grey ; tail grey ; primaries gre5dsh-black, broadly margined on the inner web with white ; the shafts white ; irides dark brown ; bill ochre yellow ; feet blackish grey. Total length, 13| inches ; bill 2| ; wing 11| ; tail 4| ; tarsi 1. Hab. Port Essington. Nearly allied to S. poliocerca, but much smaller in size. Reputedly common in places as a breeding bird, long series are not at hand, but the specimens available point to the fact that the plumage-changes of the subspecies follow those of its larger congener Thalasseus hergii : thus the Indian birds are darker and larger than those from the Red Sea, while the North Australian ones are lighter. At present I would recognise : — Thalasseus hengalensis hengalensis (Lesson) ; India. 354 LESSER CRESTED TERN. ^ Thalasseus hengalensis arahicus, subsp. n. ; Red Sea. Lighter an^ smaller than birds from the type-locality ; Sterna affinis Cretzschmar and Th. 7naxuriensis Lichtenstein (nude name) are synonyms. Thalasseus hengalensis torresii Gould ; North Australia. Thalasseus hengalensis zhmnermanni (Reichenow) ; Kiaoutschou. I have not seen specimens from this locality, but the description here reproduced leaves no doubt as to the status of the form : “ Sterna ziimnermanni Reichenow, Ornith. Monatsh., Vol. XI., p. 82, 1903, ^ in Sommerkleide. Der St. media Horsf. sehr ahnlich, aber oberseits viel blasser, zart silbergrau, Schnabel orangegelb mit schwarzer spitze, Fliigel langer. Lg etwa 430, E1.315- 320 : Schw 170, Schn 55. L. 27 m.” The wing-measurement of Indian specimens runs as large as this, but it is quite possible that Reichenow used Red Sea or Persian Gulf birds, in which case his diagnosis would be quite accurate. The largest Red Sea specimen only runs to 313 mm. in the wing. 355 Genus-STERN A. Sterna Linne, Syst. Nat., ed. X, p. 137, 1758 . . . . Type S. hirundo. Chelido “ Billberg, Synopsis Faunae Scand., Vol. I., pars 2, p. 193, 1828 ” Type 8. himndo. Thalassma Kaup, Skizz Entwick-Gesch. Nat. Syst., p. 97, 1829 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Type 8. dougallii. (Also spelt Thalassia Bonaparte, Comptes Rendus Sci., Paris, Vol. XLIII., p. 645, 1856 ; Thalassea^ id., ih., Vol. XLII., p. 772, 1856.) Hydrocecropis Boie, Isis 1844, p. 178 Type 8. hirundo. (Substitute-name for 8terna Linne.) Medium-sized Terns with slender bills, short legs, long wings and very long tails. The bill is longer than the head and twice the length of the tarsus, which is shorter than the middle toe and claw. The tail is long and forked, the length of the streamers more than half the length of the wing. Toes completely webbed. 356 Key to the Species. Summer-plmnage. * A. Forehead and top of head black . . S. dougallii gracilis, p. 358. B. Forehead white ; top of head black .. 8. striata melanorhyncha, p. 366. G. Forehead and top of head white ; nape black . . . . . . . . .. 8. sumatrana hempi, p. 370. Immature plumage.^ A. Small ; wing under 230 mm. Forehead whitish ; head and nape dull brownish-black . . . . .. 8. dougallii gracilis, p. 368. B. Large ; wing over 260 mm. Generally darker than the preceding . . 8. striata melanorhyncha, p. 366. C. Least ; wing about 200 mm. Forehead and head white ; nape dull brownish black. .. . . ..8. sumatrana Jcempi, p. 370. \ * In the winter-plumage the black is mixed with white, otherwise the Key applies, t This innnature-plumage seems to last for some time. VOL. II. 357 Order LARIFORMES No. 133. Family LARIDM. STERNA DOUGALLII GRACILIS. AUSTRALIAN ROSEATE TERN. (Plate 108.) Sterna gracilis Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc (Lond.) 1845, p. 76 ; Houtman’s Abrolhos, West Australia. Sterna gracilis Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc. (Lond.) 1845, p. 76 ; id., ih. 1847, p. 222 ; id.. Birds Austr., Vol. VII., pi. 27, 1848 ; id., Handb. Birds Austr., Vol. II., p. 399, 1865 ; Mathews, Handl. Birds Austral., p. 20, 1908 ; Editors, Emu, Vol. X., p. 304, 1911. Anous gracilis Gray, Genera Birds, Vol. III., p. 661, 1846. Sterna nigrifrons Masters, Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., Vol. I., p. 62, 1875 (Cape York) ; Ramsay, ib., Vol. II., p. 201, 1877 ; Ramsay, Tab, List Austr. Birds, p. 23, 1888. Sterna melanorhyncha (not Gould) Masters, Proc. linn. Soc. N.S.W., Vol. I., p, 62, 1875. Sterna dougalli Ramsay, ih., Vol. II., p. 201, 1877 , id.. Tab. List. Austr. Birds, p. 23, 1888 ; Campbell, Proc. Roy. Soc. Victoria, Vol. III., n.s., p. 5, 1891 ; Saunders, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., Vol. XXV., p. 70, 1896 (pars) ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 88, 1899 ; Campbell, Nests and Eggs Austr. Birds, p. 834, 1901 ; Carter, Emu, Vol. III., p. 207, 1904 ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 88, 1906. Sterna dougalli gracilis Cory, Cat. Birds West Ind., pp. 82, 135, 1892; Hartert, Nov. Zool,, Vol. XII., p. 199, 1905 ; Mathews, ih., Vol. XVIII., p. 208, 1912. Sterna, frontalis (not Gray) Ramsay, Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., 2nd ser,, Vol. I., p. 1100, 1886 ; Carter, Emu, Vol. III., p. 208, 1904. Sterna striata christopheri Mathews, Nov. Zool., Vol. XVIII., p. 209, 1912. Distribution. West Australia ; North-west Australia ; North Australia ; East Austraha as far south as Moreton Bay, Adult mule in hreeding-plumage. General colour of the upper-parts pale grey, including the back, wings, and tail ; outer primary black on the greater part of the outer web, the remainder silvery -grey with white on the inner webs and grey adjoining the shafts ; inner primaries and secondaries pale grey with white on the inner webs ; crown of head, nape and hind-neck black ; cheeks, throat, and under-surface 358 o • O. f-. '%■ \ K- -- - (M|ro STERNA GRAC ILIS . f ROSEATE TERN ) . I AUSTRALIAN ROSEATE TERN. of body white, as also the axillaries and under wing-coverts ; bill black, base red ; iris grey ; feet red, claws black. Total length 400 mm. ; culmen 40, wing 212, tail 152, tarsus 21. Adult female. Similar to thb adult male. Adult male in winter 'pluumge. Differs from the adult in breeding-plumage by its white forehead and black and white head and nape. Immature. Similar to the adult in winter-plumage, but having the primaries greyish- brown, the bill black, iris brown, feet dark reddish-black. The nape and head blackish-brown, and a grey band along the upper wing-coverts. Nestling. “ Channel Rock, Torres Straits, June 1881 : Iris black, bill black, legs and feet grey.” The bill is black ; the whole of the top of head, taking in the eyes, nape and back of neck black with white tips, the black in front of the eye and the ear-coverts more distinctly marked. Back of the neck pure white ; upper-back black or dark brown and white spottings, lower-back, rump, and upper tail-coverts pale grey with indistinct white tips ; tail-feathers grey, with brown triangular spots near the apex, which is white-tipped ; greater wing-coverts dark grey, median and lesser pale grey with hghter tips, primary- quills dark ashy-grey, the outer ones almost black, inner half of inner webs pure white, inner secondaries and long scapulars brownish spotted with white, and with grey base and white tips ; all the under surface pure white. Young in down. “ White underneath, rest of surface slightly mottled ; feet and bill pink ; eyes dark ” (Campbell). Nest. “ A slight depression (about 5 inches across by 1 inch deep) in the sand or ridge of dead coral, sometimes partially Hned with fine pieces of coral shells, etc. Nests in colonies ” (Campbell). Eggs. Clutch, two; ground-colour buff or stone, boldly marked with reddish-brown, to very fight grey, blotches ; axis 40-41 mm., diameter 29. Breeding-season. April, June (Beddoes), November (Carter), December (Campbell). Mr. J. W. Mellor, who observed these birds in the Capricorn group, off the coast of Queensland, in October, 1910, says : “ They were in pairs and alighted on the beautifully white coral sand of the Island ; their rose-tinted bodies making a marked contrast.” Gilbert, who collected the type of this species on Houtman’s Abrolhos, off the western coast of Australia, found it very common there, and it was continually moving about from one part of the islands to another, and settling in large flocks, during the heat of the day, on the coral ridges. Mr. A. J. Campbell, who visited the same group in December, 1889, found them nesting in scores on parallel ridges of dead coral forming the narrowest part of Pelsart Island. Mr. Tom Carter says this species is fairly common about Point Cloates in the summer months. Several clutches of eggs, much incubated, were seen on Fraser Island, North-west Australia, in November, 1893. * Gould, Handh. Birds Austr., Vol. II., p. 399, 1865. 359 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. The bird figured and described was collected on Houtman’s Abrolhos, November 16 th, 1898. There seems to be no doubt that this bird was first clearly described by Montagu {Suppl. Ornith. Diet., 1813 — no pagination) from specimens obtained by Dr. McDougall on the Cumbrey Islands, Firth of Clyde, Scotland. I append Montagu’s detailed description herewith : — Sterna dougallii. Length fifteen inches and a half ; the bill one inch five eighths long to the feathers on the forehead, slender, slightly curved, and of a jet black colour, except at the base, which is of a bright orange, extending about the eighth of an inch in breadth on the upper mandible from the comer of the mouth, round the front and round the nostrils ; and on the under mandible, extending from the angle of the mouth along the sides as far as the feathers on the chin, and rather beyond on the under part ; the inside of the mouth and throat bright orange, becoming darker towards the end of the bill ; hides black ; the tongue one half the length of the bill, of a pale red colour and bifurcated at the point ; the forehead, crown, hiud part, and sides of the head, taking in the eyes, except a small portion of the lower part of the orbit, jet black ; the black feathers on the hind head thinly diffused, and flowing over the white down the back of the neck ; the feathers on the sides of the head, extending in a narrow line along the upper mandible to the nostrils, and on the sides of the neck white ; the whole under parts are white, but the fore-part of the neck, breast, and belly to beyond the vent, are tinged with a most delicate rosy blush, the back scapulars, and coverts of the wings, pale cinereous -grey ; the quiU feathers are narrow, the first has the exterior web black, with a hoary tinge ; the others are hoary on that part ; and part of the inner web next to the shaft of the first three or four is hoary black, becoming by degrees paler in the succeeding feathers, all deeply margined with white quite to the tip, and the shafts of all are white ; length of the wing from the elbow to the extremity of the first quill feathers nine inches and a quarter ; the tail is greatly forked, the outer feather is seven inches long, extending two inches beyond the wings when closed, extremely slender, and the end for an inch or more slightly ciliated ; the middle feathers are scarcely three inches in length, they are all white, destitute of any markings ; the legs and feet, including the bare space above the knee, which is nearly half an inch, are of the brightest orange colour ; the claws black and hooked. Cumbrey Islands, Firth of Clyde, Scotland. At one time it was considered that Brunnich’s prior description of Sterna paradisea was applicable to this bird, but it is now generally conceded that Brunnich’s name was given to the Arctic Tern, commonly known under Naumann’s name of Sterna macroura ; therefore, this present species must be known under Montagu’s name. Gould separated the Australian bird as Sterna gracilis {Proc. Zool. Soc. (Lond.) 1845, p. 76) as follows : — St. summo capiteet nucha posteriore saturate nigris ; lateribus nuchae et parte inferiore seriaceo-albis, pectore et abdomine leviter rosaceis ; rostro carnicolore, apice brunneo- nigro ; pedibus aureofusis. Crown of the head, nape and back of the neck deep black ; sides of the neck and all the under surface silky white, with a blush of rosy red on the breast and abdomen ; back, wings and tail light grey, becoming darker on the primaries; irides brownish-red; bill flesh colour except at the tip, where it is washed with blackish-brown ; feet orange-red. Total length, 13 inches ; bill 2| ; wing 8^ ; tail 6| ; tarsi |. Hab. The Houtman’s Abrolhos, off the western coast of Australia. 360 AUSTRALIAN ROSEATE TERN. Apparently overlooking his own description, two years later in the same journal he again gave this bird the same name {Proc. Zool. Soc. (Lond.) 1847, p. 222), indicating it as a new species. When Masters wrote up the “ Ornithology of the Che vert ” {Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., Vol. I., 1875), he introduced a Sterna nigrifrons (p. 62), as here given : — Head and neck above and the outer web of the external primary, jet black ; remainder of the upper surface, wings and tail, light silvery grey ; throat and all the under surface white, with a beautiful roseate tint ; three first primaries with a line of dull black on their inner webs next the shaft ; bill black ; legs and feet red ; nails black. Total length, without biU, to central tail feathers, 9 inches ; to outer tail feathers 12.2 ; wing 8.7 ; tail to centre feathers 2.6 ; to outer 6.1 ; tarsi, 0.8 ; bill, from forehead, 1.6 ; from anterior margin of nostril 1.2 ; from nape 2. Warrior Reef, Torres Straits. On the same page he also noted Sterna inelanorhyncha from Warrior Reef. Both these entries appear referable to this form. Recently it has been commonly allowed that the birds of the Eastern seas are separable from those of the Atlantic ; and for the Eastern form, which has been given a range from the Seychelles to the Philippines, Gould’s name being the earliest, has been used. Whether the American breeding birds agree with those on the European side of the Atlantic I cannot decide, as though long series are available from the former locality, not many are at hand from the latter, where this bird seems generally scarce. Not much variation in colour is noticeable when Eastern birds are examined, while there is not a great deal of difference in size. The apparent difficulty seems to be in the erratic disposition of the subspecies, as accurate comparisons cannot be made with birds breeding at different sides of the Equator. Thus Sterna dougallii, breeding in the Atlantic, follows the seasons in its plumage-changes and breeding-habits. South of the Equator, at least in Australia, so much discrepancy exists in its plumage-changes and breeding- habits, that these are not well known. In the Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., 2nd ser., Vol. I., p. 1100, 1886, Ramsay recorded Sterna frontalis from Derby, North-west Australia, writing : “ Found all over the coast line of Australia.” This was endorsed by Carter {E^nu, Vol. III., p. 208, 1904) who, in his “ List of Birds Occurring af the North-west Cape,” included Sterna frontalis as “ Seen in the summer months about sandy points.” Both these authorities knew Sterna gracilis well, yet there is no doubt that both records refer to this bird and not to the next species. Moreover, on one of Carter’s specimens I founded the subspecies S. striata cTiristopheri, which must fall as a synonym of S. d. gracilis. 361 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. Examination of the whole of Carter’s specimens, along with a good snite collected about the same locality by Tunney, show that the birds do not appear to observe regular seasons for their plumage-changes. Carter’s specimens of “ Sterna frontalis ” were collected about the same days as he shot Sterna gracilis in full breeding-plumage. Thus a male collected at Point Cloates on January 22nd, 1899, has the bill yellowish with darker tips, but is otherwise in full breeding-plumage, although somewhat worn, it has not commenced to moult. Another male, killed on March 30th, 1902, has the data : “ Irides hazel, bill black, legs and feet coral red,” and is in perfect breeding-plumage, having completed its moult, all the feathers being new. Another bird, a female, killed January 21st, 1899, has the bill black and the feet look black while the forehead is white and the back of the head and neck dull brownish-black ; the outermost primary is old and worn brown, the second primary missing, the inner primaries all new. This was named S. frontalis by Mr. Carter. A fourth, also a female, killed on March 16th, 1902, has the data, “ Irides hazel, bill, legs and feet black ” ; it is in similar plumage to the last mentioned, but has all the primaries new and perfect. This was also named S. frontalis by Mr. Carter. Of five birds procured on Bedout Island, North-west Australia, May 27th and 28th, 1901, a male has the “ iris black, legs red, bill black,” all new and perfect plumage except a few white feathers on the forehead and forepart of the lores : it would seem to be in a stage equivalent to about a fortnight or so earlier than the one killed on March 30th, 1902, noted above, yet it is two months later. The other four are aU in the “ frontalis ” plumage, but all show little differences ; and according to the collector they all have black bills, but one has “legs red,” two “dark red,” a fourth “almost black” ; and these differences are apparent in the skins. The one with legs red has moulted so far that all the primaries are new, but only the two centre tail-feathers are new, the others old and worn. One of the dark red-legged birds has not commenced to moult, but the primaries are worn, while the tail-feathers are brown and show the brown tips of immaturity. The other dark red- legged bird is in the middle of the moult, having only the three oute^ old primaries left, while the tail is new and perfect. The fourth, with the “ legs almost black,” is a stage further than the preceding, having only two old worn primaries left. Now, what is to be learnt from this ? Is it that the plumage we now ascribe to immaturity is the winter-plumage of the adult ? Or does the immature carry the immature-phase of plumage for a full year ? A bird, killed at Broome, North-west Australia (a female), on Novem- ber lOth, 1903, has the data, “ Iris and bill black, feet and legs fleshy-brown.” 362 AUSTRALIAN ROSEATE TERN. Now, this bird has the outside tail-feathers half grown the others worn but showing no brown tips ; the five outermost primaries are old and worn, but the innermost new. The forehead is mottled black and white. But two birds procured on Houtman’s Abrolhos on October 26th, 1899, and November 14th, 1898, are in perfect breeding-plumage, with the “ bills black, feet and legs bright red (coral).” When we come to deal with other specimens from various parts of the north coast, we meet with further peculiarities. Two males procured at Roe- buck Bay on November 6th, 1895, have very short black bills and dark legs, but have dull brownish black caps with a few whitish feathers on the forehead ; both are just commencing to moult. These birds are darker than any of the preceding. A black-billed bird with the data, “ Female Tern, caught off Campbell Island, Torres Straits; legs red; breeding season, March,” has the bill black and is in perfect breeding-plumage. New Caledonian birds provide more food for thought : “ a ^ non-breed, Dec. 14, 1 1879; beak orange and brown; legs orange; iris dark drab” is in perfect breeding-plumage ; while a “ $ Sept. 21, 1878 ; beak black ; legs orange, iris dark drab” is also in perfect breeding-plumage; yet a third, “ $ Oct. 10, 1878, beak black, legs red orange, iris dark drab,” has the outer primary old and worn, the remaining primaries new, the tail a little worn, but it has the forehead and top of the head nearly all white, the back of the head and nape dull brown. Another bird from Isabel, Solomon Islands, “ ? July 10, 1901, iris dark brown, feet bright red, bill orange with black tip,” is in slightly worn breeding-plumage. What does the bill-coloration mean ? Apparently the majority of Aus- tralian specimens have black bills, but Gould described that of his 8. gracilis as “ flesh colour except at the tip, where it is washed with blackish- brown,” and a bird from the Gould collection is the only Australian bird I have seen fully agreeing with this description. As noted above, all the Eastern forms have been lumped under the subspecific gracilis, but with this conclusion I cannot agree. ^ In the Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., Havard, Vol. XXXVI., p. 256, 1900, Bangs, dealing with a collection of birds from the Liu Kiu Islands, called his bird Sterna dougallii gracilis, and commented - These specimens are extreme of the slender-billed small form to which Gould’s name gracilis applies. Specimens from western Europe and Africa agree closely in measurements with those from eastern North America and the West Indies. The red bill 363 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. claimed as a character of gracilis may be due to age, many young specimens from America having red bills, while in the adult birds it is black. The differences between the two races of the Roseate Tern in size and in measurements of the bill are well marked. The Liu Kiu Islands specimens agree in measurements with the Australian form : — (J Wing 221, Tail to second rectrix 110, Tarsus 20.2, Culmen (exp.) 36.6 ? » 216 „ „ 109 „ 19.4 „ 36.0 A series of birds from Foochow, procured in July, 1897, “ breeding on an island outside the river,” and a bird from the Liu Kiu Islands agree with Bangs’s measurements and are all in perfect plumage, the Liu Kiu specimen having an almost black bill, the Foochow birds have parti-coloured bills, apparently black tips with orange bases. I cannot attach these to gracilis from West Australia, as typical gracilis has not a short bill ; the longest billed Foochow specimen only measures — culmen (exp.) 37 mm., while the fully adult Westralian bird has a culmen measuring 42.5 mm., immature birds going over 38 mm. In addition, the bill of the Foochow specimens is much stouter than in any other form, so that I propose to separate the Foochow and Liu Kiu Island birds as a distinct subspecies, which I intend to call Sterna dougallii hangsi, subsp. n. ; Foochow, China ; and the Liu Kiu Islands. Culmen (exp.) 36-37 mm., very stout ; wing 216-222 ; tarsus 22-22.5 (Bangs 19.4-20.2 ; this must be due to a different way of measuring only) ; tail to second outside rectrix about 110 mm. The type is from Foochow, China. In Stray Feathers^ Vol. II., p. 318, 1874, Hume named the Andaman breeding bird Sternula horustes. Long series of this form are available, and it is easily recognised by its very short weak bill ; the bill in adults when breeding, seems to be as often parti-coloured as blackish. The wing-measure- ment averages about 220 mm., while the culmen rarely exceeds 36, and is noticeably more slender than in S. d. hangsi. It should be recognised as Sterna dougallii Icorustes Hume ; Andaman Islands (breeding May and June). I have obtained a series collected on Aride Island, Seychelles, on February 1st, 1908. These have “ Bill black ; base red ; eyes grey ; feet red.” They are in perfect breeding-plumage, and have short and slender bills like S. d. horustes, but have shorter wings, while the coloration of the upper parts, especially the tail, is noticeably darker. For these I propose the name Sterna dougallii arideensis, subsp. n.; Seychelles Island (breeding). 364 AUSTRALIAN ROSEATE TERN. The Australian and New Caledonian birds I at present class as Sterna dougallii gracilis Gould ; West and North Australia (breeding) ; New Caledonia (breeding) but later the Eastern form may be separated, and Masters’s S, nigrifrons made use of. Though, with a conservatism probably to be regretted, I have classed these birds under Sterna, I am not satisfied that this is the correct course, but under the present circumstances I cannot do otherwise. A monographic study by an up-to-date ornithologist would probably see this bird placed under Thalassoea Kaup, which genus was provided for it alone. With it would probably be accepted Sterna striata, which appears to be strictly congeneric, and also Sterna sumatrana kempi, though the last named is somewhat aberrant, and on account of its proportionately much stronger feet, might be given subgeneric rank under the name GYGISTERNA (nov.), the monotypic type being the above-mentioned Sterna sumatrana hempi Mathews. Many authors may consider Thalassoea to be invalid on account of the prior Thalasseus, and of course these may make use of Gygisterna for this group. VOL. ri. 365 Order LARIF0RME8 No. 134. Family LARI DM. STERNA STRIATA MELANORHYNCHA. AUSTRALIAN WHITE-FRONTED TERN. (Plate 109.)* Sterna melanoehyncha Gould, Birds Austr., Vol. VII., pi. 26, 1848; Tasmanian seas. Sterna melanorJiyncha Gould, Birds Austr., Vol. VII., pi. 26, 1848 ; id., Handb. Birds Austr., Vol. II., p. 398, 1865. Sterna velox (not Riippell) id., Proc. Zool. Soc. (Lond.) 1842, p. 139. Sterna frontalis Ramsay, Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., Vol. II., p. 201, 1877 ; id.. Tab. List. Austr. Birds, p. 23, 1888 ; North, Austr. Mus. Oat., No. 12, p. 403, 1890 ; Saunders, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., Vol. XXV., p. 97, 1896 ; North, Birds County Cumber., p. 113, 1898 ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 88, 1899 ; Campbell, Nests and Eggs Austr. Birds, p. 840, 1901 ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 88, 1906 ; Mathews, Handl. Birds Austral., p. 21, 1908 ; Littler, Handb. Birds Tasm., p. 148, 1910. Sterna striata (not Gmehn) Mathews, Nov. Zool., Vol. XVIII., p. 4, 1911 ; id.. Emu, Vol. X., p. 320, 1911. Sterna striata incerta id., Nov. Zool., Vol. XVIII., p. 208, 1912. Distribution. South-east Austraha. Adult male in hreeding-ylumage. Head and nape deep black, wings, scapulars, back and tail very pale grey ; the outer web of the first primary blackish, paler towards the tip, inner webs chiefly white, with a shade of grey near the shafts ; secondaries for the most part white, with grey on the outer webs ; tail-feathers white on the inner webs towards the base ; forehead, lores, sides of the face, sides of the neck, and the entire under-surface silky-white, including the under tail-coverts, axiUaries, and under wing-coverts. Bill black ; iris brown ; feet and legs brownish- red. Total length 451 mm. ; culmen 40, wing 272, tail 185, tarsus 21. Adult female. Similar to the adult male. Adult in winter-'plumage. Differs from the adult in breeding-plumage, in having the fore-part, and entire crown of the head white, the feathers being sHghtly tipped with black. Immature and Nestling. Do not appear to have been described. Nest. A depression in the sand or gravel. Eggs. Clutch, two ; ground-colour stone, blotched with dark brown and fight grey ; axis 47-48 mm., diameter 33-34 (Tasmania). Breeding -season. November and December. * The Plate is lettered Sterna frontalis. 366 \ Oj|fO STERNA FRONTALIS . (WHITE- FRONTED TERN). AUSTRALIAN WHITE-FRONTED TERN. Mr. Charles Belcher says this bird is not common in Victorian waters ; it may however be seen from time to time in Hobson’s Bay and Port Phillip. And although it breeds on ocean islets it is more often to be met with on the quieter waters of the bay, than on the coast proper. It may safely be said that it does not breed on the mainland of South Victoria. Mr. A. J. Campbell,* writing about this species fishing off Town Pier, Port Melbourne, says : “ The graceful actions of the birds diving into the water and capturing tiny fish were very entertaining. Sometimes they come quite close to the pier, poise in the air for a second, then dive headlong into the water, rising with a tiny silver-sided fish held in black biU. These clever little divers never appear to miss their aim. Their bodies, with semi-closed wings, resemble an arrow’s head as they enter the water. Occasionally a bird on the wing gives its whole body a nervous quiver, as if throwing off the salt sea-spray after a dive.” In the Proc. Zool. Soc. (Lond.) 1842, p. 139, Gould proposed a new species of Tern from Tasmanian waters as Sterna velox, thus : — Stern, fronte, loris, colli lateribus, et corpore inferiore albis ; spatio circumoculari, occipite et nucha nigris ; corpore superiore, alis, caudaque belle cinereis. Forehead, lores, sides of the neck, and all the under surface white ; space surrounding the eye, occiput, and back of the neck black ; all the upper surface, wings and tail delicate grey ; outer web of the external quill greyish black ; shafts of all the primaries white ; irides blackish brown ; bill black. Total length 13 inches ; bill 2| ; wing 9| ; tail ; tarsi |. Hab. Bass’s Straits. In his Birds of Australia he amended the name to Sterna melanorJiyncJia, as Sterna velox was preoccupied. Ramsay identified the East Australian bird as Sterna frontalis, the well- known New Zealand species, and that name has been commonly in use partly owing to the action of Saunders, who rejected Gmelin’s name of Sterna striata in favour of the later S, frontalis. I pointed out in the Nov. Zool., Vol. XVIII., p. 4, 1911, that we must revert to Gmelin’s name. Gmelin’s description {Syst. Nat., p. 609, 1789) is here given: — St. alba supra nigro-undulata, rostro et occipite nigris, pedibus plumbeis. > Striated Tern. Lath. syn. Ill, 2, p. 358, n. 10, t. 98. Habitat circa novam Seelandiam, puUo cantiacae similis, candidae aequalis. Irides plumbeae ; vertex et genae albae, nigro-maculatae ; rectrices aliae margine aliae apice nigrae. * Neats and Eggs Auatr. Birds, p. 840, 1901, 367 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. Latham’s account reads : — [Striated Tern]. PI. XCVIII. Size of the White Tern ? Bill black : irides lead-colour : the crown of the head, and sides, below the eyes, white, mottled with black : the back part of the head and nape black : the hind part of the neck, back, and scapulars, white, transversely waved with black, many of the feathers being tipped with that colour ; wing coverts bluish-white, some of the lesser ones mottled with black : quills the same, with the outer margins black : all the under parts white : tail white, shorter than the wings : some of the feathers edged, and others tipped with black : legs lead-colour. Inhabits the sea and shores of New Zealand. Prom the drawings of Sir Joseph Banks. This greatly resembles the yoimg of the Sandwich Tern. When Gray studied Dieffenbach’s collection of New Zealand birds, he accepted Gmelin’s name, as one of the specimens agreed completely with the description. The following year he received the “ Erebus ” and “ Terror ” birds, and in his report he there proposed a new name. Sterna frontalis, under which style the New Zealand bird has been commonly known. When Sharpe studied the Banksian drawings, he {Hist. Coll. Brit. Mus. Birds, Vol. II., p. 204, 1906), drew attention to the fact that the drawing by Ellis represented this species, and that Gmelin’s name of Sterna striata founded on it should replace S. frontalis. Inasmuch as Latham repro- duced Ellis’s figure, there has never been any reason for the rejection of Gmefin’s name. When I made up my “ Reference List to the Birds of Australia ” {Nov. Zool., Vol. XVIII., p. 208, 1912), I named the Australian bird. Sterna striata incerta, as Gould’s name of Sterna melanorJiyncha was preoccupied in the genus by Lesson. The acceptance of the genus Sternula however, admits the use of Gould’s name, as Lesson described his bird as Sternula 7nelanorTiyncTia. Those who prefer to lump all the Terns under Sterna, must use my name of S. s. incerta. The distribution of this species is quite peculiar, as it seems confined to New Zealand and the east of Australia only. Buller wrote {Stippl. Birds New Zeal., Vol. I., p. 159, 1905), “ I found this Tern abundant at Tonga,” but I have nowhere seen confirmation of this, nor is it recorded from the Kermadecs. Buller, in the Trans. New Zeal. Inst., Vol. XXVIII., 1895, p. 349, 1896, named the Auckland Island form, Sterna hethunei with the diagnosis : — “ Ad. ptil. aestiv. similis S. frontali sed pauUo major ; rostro et pedibus conspicue majoribus.” I find the specimens from the Auckland Islands to agree, but I have a specimen from the Chatham Islands which seems referable to the larger form. I would for the present accept three subspecies Sterna striata striata Gmelin ; New Zealand. 368 AUSTRALIAN WHITE-FRONTED TERN. As synonyms should be noted, Sterim frontalis Gray and 8. albifrons Peale. Sterna striata hethunei Buller ; Auckland Islands ; Chatham Islands. Sterna striata melanorhyncha Gould ; East Australia. As synonyms should be recorded Sterna velox Gould (not Ruppell), and S. striata incerta Mathews. I diagnosed the latter thus : “ Differs from 8. s. striata in its slightly smaller size and darker wings ” ; and if the genus Sternula be not recognised this name must be utilised. \ 369 Order LARIFOBMES No. 135. Family LARIDJE. STERNA SUMATRANA KEMPI. AUSTRALIAN BLACK-NAPED TERN. (Plate 110.)* Sterka sfmatrana KEMPI Mathews, Nov. Zool., Vol. XVIII., p. 210, 1912 ; Torres Strait. Sterna melanauchen Gould, Birds Austr., Vol. VII., pi. 28, 1848 ; Macgillivray, Voy. “ Rattlesnake,” Vol. I., pp, 120, 196, 1852 ; Gould, Handb. Birds Austr., Vol. II., p. 400, 1865 ; Masters, Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., Vol. I., p. 62, 1875 ; Ramsay, ib., Vol. II., p. 201, 1877 ; id.. Tab. List. Austr. Birds, p. 23, 1888; North, Austr. Mus. Cat., No. 12, p, 356, 1889 ; Saunders, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., Vol. XXV., p. 126, 1896 (pars) ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 89, 1899 ; Campbell, Nests and Eggs Austr. Birds, p. 849, 1901 ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 89, 1906 ; Mathews, Handl. Birds Austral., p. 21, 1908 ; Macgilhvray, Emu, Vol. X., p. 229, 1910. Sterna sumatrana hemyi Mathews, Nov. Zool., Vol. XVIII., p. 210, 1912. Distribution. North Queensland. Adult male in breeding-plumage. Back, wings, and tail silvery-grey ; crown of head, hind-neck, and the entire under-surface of body silky-white, including the axil- laries and under wing-coverts ; a line from behind the eye which widens out on the nape and forms a broad black collar ; an elongated black spot in front of the eye ; outer web of first primary black. Total length 300 mm. ; cuhnen 38, wing 197, tail 120, tarsus 19. Adult female. Similar to the adult male. Adult in winter-plumage. Differs from the adult in breeding-plumage, in having less extensive black on the nape and in front to the eye. Immature. “ The fully-fledged young of the year differs from the adult in having the black on the head dark brown mottled with white, and the whole of the upper surface and wings variegated with dark brownish-grey ” (MacgiUivray). Nest. A depression in the sand. Eggs. Clutch, two ; ground colour buff, marked all over with irregular shaped markings of chestnut, light grey and lavender; axis 39-41 mm., diameter 29. Breeding-season. November (Macgillivray). Macgillivray t says : “ This beautiful bird is ve^ry local in its breeding- places ; the only one known to me being one of the three sand-banks near Sir Charles Hardy’s Islands [North Queensland]. The eggs are two in * The Plate is lettered Sterna melanauchen. t In Gould’s Handb. Birds Austr., Vol. II., p. 401, 1865. 370 STERNA MELANAUCHEN . / BLACK-NAPEI) TERN) . AUSTRALIAN BLACK-NAPED TERN, number, deposited in a slight hollow in the sand. I have seen this bird on another neighbouring sand-bank, also on Solitary Island, near Cape York, and in Endeavour Straits, but was unable to procure a specimen from any of the last-mentioned localities, on account of its excessive shyness. It is one of the most noisy of the Terns, and I generally saw it in small parties of half- a-dozen, or thereabouts.” Dr. .Macgillivray* discovered these birds breeding on Bushy Island, North Queensland, in November. He found their nests on the rugged ironstone rock a little above high-water mark, the pair of eggs being placed in each instance on a bedding of fine rock-chippings in some convenient depression or crevice. The type figured and described was collected in Torres Strait, North Queensland. In the Trans, Linn. Soc. (Lend.), Vol. XIII., p. 329, 1821, Raffles described Sterna sumatrana thus : “ A small species with short tail, and wings about the same length with it. The prevailing colour is white tinged on the back, head, and wing-coverts with light reddish-brown, and mixed with a few dark spots. A blackish crescent extends from eye to eye round the back of the head. Wing-feathers lead-grey, the first one nearly black. Lower parts snow-white. Tail of the same colour as the back. Sumatra.” There is no difficulty in recognising in this description the immature of the Tern familiarly known as Sterna melanauchen Temminck, figured in the Plan. Col. d'Ois., 72® livr., Vol. IV., pi. 427, 1827, from Celebes. The reason why Raffles’s name has not been accepted, I cannot say, except it be due to the influence of Saunders, who monographed the Terns in the Cat. Birds Brit. Mus.y Vol. XXV., in 1896. When Saunders wrote up his “ Review of the Terns ” in the Proc. Zool. Soc. (Lond.) 1876, he used Raffles’s S. sumatrana for the Indian Little Tern, which brought forth the following comment from Hume {Stray Feathers, Vol. V., p. 325, 1877) : “ As regards this last, I must dissent to this application of Raffles’s name. Bad as his description is, and he was probably dealing with an immature bird, ‘ the prevailing colour white, and tail like back ’ and the words ‘ a blackish crescent extends from eye to eye, round the back of the head,’ to my mind fix the species as identical with melanauchen Temminck, the commonest Tern at the Andamans, Nicobars, the Straits and on the bi)asts of Summatra.” Raffles’s description certainly does apply to the immature of this bird, and to nothing else. * Emu, Vol. X., p. 229, 1910. 371 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. Saunders’s ideas of immature birds of this group seem puzzling, as can be best understood by reference to a footnote in the Cat. Birds Brit. Mus.^ Vol. XXV., p. 70, 1896. Saunders placed in the synonymy of Sterna dougallii the reference “ ? Larus polo-candor Sparrman, II., fasc. III., No. 83, 1788,” and starred it for a footnote, which reads : “A very young bird, little more than a fledgling ; the white edges to the primaries indicate that it belongs to this species or to S. melanauchen.^^ I do not think any modern student who refers to Sparrman’ s figure and description, will look anywhere near either S. dougallii or S. melanauchen to find Sparrman’s bird. Though there is not much variation in colour in this species, and very little difference in wing-measurements, the Australian breeding birds are undoubtedly smaller in the wings, and have, moreover, longer bills. A long series from the Andamans agree fairly with Sumatran birds, and a few from the Celebes agree in that the bill never measures more than 35 mm., while the wing goes over 225 mm. Australian breeding birds have biUs over 37 — mostly 39, while the wing never reaches 220 mm. At present I can only recognise Sterna swnatrana sumatrana Raffles ; Andamans, Sumatra to Celebes. S. melanauchen Temminck is a synonym. Sterna smnatrana hempi Mathews ; North-east Australia. Specimens from Foochow may represent another race, while birds from Fiji, Pelew Islands, and Phoenix Island do not seem easily referable to the North-east Australian form. In the synonymy of this species Saunders {Proc. Zool. Soc. (Lond.) 1876, p. 661) included “ Gygis, sp. ? et Gygis decorata Hartlaub, Ibis, 1864, p. 232 : Godeffroy’s Cat. I. (1864), p. 5.” In the first place Gygis sp. occurs in a list of birds from the Feejee Islands, where also a description is given which undoubtedly refers to this bird. If this description is named Gygis decorata in the second place, to which quotation I have not access, Hartlaub’s name win be available for the Fijian form when series are at hand to determine the subspecific characters. 372 Genus— S T E K N U L A . Sternula Boie, Isis 1822, p. 563 . . ► . . . . Type S. albifrms. Least Terns, with comparatively long, stout bills, short legs, long wings and tails. The bill is longer than the head, but less than twice the length of the tarsus, which is about equal to the middle toe and claw. The tail is long and forked, but the streamers are generally much less than half the length of the wing. Eeet not completely webbed. The diagnostic features are the small size, stout bill proportionally, and the webbing of the feet. VOL. u. 373 Key to the Species. Summer-plwnage. A. Lores black. a'. Smaller ; bill more slender. . . . . . S. alhifrons placens, p. 375. h\ Larger ; bill heavier and longer . . . . S. alhifrons tormenti, p. 382. B. Lores white. c'. Darker ; with less white on forehead . . 8. nereis nereis, p. 383. d\ Lighter ; with more white on forehead . . 8. nereis horni, p. 386. 374 Order LARIFOBMES No. 136. Family LARIDM. STERNULA ALBIERONS PLAOENS. EASTERN WHITE-SHAFTED TERNLET. (Plate 111.)* Sternula placens Grould, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. iv., Vol. VIII., p. 192, 1871 ; Torres Strait. Sternula placens Gould, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. iv., Vol. VIII., p. 192, 1871 ; Masters, Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., Vol. I., p 63, 1875 ; Gould, Birds New Guinea, Vol. V., pi. 72, 1876 ; Ramsay, Proc. Zool. Soc. (Lond.) 1877, p. 347. Sternula inconspicua Masters, Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., Vol. I., p. 63, 1875 ; Ramsay, ih., Vol. II., p. 201, 1877 ; id., Tab. List. Austr. Birds, p. 23, 1888. Sternula sinensis Ramsay, Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., Vol. II., p. 201, 1877 ; id., Tab. List Austr. Birds, p. 23, 1888; North, Austr. Mus. Cat., No. 12, p. 405, 1890 ; id., Rec. Austr. Mus., Vol. I., p. 39, 1890 ; id.. Birds County Cumber., p. 113, 1898. Sterna sinensis Saunders, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., Vol. XXV., p. 113, 1896 (pars) ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 89, 1899 ; Campbell, Nests and Eggs Austr. Birds, p. 848, 1901 ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 89, 1906 ; Mathews, Handl. Birds ilustral., p. 21, 1908 ; Austin, Emu, Vol. VII., p. 176, 1908 ; Ingram, Ibis 1908, p. 462 ; Campbell and White, Emu, Vol. X., p. 199, 1910 ; Hull, ih., 258, p. 1911. Sterna sinensis placens Mathews, Nov. Zool., Vol. XVIII., p. 209, 1912 ; id.. Austral Av. Rec., Vol. I., p. 54, 1912. Distribution. East Australia, from Torres Strait to New South Wales. Adult male in breeding -plumage. General colour of the upper surface grey, including the mantle, back, scapulars, and wings ; the four outer primary- quills have a dark brown pattern on the outer web and adjoining the shaft on the inner one, the inner portion of which is white ; the innermost primaries and secondaries grey, the latter white on the inner webs and fringed with white at the tips ; upper tail-coverts and tail ivory-white ; a line of feathers from the base of the bill to the eye black, Hke Obhe hinder part of the crown and nape ; fore-part of head and entire under-surface of body silky-white, including the under wing-coverts and under tail-coverts ; biU yellow, black at tip ; iris brown ; feet orange-yellow. Total length 240 mm. ; culmen 30, wing 176, tail 70, tarsus 18. Adult female. Similar to the adult male. The Plate is lettered Sterna sinensis. 375 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. Adult in winter-plumage. Distinguished from the summer- or breeding-plumage by the encroachment of the white of the fore-part of the head on to the idnder-crown, leaving only the nape and sides of the crown black, and a shade of black in front of the eye. Immature and Nestling. Do not appear to have been described. Nest. A depression in the sand. Eggs. Clutch, two ; ground-colour stone, spotted all over, but more on the larger end, with purphsh-red and sparingly with lavender-coloured spots ; axis 33 mm., diameter 26. Breeding-season. December (Byron Bay), October (North, Tweed River), November (Austin, Victor Island). Dr. Ramsay* says : “I first found this beautiful species in December, 1865, at the mouth of the Richmond River, when I took it for S. nereis. I have repeatedly found them at different times during the last six years from as far south as Illawarra to Rockingham Bay in north-eastern Queensland, where it appears to be one of the most common species of Tern.” Mr. Northf records this bird breeding on the Tweed River Heads on October 7th, 1889. Mr. Austin^ found this species breeding on Victor Island, Queensland, in November, 1907. An egg in my collection was obtained at Byron Bay on December 4th, 1904. Hull simply writes {EmUy Vol. X., p. 258, 1911) : “On a small sandspit [at Port Stephens ?] which we visited on our way home we found a few two and three sets of eggs of Sterna sinensis ” — without any further comment. The bird figured and described is a male, collected on the Queensland coast in November, 1880. The determination of the correct name to be used for the Eastern Wliite- shafted Ternlet has again necessitated the examination of the allied forms inhabiting the Old World. Following Saunders {Cat. Birds Brit. Mus.y Vol. XXV., p. 113, 1896) the Australian form was considered to be identical with the Chinese, and Gmelin’s name of S. sinensis has been generally used. A critical examination showed the inaccuracy of this, and I therefore used {Nov. Zool., Vol. XVIII., p. 209, 1912) Gould’s name of S. placens, ranking it as a subspecies of S. sinensis. When Saunders {loc. cit.) separated the Ternlets, he admitted Sterna minuta. Sterna saundersi, and Sterna sinensis ; but as Indian specimens were sometimes called Sterna minuta and sometimes Sterna saundersi, while * Proc. Zool. Soc. (Lond.) 1877, p. 347. t Rec. Austr. Mua., Vol. I., p. 39, 1890. X Emu, Vol. VII., p. 176, 1908. 376 EASTERN WHITE-SHAFTED TERNLET. Somaliland specimens were at times named S. minuta, at others 8. saundersi, and then East Indian birds were alternately recognised as 8. saundersi and 8. sinensis, — ^further study seemed necessary. American Terniets are so distinct that they do not enter into this review ; in addition to the different adult-plumage, the juvenile phases are easily separable. Though generally known by the name of 8terna minuta Linne {8yst. Nat, 12th ed., p. 228, 1766), this name is antedated by 8terna albifrons Pallas in Vroeg’s Cat Rais. d’Ois. Adumh., p. 6. 1764, whose description is here reproduced : — Sterna (albifrons) alba, cauda forcipata, vertice nigro, triangulo frontali albo ; remigibus extimis nigris. Turdurn mole aequat. Alba, in dorso cana. Vertex & cervix atra, sed triangulnm album, apice rostro insistens, in fronte. Remiges 2 extimae fusco- nigrae, interiori margine albae ; reliquae exterius, loco nigri canae. Tectricum extimae binae fuscae. Cauda hirundinacea, alba. Rostrum pedesque flavescimt ; apex rostri & imgues nigricant. The locality is Europe. The type-locality of Linne’s 8terna 7ninuta {8yst Nat, 12th ed., p. 228, 1766) is South Europe ; while S. G. Gmelin {Nov. Coimn. Acad. 8ci. Imp. Petrop., Vol. XV., p. 475, 1771) introduced 8terna 7netopoleucos for a Russian Bird. Gmelin, in his 8yst Nat, included 8terna 7ninuta and 7netopoleucos p. 608), and introduced 8ter7ia sinensis (same page) thus : — St. alba, dorso, alls caudaque cinereis, rostro et fascia verticis ad nucham usque producta nigris, pedibus fulvis. Chinese Tern. Lath. syn. III., 2, p. 365, n. 19. Habitat in Sina, minutae aflfinis, 8 pollices longa. Ungues nigri. Latham’s description reads as foUows : — British Museum. Length eight inches. Bill black ; one inch and a quarter in length, and moderately stout ; nostrils pervious ; head, neck, rump, and imder parts, white ; across the top of the head dusky black, taking in the eye on each side, and passing downwards in a point at the nape of the neck ; back cinereous ; some of the feathers edged with pale tawny ; wing coverts fine pale ash-colour, dashed down the middle of each shaft with dusky ; quills fine cinereous grey ; tail short, very little forked, paler than the quills ; legs slender, orange ; claws crooked, and black. Inhabits China. It seems much allied to the last. When Horsfield wrote up the birds of Java he called the Javan bird 8. 7ninuta, but Temminck, under the heading of 8. 7ninuta, noted : — ' Manuel d'Orn., 2nd ed., Vol. IV., p. 464, 1840. Remarque. — II parait que la petite Hirondelle de mer des iles de la Sonde et des Moluques, diSere un peu de celle d’Europe par la taille, moins forte, et par la forme plus grele du bee. Quoique M. Horsfield la considere comme la meme que notre Minuta, nous sommes d’avis qu’elle forme une espece distincte, a la verite tres-peu disparatre de la notre. Elle a ete designee par nos voyageurs sous le nom de Pusilla. On la trouve lusqu’a la Nouvelle Guinee. 377 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. Gould separated the Australian bird as 8. placens Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser, iv., Vol. VIII., p. 192, 1871. Stemula placens Gould. Adult male. Bill yeUow, with the apical third of both mandibles black, as sharply defined as if they had been dipped in ink ; forehead white, advancing over each eye to near its posterior angle ; lores a narrow line above the eyes, crown and nape black ; upper surface of the body and wing coverts grey ; the first primary slaty black on the outer web and along the inner web next the shaft ; the shaft itself and the outer half of the inner web white ; the second primary similarly but a little less strongly marked ; the remainder of the primaries silvery grey, with lighter shafts ; throat and all the under surface of the body silky white ; tail white ; feet yellow. Total length 10 inches ; bill, from the gape If, wing 7|, tail 4f, ta,rsi |. Hab. Torres Straits. Masters described the same bird as 8. inconspicua {Proc. Linn. 8oc. N.8.W.f Vol. I., p. 63, 1876):— Forehead and line over the eye white ; a narrow line of black extends from lores over the eyelids ; central portion of the crown white, mottled with black, becoming black on the nape and hind -neck ; all the upper surface light grey, with a darker patch running back from the shoulders ; primaries blackish-brown on the outer and inner webs next the shaft ; secondaries grey margined with white ; tail white, slightly washed with grey ; bill of a brownish-black, lighter at the sides and gape ; legs and feet dark brown : irides black. Total length (without bill) to central tail feathers, 6.5 ; to outer tail feathers 7.7 ; wing 7.0 ; tail to centre feathers 1.9 ; to outer 3.15 ; tarsi 0.6 ; bill from forehead 1.25 ; from anterior margin of nostril 0.9 ; from gape 1.6. One male and four females, Mud Bay, Cape York. Ramsay, when he accepted 8. placens Gould as being identical with the prior 8. sinensis Gmelin, did not recognise that Masters’s bird was the same, and Saunders, in the Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., only placed it in the synonymy with a query. A complication had been introduced through the action of Hume, in 8tray Feathers, Vol. V., pp. 324-326, 1877. Saunders had the previous year {Proc. Zool. 8oc. (Lond.) 1876, p. 663) reviewed the Terns, and had accepted 8. sumatrana Raffles for the Indian Ternlet. His key to the forms of Ternlets was based on the colour of the tail and primary- and primary-shaft coloration. It would appear that Saunders was not fully cognisant of the plumage changes which these species undergo. Hume however seemed to have no better idea, and admitted that he was very probably all wrong, also that both Saunders and himself were blundering in the dark. Having indicated that Saunders’s identification of Raffles’s 8. sumatrana was wrong, he named the Indian Ternlet, so distinguished by Saunders, 8. saundersi, and wrote : — “ There is no mistake as to the race ; to it belong all the Kurrachee specimens, all my Laccadive specimens, to it belong some Ceylon specimens and a Madras specimen,” — and described it in detail, noting : “It has a 378 EASTERN WHITE-SHAFTED TERNLET. trifle less deep bill than minuta (European) ; it has the shafts of the first three primaries (at least) black (the first occasionally in non-breeding plumage rather brown) ; and the entire rump, upper tail coverts and tail (except the longest and external feathers on either side, which is pure white) grey, uni- colorous with the back ” ; then adding, “ whereas in the breeding plumage minuta appears to have always two dark primaries and true sinensis only one, saundersi has at least three.” Then he continued : “ The Common (Lesser) Tern of Upper India is not truly identical with the European form as Gould had contended ” ; “ the rump is greyer”; “the shaft of the first primary is white or brownish- white ” ; “two dark primaries ” — and provided for this the name S. gouldi. He moreover described a third with two dark primaries, both shafts white, and the upper tail-coverts as well as rump and sometimes the central tail-feathers grey, and stated this was not an immature phase, as the specimens were males shot over eggs in the Ganges at end of April. When Saunders monographed the Terns in the Cat Birds Brit Mus., he had the Hume collection to work through, but unfortunately not recognising subspecific differences, was unable to define the forms Hume had suggested. He therefore lumped S. gouldi with 8. minuta, but recognised 8. saundersi as occurring in India and South Africa. Whether two or three subspecies occur in India or not, I am unable to decide, but I do not lay much stress on the primary- and primary-shaft coloration without corroborative characters. It seems to have been overlooked by Saunders that the tafi-feathers of the breeding female of the European 8. minuta (albifrons) are washed with grey while those of the male are pure white. Though Hume implies that the breeding males have grey tail-feathers they are only washed with grey, but darker than the grey wash of European females. Hume rejected Muller’s 8. pusilla as indeterminable, but inasmuch as Temminck’s quotation above given is the first use, that is the one to be considered. The characters there given are exactly those which first strike the eye when an East Indian bird is placed alongside a European specimen, so that 8. pusilla Temminck must be made use of. I select as the type-locality Java. This wiU leave 8. saundersi to be used for the Indian bird. 8. gouldi Hume is preoccupied by 8. gouldi Reichenbach, so that should further races be recognised as inhabiting India, new names will have to be provided. \ In the Nomend. Av. Mus. Zool. Berot, p. 98, 1854, Lichtenstein had named a 8ternula orientalis from South Africa, Ostindien, but that still remains a nude name. In the Ahhandl. nat. Ver. Bremen, Vol. XII., p. 45, 1891, Hartlaub described 8ternula novella from Mtoni. 379 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. Specimens are not at hand to decide whether that name should be used, but it seems probable that part of Saunders’s 8. saundersi may be referable to a distinct race which may bear this name. My reading of the variations recorded by Hume is that they are mostly due to moulted birds,* either young or adult, and that we do not understand the plumage changes of the Ternlets comprising the species 8. albifrons. Under the next subspecies I will note my observations on that form, which require confirmation by other observers on other subspecies. How many subspecies will later be recognised I cannot guess, and will here note the names that have been given in connection, as a guide to other workers : — 8ternula albifrons albifrons Pallas. Under the name 8terna minuta minuta Linne, in the recent Hand-List of British Birds, p. 195, Hartert, Jourdain, Ticehurst, and Witherby give the distribution as “ British Isles (breeding). Breeds in north Europe and north- west Africa, and in Asia as far east as Turkestan, and perhaps India (Indian birds may be separable), and winters as far south as tropical and South Africa, Burmah and Java. Replaced by allied forms in America, the Malayan Archi- pelago, the China Seas and Australia, and (according to Zarudny and Loudon) in Persian Baluchistan.” I cannot quite understand what bird is meant by “ winters . . . Burmah and Java ” while an “ allied form replaces it in ‘ the Malayan Archipelago,’ ” nor the “ breeds in north Europe and north-west Africa.” Is 8. minuta Linne absent as a breeding bird from South Europe, its type-locality ? If so, it suggests the separation of the north-west African breeding bird. According to Saunders the birds from East Africa were referable to 8. saundersi and not to 8. minuta, while Hartlaub founded his 8. novella on such a bird. I cannot discuss the western Palsearctic forms and must leave them to Dr. Hartert in his Vogel palcearktischen Fauna, but 8ternula albifrons saundersi Hume ; India is certainly distinct. Whether Hume’s other Indian forms are separable must be carefully considered. I use the above name for the Indian forms as a whole, and not as introduced by Hume or utilised by Saunders. 8ternula albifrons sinensis Gmelin ; China. Although this form was accepted as a distinct species by Saunders on account of the white shafts to the primaries, it is very closely allied ; the most * Reichenow has also recorded his opinion (Ornith. Monatsb., Vol. IV., p. 114, 1896) : “ Danach vermute ich, dafs die Form S. saundersi nur eine individuelle Abweichung von 3. minuta ist.” Notwithstanding this conclusion, the Indian birds constitute recognisable subspecies, and this name must be used to denote one of these. 380 EASTERN WHITE-SHAFTED TERNLET. remarkable feature of the Chinese birds I have examined is the length of the streamers. As Hume pointed out some of the Indian birds show white shafts to the outer primaries. Sternula albifrons pusilla Temminck. Can this name be used for the “ Malayan Archipelago allied form ” mentioned above ? The birds I have seen from the East Indies do not agree with those from India, and certainly Javan specimens are not identical with West European ones. Sternula albifrons placens Gould ; East Australia. As will have been already noted this subspecies breeds in East Australia, and is not identical with the Chinese bird, which does not winter in Eastern Australia. Sternula albifrons tormenti Mathews ; North-west Australia. VOL. II. 381 Order LABIF0RME8 No. 137. Family LARIDM. STERNULA ALBIFRONS TORMENTI. WESTERN WHITE-SHAFTED TERNLET. Steeka sinensis toementi Mathews, Nov, Zool., Vol. XVIII., p, 210, 1912 ; North- west Australia. Distribution. North-west Australia ; Northern Territory. Admit. Differing from 8. albifrons placens in its hghter coloration, larger size, and slightly heavier bill which is also longer — culmen 32 mm., wing 181. Immature. A good series from Point Torment, North-west Austraha, and Melville Island are worthy of detailed description, as they seem to indicate that these Ternlets take on the adult state as soon as they have obtained their full first-season’s plumage. Thus, a bird killed on February 28th has the head mostly white, as are also the lores, while the tail is grey and short ; the primaries are apparently full- grown and perfect, but they are short. Close examination reveals the fact that though they are unworn, new primaries are commencing from the inside to replace them. The bill is given as “ black, the basal half of lower mandible olive brown.” Another has more black feathers coming on the head, but still, though the new adult primaries are more advanced, the perfect immature primaries are scarcely worn. The bill is changing colour, “ basal half ofive brown, tip black.” The next stage has the lores black and white, mostly black, the top of the head shows the new black feathers to be in the majority ; the tail-feathers are new and white, the streamers half -grown ; the primaries are mostly adult, only the two outside immature ones left but they are very Httle worn ; the bill is now “ yellow and black,” as in full breeding-plumage. Casual examination of any of the preceding might allow that primaries were fully grown, and deductions might be drawn from them similar to those written by Hume, regarding the Indian forms, already noted. Nestling, Nest, Eggs and Breeding-season. Unknown. I SEPABATED this fom in the Nov, Zool., Vol. XVIII., p. 210, 1912, but its habits have not yet been made known. 382 " p*— 1*1" Jl^V -f.-. ir V .!?■ ftt wr 'jpmiih '/^ ''^*Uf* .rriM ^ ^ fMvr' H \'iil V- s.v> j . i I ' > ®J 4i J* I. u *■- m. si ' ' - •‘i>* .,n ir JL ■ ill lx. i»K 3f - , S\- .»] x.4i i f ;:i ■f. ,•7^ IS •»• ^ •1 Bui ■' 1 ' 1 - Jl t 1 1 1 1 A W' ■ ■ ■ 1 ^ rf?. ■> * ^ , 1 /' ;? M I I' Er-*-! V 4 i .1 • .. , tf/ >■;• J* I'^V' i;^ '’(h . . '■ ' ® ■ " , ? -r" ' ’ ■ ‘ r- ■ ■ ■ -V ^ - * ^ i' ■ ^’ II .j£ i .' TTi* ^ 4' •- ■ '■■' VVSb H ».;<* . y -i.%l'w , y 4 II .-n t- ^,A\' «i ■' * hV^,? b> a< k^^.-ii?"v^-i I I n ^ 5 '" (»* ' ife ,,• ' Hr -W-^ J i> a' r fc, ' -- WBL^.t^ . - . JEri ' -^ly ■5 -j ■ li t rv' ^ " 'I I't ^•’rftE-: ■ *■ ", "|«r "***:' . p F>kf'V* •*^"1 uB •'^'li*'' « 1' ® • ■ f^- ' u,. . , ’ v™ 'f -mCr‘-,,.r‘ ^ij M 'V ■■■ • V ^ '^i 1 1 B ^ W'/- W m Hi ■>1 gidb^'' W'a ;i!' I ’Btdai ^ * I ..4 C^. fc V U;' ,..' V ^ %hJ ( ' "''a- ^ I ■>■ 'W ’‘*-" Lfii t'. r<» I- 5v n *lil O'J Eft '^^‘V ^i%Mi to/'y .'.•k. Vol. XI., p. 204, 1912. f Birds County Cumber., 'p. 113, 1898. 452 SILVER GULL. Stephen’s work appears to have been overlooked about his own time, and consequently Wilson described Larus jmnesonii thus : — Larus jamesonii Wilson, Illmtr. Zool., pi. XXIII., 1831. Description. — 1st. Dimensions. From the tip of the upper mandible to the frontal feathers 1^^ inch. From the same to the anterior angle of the eye, 2^q inches. Length of wing when closed from the anterior angle of the shoulder to the tip of the first primary, 12 inches. From the tip of the upper mandible to the end of the tail, 1 foot 2^ inches. Length of line drawn from the tip of the bill through the eye to the back part of the head, inches. Depth of the bill measured at the notch of the under mandible, four tenths and a half. Length of the tarsus, 2 inches ; of the middle toe and claw, 1^ inch. Length of wings beyond the tail If inch. 2dly. Colours. Head, neck, breast, whole imder parts of the body and upper and under surface of the tail, pure white. Back, scapulars, and greater and lesser wing-coverts, and secondary quill-feathers, pale cinereous blue or pearl-grey colour. Lateral edge of the wings and spurious wing feathers white. First primary quiU-feather black, with the exception of an irregular lengthened transverse band of white, which, embracing the shaft for about two inches of its length, terminates within an inch of the extremity of the feather, which is black, tipped with an obscure speck of white. Second primary like the first, with an additional lengthened spot of white spreading from the base of its outer web. In the three succeeding primaries, the basal spot of white increases, so as at last to occupy almost the entire portion of the outer webs, the inner being cinereous blue, margined with black ; the extremities black, passing upwards into the cinereous blue of the inner web ; the tips white. The sixth primary is cinereous blue, paler on the outer web, barred with black near the extremity, and tipped with white. The seventh primary is cinereous blue, with an obscure black margin on the inner web. The remaining primaries are cinereous blue, scarcely distinguishable from the secondary quill-feathers. The bill, legs and feet are bright carmine-red, with a tinge of orange. The claws are brownish-black. Colour of the irides unknown. This Gull was brought to Leith by one of the Australian ships from the shores of Nev/ Holland. I am unable to indicate its locality with greater precision. In the Descr. Aniin., ed. Licht., p. 106, 1844, appeared Forster’s description of his Larus scopulinus, here reproduced : — Larus albus, dorso cano, remigibus sex primis apice nigris pimctoque terminali albo. Habitat ad scopulos quos mare alluit, in insula austral! Novae Zeelandiae, et imprimis in Portu obscure ; natal, piscatur pisces gregatim aestuaria intrantes pro generandis et pariendis ovis. Corpus magnitudine Golumhae domesticae. Rostrum rubrum, apice fuscum. Oculi iride flavescente. Caput, collum, pectus, abdomen, crissum, uropgium, rectrices Candida. Dorsum ab origine interscapuli, et remiges cinereae. Sex primorum prima tota nigra, ante apicem macula et puncto terminali albis ; secunda basi, macula ante apicem, punctoque terminal! albis ; tertia et quarta ultra medium albae, intus cinerascentes, caeterum nigrae, punctoque maiori terminali albo. Pedes tetradactyli rubri, digito postico unguiculato imgues nigri. Mbnsurae. varietas. \ Ab apice rostri in extremitatem caudae 14 unc. 15^ unc. ,, ,, ,, in unguem digit! medii 141 m Alae expansae .34 34 Rostrum ad angulum faucis 2i Pedes nudi in unguem digiti medii ... 41 H Unguis medius S ••• 10 s VOL. n. 453 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. Observ. — Varietas huius avis paulo major, in parvula insula ad orientem J^ovae Caledoniae sita, gregaria. Rostrum fusco-rubicundum, apice nigrum, compressum, cultratum, edentulum, redtum, subaduneum apice ; mandibula inferior primum recta dein angulata, ac subfalcata. Rictus usque ad oculos. Linguae acuta, apice bifida, cartilaginea, triquetra. Palatum papillis reflexis acutis. Nares longae perviae lineares in medio rostri, antice latiores. Oculi iride lutescent fusca. Pedes fusco-rubri, tetradactyli, tribus digitis palmatis, digito postico brevissimo. Femore seminuda. Caput, coUum, pectus, abdomen, crissum, uropygium, rectrices Candida. Dorsum a cervice in uropygium et remiges tectricesque cinerea, maculis rufo-fuscis aspersa. Remiges : prima nigra, ante apicem macula lineari alba, secimda basi, macula ante apicem, punctoque terminal! albo ; tertia basi et puncto terminal! albis ; quarta et quinta ultra medium albae, caetera nigra et puncto maiori terminal! albis ; reliquae omnes totae canae, macula ante apicem nigra. Alula et 3 primae ultimarum tectricum albae, relinquae tectrices ultimae canae, apice albidae. Tectrices ante penutimae canae, macula rufo- fusca ante apicem apice margine albido. Rectrices 12, cauda subrotundata, rectricibus candidis, mediis 6-3, antice apicem fusco fasciatis. In the Journ. fiir Ornith., 1853, p. 102, Bruch reviewed the Laridce and added four forms as here given : — Gavia hartlauhii Bruch ; poiocephalus Swains. ? Am Cap und den indischen Kusten. Schnabel w'ie beim vorigen, jedoch kurzer imd die Hervorragung am Unterkiefer noch weniger deutlich. Schwungfeden mehr schwarz, als bei der folgenden Art ; der weisse, uber die zwei ersteren Schwingen gehende Fleck nur halb so gross. Der Mantel minder hell ; vor den Augen ein feiner schwarzer Saum, wie bei ridibundus im Winterkleide. Gavia jamesonii Wils. ; Gouldii Bp. Vandiemensland. Schnabel kurz und dick ; die Hervorragung am Unterkiefer betracht- lich. Die nackten Augenlider roth, ohne schwarzlichen Saum. Die Schwungfeden mehr weiss, als bei der vorigen Art. Gavia andersonii Bruch. Jamesonii Bp. New-Seeland. Gefieder weiss, mit hellgrauen Mantel ; Afterflugel auch weiss. Schwingen an der Wurzel weiss, nur nach hinten zu hellgran uberlaufen gegen der Spitze hin schwarz (und zwar die vordersten am meisten) mit deutlichen weissen Spitzenflecken, welche aber den beiden ersten fehlen. Diese haben dafur an der Spitze grosse weisse Langslflecken uber die ganze Breite der Feder. Prinz Bonaparte hat den Unterschied beider Moren anerkannt, die letztere aber Jamesonii und die vorhergehende, bei Gould abgebildete L. Guldii benannt. p. 103. Gavia ‘pomare Bruch. Gesellschafts-Insehi. Nur ein Exemplar ist bekannt (in der Mainzer Sammlung) ; und zwar ist das Gefieder desselben augenscheinlich nur das Jugendkleid ; Kofi und Unter- lieh rein weiss ; Mantel hellaschgran, reichlich mit weissen, graubraun bandirten Fedem vermischt. Grosse Flugelfedem hellaschgrau ; Schwingen an der Wurzel weisslich, gigen der Spitze hin (und zwar zum grossten Theile) schwarz, mit weissen Spitzenflecken ; die erste und zweite haben noch einen weissen Langsfleck in der Mitte ; der ersten fehlt aber der weisse Spitzenfleck, Schwarz weiss, mit Untertrochener graubrauner Binde an der Spitze. Schnabel und Fusse scheinen fleuschfarben ersterer an der Spitze homschwarzlich. Korperban kurz, so wie auch die Schwingen. Die kleinste Art dieser Famihe. Later this was criticised by Bonaparte, who was also engaged upon the study of the Laridce, and further papers by Bruch and Bonaparte seem to^ 454 SILVER GULL. confuse the issues somewhat. I have given Bonaparte’s description of his G, gouldi under the subspecies known by that name. In Naumannia, 1854, p. 216, Bonaparte also named a G. corallinus “ a cause de son bee encore plus eclatant que dans les plus beaux de ses congeneres.” I consider this a nude name only, but it was described in the Consp. Gen. Av.f Vol. II., p. 228, 1857, under Bruchigavia thus : — ? G. corallinus Bp., Mus. Paris a Castelnau et Collect. Bailloni et Delamottii Abbatis- villae, ex Brasil. Albus ; subtus evanide rosaceus ; pallio dilute griseo-canescente ; remigibus nigris, ad basin et macula subapicali maxima, albis ; rostros robustiore, valde angulato, ruberrimo-corallino. Juv rostro minus angulato, pallide cinereo. Under the next form I show how Schlegel confused the new Zealand and Australian forms, and proposed to call the North Australian and New Caledonia birds Larus scopulinus major. Masters, in 1877, separated the western form as B. longirostris, and Ramsay accepted this, including three forms, though Gould in his Handbook had only admitted two, while in his Birds of Australia only one was recognised. Saunders, in the Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., lumped them into one again, though quite wrongly, as I shall point out, in the case of B. longirostris Masters : Saunders there included in the synonymy of Larus novoe-hollandice, Gavia andersonii Bruch, Gavia pomare Bruch 1853, and G. corallinus Bonaparte, from examination of types. He wrote : “In less mature but undoubtedly breeding birds the mirrors on the 1st and 2nd quills are smaller while there is no mirror and little basal white on the 3rd; but there is every intermediate stage between the extremes mentioned,” and gave cuts of the three first primaries of L. novce-hollandice (ad.), p. 236, L. scopulinus (ad. and juv.), p. 239, and L. hartlaubi (ad.), p. 240. Saunders did not recognise subspecies, though he generally noted the diagnostic features of the recognisable races ; but in this instance he had not sufficient material to separate the Australian forms, yet recognised the New Zealand one on the slightest of grounds. There is much more variation in the primary-mirrors between the Cape York and Tasmanian birds than there is between the Cape York and New Zealand specimens. It seems certain, as Saunders concluded, that each moult for the first few (? how many) the mirrors increase in size, but it is also absolutely certain that in different localities they do not increase at the same rate, and to the same extent. After examination of a large number of specimens and tabulation of primary-mirrors, I found that the mirror on the third primary was diagnostic, and I separated the 455 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. Tasmanian race as L. n. gunni {Nov. Zool., Vol. XVIII., p. 212, 1912) from the fact that the third primary became nearly all white, the mirror increasing and coalescing with the basal white. On the other hand in fuUy-adult New Caledonian specimens there is no mirror at all on the third primary. I am giving figures of the first four primaries of the forms admitted, prepared from fuUy-adult birds, and showing the largest amount of white noted from the locality, and ask for honest co-operation in working out these plumage changes. I am pleased to record that the majority of Australian working ornithologists are co-operating in a most cordial spirit, and I am most grateful, and through such help I hope we shall learn about the birds, their plumages and life-histories. W'hen carefully looking through the periodicals I have found it most disappointing to have to conclude with the words, “ Nothing seems to be known regarding its life-history.” On every other page may be noted the name of the bird, and probably many descriptions of its eggs, but nothing whatever regarding the bird itself. The present generation of Australian ornithologists are, I am glad to say, showing much promise of being field-ornithologists in the true sense of that word, and I am hopeful that we shall in time know something about Australian birds. At the present time we are little further ahead than when Gould wrote, though many good ornithologists have lived all their lives in Australia since his time. Destructive criticism is absurdly easy, but only those who have engaged in synthetic work know the corresponding difficulty. I intend, with the help of the Australian working ornithologists, to bring up our know- ledge of Australian bird-life to the level of that in Europe and America, considering always the youth and extent of the science in Australia and the few workers therein. To come back to Silver Gulls, there is no doubt that the South African and New Zealand forms must be considered when these are reviewed, as they come closer to the West Australian in primary-coloration than do Tasmanian, though they are both smaller. It must be remembered that since Saunders in 1896 lumped all the Australian forms together, while admitting the New Zealand and South African birds as distinct, no work whatever has been done in Australia on this bird. Consequently all I can put forward is the result of my own observations upon somewhat limited material and my conclusions thereby arrived at, and hope for serious consideration of my views, not flippant criticism. The forms of Bruchigavia novcB-liollandicB which I propose to recognise I would differentiate as follows : — Bruchigavia novce-hollandioe, novoe-hollandice (Stephens) ; New South Wales. 456 SILVER GULL. Light coral bill and in the immature a light bill though not clear coral ; the first three primaries all with mirrors, but somewhat elongate in shape (c/. figure). BrucJhigavia novcB-hollandice gouldi (Bonaparte) ; North Australia. Larger, with a deeper bill and usually lacking the mirror on third primary. Bruchigavia novce-hollandice forsteri, subsp. n. ; New Caledonia. Smaller than the preceding and larger than the next ; no mirror on the third primary, and the first two primary-mirrors intermediate between those of these two. Culmen (exp.) 37-41 mm. ; wing 293-300 ; tarsus 49-50. Bruchigavia novce-hollandice scopulinus (Forster) ; New Zealand. Smaller than the former, with square-cut primaries as figured by Saunders in the Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., Vol. XXV., p. 239. The bill is not such a deep red as in the typical form, and the primaries have hold white tips ; in some of the Australian forms small white tips are seen on the primaries ; these white tips are, however, quickly worn away. Bruchigavia novce-hollandice gunni (Mathews) ; Tasmania ; Victoria. Cannot be confused with any other form on account of the whiteness of the third primary (c/. figure). Bruchigavia novce-hollandice ethelce (Mathews) ; South Australia. Recalling B. n. novce-hollandice from which it differs in its larger size, and from B. n. longirostris in the presence of a mirror on the third primary. Bruchigavia novce-hollandice longirostris Masters ; South-west Australia. Differs in its large size, longer biU, longer legs, deeper-coloured biU (when it is red), and the absence (generally) of a mirror on the third primary. Bruchigavia novce-hollandice hartlauhi (Bruch) ; Cape of Good Hope must be included under this species-heading. Hull {ante, p. 451) has noted that the movements of the Montagu Island birds incite speculation, and puts forward two theories, inclining to the latter. In view of my experience of the species, the former is not worth considering and the latter 7nust be the solution. A criticism of the primary-coloration would cause more speculation as the Tasmanian bird has the mirrors more extensive than any other, and has smaller mirrored birds on each side— -South Australian and New Sou^h Wales. The South Australian bird seems to be closer to the New South Wales and West Australian than it is to the Tasmanian, while the Torres Strait bird is quite close to those from West Australia, but differs at sight in the colour of the bill ; the New Caledonian form seems quite a connecting link between the New Zealand and the Torres Strait forms. 457 Order LARIF0RME8 No. 148. Family LARIDM. BRUCHIGAVIA NOV.E-HOLLANDI^ GOULDI. NORTHEEN SILVER GULL. Gelastbs GOULDI Bonaparte, Naumannia 1854, p. 216; northern coasts of Australia. Gelastes gouldi Bonaparte, Naumannia 1854, p. 216. Gavia gouldi Bruch, Journ. fiir Ornith., 1855, p. 285. Bruchigavia gouldi id., Consp. Gen. Av., Vol. II., p. 228, 1857 ; Gould, Handb. Birds Austr., Vol. II., p. 388, 1865. Larus scopulinus major Schlegel, Mus. Pays-Bas, Vol. VI., Larus, p. 29, 1863 (pars). Larus jamesonii Finsch, Neu-Guinea, p. 184, 1865. Larus gouldi Gray, Handl. Gen. Sp. Birds Brit. Mus., pt. iii., p. 116, 1871. Larus {Xema) gouldii Ramsay, Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., Vol. II., p. 201, 1877 ; id., Tab. List Austr. Birds, p. 22, 1888. Larus novce-hoUandice Saunders, Proc. Zool. Soc. (Lond.) 1877, p. 799 ; Hartert, Nov. Zool., Vol. XII., p. 200, 1905 ; Berney, Emu, Vol. VI., p. 114, 1907 ; Ingram, Ibis 1908, p. 462 ; Campbell and White, Emu, Vol. X., p. 201, 1910. Bruchigavia jamesonii var. gouldi Mathew, Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., Vol. X., p. 256, 1885. Larus novce-hollandim gouldi Mathews, Nov. Zool., Vol. XVIII., p. 211, 1912. Distribution. Northern coasts of Australia, and east coast as far south as the Capricorn group. Adult male. Differs from B. n. novm-hollandice in its larger size and in the smaller amount of white on the first two primaries, and no mirror on third save a very small one on southern birds ; “ Iris white. Eyelid red. Bill dark red, Legs and feet red.” This is the coloration of the soft parts of fully adult old birds ; full plumaged birds are also recorded with “ Iris light grey. Eyelid orange. Bill blood-red dark tip. Legs and feet orange red” ; wing 314 mm., culmen 39, tarsus 54. Adult female. Agreeing, but somewhat smaller throughout. Immature. Fully plumaged, but with the bill in the skin dark tipped with red base, and small mirrors on first and second primaries ; no mirror on third, and the basal white on third confined to the outer web, no white on the inner web. Previous to attaining the adult plumage the primaries have no mirrors but are all black with very restricted white at the base. The tail-feathers are tipped with a broad brown bar, and the back-feathers retain the brown tips of the nesthng- plumage on feathers of the back, scapulars, and upper wing-coverts ; “ Iris dark, bill dark horn-colour, legs and feet grey with black colours.” Another, “ Eyes black.” Immature with traces of down. Channel Rock, Torres Strait, June 1st, 1881 : “ Iris brown, bill horn. Legs and feet fight brown ” ; top of the head uniform fight brown, bases 458 NORTHEEN SILVER GULL. of all feathers white tipped with light brown, with a penultimate bar of much darker brown ; these colours increase in depth on the scapulars ; rump white ; tail-feathers with white tips, penultimate brown bar and white bases ; general under-coloration white ; primaries black with white tips, the first two primaries showing incipient mirrors {which are not present in first complete immature-plumage, hut reappear at a later age) ; greater coverts white, the outermost with irregular black markings, the next two fringed on outer web with darker brown. (These are similar in immature birds, but are pure white in adult.) Nest and Eggs. Do not appear to have been described. Breeding-season. May onward. Writing from Claremont Islands, G. F. Mathew* says : “ Only a pair of these birds were noticed, and they were very vociferous as I approached a certain point of the island, flying to and fro overhead in a very excited manner, as if they had a nest, or young, close at hand. However, a careful search failed to disclose any. At times they came so near that I was able to observe them minutely. They were certainly larger than those to be seen every day in Sydney Harbour, and their beaks were of a darker brownish-red, almost black at the tip, but otherwise I could detect no difference.” Mr. F. Berney,t writing from the Richmond River district in North Queensland, noted a specimen of this Gull on a water-hole. This was in the middle of a day-time in August, 1903. Messrs. Campbell and WhiteJ say : “ These beautiful, although marauding Gulls, were breeding at intervals round Mast Head Island (Capricorn group, Queensland), where their nests were picturesquely constructed amongst the herbage or sheltered beneath a sheoak {Casurina) sapling. No doubt the Gulls are very destructive to the eggs of the other kinds of birds frequenting the island. Judging by the manner they hawked over the Pisonia and other trees, the harmless little Noddies were probably special victims of the GuUs. Young in down, as well as eggs, of the Gulls were noted. “ Several small communities of these Gulls frequented the sandy beaches of North-West and Tryon Islands but no sign of nesting was observed there.” In his Birds of Australia, Vol. VII., pi. 20, 1848, Gould figured Xe^na jamesonii and there wrote ; “ There is a Gull in Torres’ Straits so similar to the bird here represented that its larger size is the only difference I have been able to detect between them.” Apparently Bonaparte named this somewhere in MS. as G. goiildi, and when Bruch {Journ. fur Ornith., 1853, p. 102) reviewed the Laridce, he noted “ gouldii Bp.” as a synonym of “ Gavia jainesonii Wils., Van Diemensland.” This drew from Bonaparte {Naumannia, 1854, p. 216) the retort : “ Quant a * Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., Vol X., p. 256, 1885. t Emu, Vol VI., p. 114, 1907. i ib., Vol. X., p. 201, 1910. 459 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. mon Gelastes gouldi d’aiUeurs inedit, an lieu d’etre plus petit que el jamesoni, comme le suppose gratuitement Mr. Bruch, il est plus grand, et se trouve sur les cotes septentrionales de la Nouvelle Hollande, tandis que le jamesoni parait confine aux cotes meridionales de ce continent.” This must be accepted as the first regular introduction of Bonaparte’s G. gouldi. In the Consp. Gen. Av., Vol. II., p. 228, 1857, Bonaparte fully described the bird as BrucJiigavia gouldi ^ thus : — Ex Australia s. praecipue in Fretu Torresiano. Similis G. jamesoni ; sed major. Major : albus ; pallio argenteo-griseo ; remigibus nigris, basi et extreme apice albis ; primis duabus macula maxima subapicali alba ; cauda Candida ; rostro longulo, parum compresso ; palpebris nigro-marginatis. Long. 16 poll. Al. 11^ poll. Gaud. 5 poll. Rostr. 2| poll. Tars. 2 poll. Included by Gould in his Handh. Birds Austr., Vol. II., p. 388, 1865, it was afterwards recognised by Masters and Ramsay in 1877, the latter noting it from Port Darwin and Port Essington ; but the same year Saunders, writing on the Laridce {Proc. Zool. Soc. (Lond.) 1877, p. 799) collected by the “ Challenger,” called the bird Larus novce-Jiollandice^ synonymising with it L. jamesonii but omitting all mention of L. gouldi Bp., noting : “ No. 131 S : 132 ? Raine Island, N. Australia. Eyes white ; bill coral, tip darker. Only a few about the island.” “ From its larger size and the difference in the amount of white on the primaries of the adults, this form seems to be fairly separable from L. scopulinus of New Zealand, and is undoubtedly distinct from its aUy, L. hartlaubi Bruch of the Cape of Good Hope. Specimens from the northern portions of Australia are much wanted, and these two examples are, therefore, of unusual value.” As far as can be judged now, this comparison with L. scopulinus was instituted through the action of Schlegel, who in the Mus. Pays-Bas, Vol. VI., p. 28, Larus, made the following disposition : “ Larus scopulinus Forster =: Larus Jamesonii Wilson = Larus Jamesonii Gould (ex parte) = Larus pomare Bruch 1853 = Bruchigavia Jamesonii et pomare Bonaparte, Conspectus ” ; and thereunder included specimens from “ Australie meridionale, Rockhampton Bay, Tasmanie and Nouvelle Zeelande.” On p. 29 he accepted Larus scopu- linus major = Larus scopulinus var. major Forster = Larus pomare Bruch, 1855 = Bruchigavia gouldii Bonaparte, Conspectus, with a range “ Australie, Moreton Bay Australie, NouveUe Caledonie.” Here is a good example of the extraordinary results obtained from neglect of geographical distribution when criticising closely allied forms. An even more astonishing case is that of the subspecies B. n. longirostris Masters, hereafter related. 460 NORTHERN SILVER GULL. In his Tab. List Austr. Birds, p. 22, 1888, Ramsay retained Larus gouldii Bp. as from Port Darwin, and Port Essington and Cape York. Saunders, in the Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., Vol. XXV., lumped this form in with L. novos-hollandice without any explanation. Cape York birds are easily separable, and this form seems to come down the Great Barrier Reef to the Capricorn group. VOL. n. 461 Order LARIF0EME8 Family LARIDM. No. 149. BRUCHIGAVIA NOV.^-HOLLANDI^ GUNNI. TASMANIAN SILYER GULL. Larus nov^-hollandl® gunni Mathews, Nov. Zool., Vol. XVIII., p. 212, 1912 ; Tasmania. Xenia jamesonii Gould, Birds Austr., Vol. VII., pi. 20, 1848 (pars). Gavia jamesonii Bruch, Journ. fiir Ornith., 1853, p. 102 (pars). Gelasfes jamesonii Bonaparte, Naumannia 1854, p. 212 (pars). Bruchigavia jamesoni id., Consp. Gen. Av., Vol. II., p. 228, 1857 ; (pars) ; Gould, Handb. Birds Austr., Vol. II., p. 387, 1865. Larus novce-hollandice Legge, Proc. Roy. Soc. Tasm. 1886, p. 243 ; id. 1887, p. 131, 1888 ; Littler, Emu, Vol. II., p. 172, 1903 ; Legge, ih., Vol. IV., p. 105, 1905 ; Wilson, ib., Vol. V., p. 83, 1905 ; M’Clymont, ib., Vol. V., p. 162, 1906 ; Littler, Handb. Birds Tasm, p. 152, 1910. Xema novce-hollandice North, Austr. Mus. Cat., No. 12, p. 351, 1889 (pars). Larus novce-hollandice gunni Mathews, Nov. Zool., Vol. XVIII., p. 212, 1912 ; id., Austral Av. Rec., Vol. I., p. 55, 1912. Distribution. Tasmania ; Bass Strait. Adult. Differs from L. n. novce-hollandice in its much whiter primaries ; the third primary being extensively marked with white the mirror being very large and coalescing with the basal white which is broad and extends until it meets ; the mirrors on the first two primaries are also very large, and the basal white is more extensive than in any other race ; “ Iris pure silver white, eyelid coral, bill deep lake red, legs and feet lake red (Legge) ” ; wing 298 mm., culmen 35, tarsus 50. Young. “Mottled with brown on the back and wings; tail with subterminal band of brown ; iris brown ” (Littler). Nestling. “ Heavily mottled with brown on the upper surface ; under surface white ” (Littler). Nest. “ Formed of a few rushes and grasses ” (Gould). Eggs. Two usually, sometimes three ; ground-colour buff-brown blotched with dark reddish-brown and grey ; axis 54, diameter 37-39. Breeding-season. October, November, and December (North). Gould* says : “ This beautiful species of Gull is abundantly dispersed over the sea-shores of Tasmania and the southern coasts of Australia generally ; it also frequents the rivers and inland lakes wherever they occur of any extent. * Handb. Birds Austr., Vol. II., p. 387, 1865. 462 TASMANIAN SILVER GULL. Like the other Bruchigavice it frequently congregates in immense flocks, and colonies of many hundreds have been found breeding together, sometimes on the marshes, at other times on the low small islands : a colony of this kind existed on Great Actaeon Island in D’Entrecasteaux’s Channel, when I visited it in 1838. “ The flight of this little Gull is light and buoyant in the extreme ; it runs over the surface of the ground with lightness and great facility, and is altogether one of the most beautiful and fairy-like birds I have ever met with.” Mr. Frank M. Littler,* notes the following : “At Davenport it is to be seen in hundreds at low tide on the sandbanks just below Wood’s Slip, left bare by the receding tide. As the tide comes in they move off to the mouth of the harbour and out to sea. Some go up the river towards Latrobe and search for food along the shores of the sedge-grown sand-banks, where I am given to understand many nest. Round Launceston wharves and on the mud-flats of the Tamar, large flocks may be seen every day in the year. The same may be observed about any of the rivers and harbours round the island. “ Every winter the low-lying lands up the valley of the North Esk become flooded for longer or shorter periods. To these swampy flats the Silver Gulls resort in hundreds, and feed on the young grass-grubs and worms that have been washed out. Every evening, shortly before sunset, the birds may be seen winging their way harbourwards, following the course of the river all the while, from St. Leonards to the wharves. At the Great Lake a flock has been firmly established for some time ; they breed on a rocky islet in the middle of the Lake.” Legge,t writing on the birds at the Great Lake, Tasmania, records : “ This is perhaps the most interesting bird on the Great Lake, inasmuch as it may safely be regarded as to some extent a resident species, and therefore actually a freshwater bird. It used to breed on Garden Island, a small rocky inlet, for the most part covered with vegetation. A number of old nests were seen in March 1902, situated in the niches and hollows of the greenstone which crops up at the west end of the isle. In 1903 (March) no new nests were observed, and the inference is that since the erection of the police station and tourists’ hut close by on the adjoining shore, the birds have deserted this spot, and probably now breed on Pine or Kangaroo Island. At the tirrie the writer visited the lake in both years these little Gulls were very plentiful, but, contrary to their normal habit on the sea coasts, were very shy. They were never observed to come within gunshot from the boat ; the only time * Handb. Birds Tasm., p. 153, 1910. t Emu, Vol. IV., p. 105, 1905. THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. when any were seen close, being one afternoon in a gale of wind, when a little party came ‘ coasting ’ along the shore after the usual manner of Gulls in heavy weather. Mr. Archer informs me that when the lake is frozen over in its northern parts L. novcB-hollandim disappears in part, but that individuals frequent the partly frozen tributary creeks, and so soon as a thaw sets in reappear on the lake. No doubt a good many of those normally frequenting the lake retire further down to the south to the Ouse and Shannon Rivers, during frost, and some may go to neighbouring lakes (Arthur and Woods) which are at a considerably lower elevation.” The same author* writes : “ On the 31st October I found this species breeding at the south point of the Great Actaeon. About 50 pairs were nesting according to the habit of this GuU, close together. During the early part of the next month many more must have bred, making a large ‘ colony,’ as an immense number of eggs were taken by the inhabitants of Recherche, who make an annual raid upon the unfortunate birds. The nests I found at the end of October were all fresh, so that the height of the breeding season would be about the 10th of November. They were situated under the rank herbage and thistles growing at the edge of the pebble beach, none of them being more than four yards from the margin of the vegetation. Little hollows between the rolled pebbles lined with herbage formed the nests which were placed as near one another as a couple of feet. No nests contained more than two eggs at this time, the third not having been laid. In coloration there are three types of eggs of this Gull, viz. Yellowish, chocolate, pale earth-brown, olive grey, and stone grey, the former usually possessing the heaviest markings. “ An egg of the latter type before me is evenly clouded throughout the surface with two shades of rich deep sepia, over larger primary clouds of inky grey in two shades ; some of the clouds are longitudinal, and others transverse. Eggs of the light type are blotched and speckled with two or three shades of umber brown (thickly at the larger end) over softened primary markings of bluish grey in two shades. In some examples the umber markings are pale and small, and the bluish grey much washed off at the edges. In a few the umber markings take a hieroglyphic form chiefly round the larger end, and these are the handsomest eggs. In shape the eggs of this Gull vary some- what, and are either stumpy ovals with a broad end, pyriform ovals, or ovals regularly shaped at each end. They measure as follows: length from 2.02 to 2.18 inches ; breadth from 1.45 to 1.59 inches. “ While examining the nests, I found the birds less anxious as to their safety than some species ; they fly round with querulous cries for a little * Proc. Roy. Soc. Tasm. 1887, p. 131 1888. 464 TASMANIAN SILVER GULL. while, and then settle down on the rocks close at hand with comparative unconcern.” Mr. Stuart Dove tells me : “ On I6th May, near mouth of Mersey River here, a number of Silver Gulls were rising straight up into the air, then dashing down again, stopping before reaching the water (they were standing in an inch or two of water at the edge of a sand bank) and then rising again, and making a terrific noise, seemingly all in pure frolic, as the Magpies {Gymnorhina) will rise up and tumble about in the air in fine spring afternoons, especially when a strong breeze obtains. For the Gulls to play in this manner is, as far as my observations go, unusual.” Mr. J. M’Clymont* says he saw one of these birds “ feeding on smaU crabs, which were swallowed whole. It obtained them in shallow water, either by dipping its head into the water, or by jumping out of the water, and taking a little dive. As is the case every winter, many Seagulls visited the grass fields, but this did not occur in stormy weather only. Thus on the 10th of July about 100 Seagulls appeared in a field on a fine morning with a gentle, southerly breeze blowing. Adolescent birds, having the wing coverts more or less speckled with stone colour, accompanied the adults, but were fewer in number than these.” The figure given shows the great difference between this and other forms of B. novcB-hollandice in the primary-coloration. The explanation may be that the Tasmanian birds I have examined all belong to the “freshwater” bird recorded above by Legge. It should be noted that Legge was at a loss to name this bird, and sent specimens to Saunders, at that time the great authority on GuUs, for identification, asking if they were referable to L. scopulinus as they certainly did not agree with normal L. novoe-hollandice. Saunders however lumped them in with the latter, though they seemed so different, and moreover apparently fixed the variation as being local, as upon a bird without locality he has written, “ Probably Tasmanian,” the only reason for such conclusion being the very white primaries as contrasted with other Australian specimens. There is here a most delightful opportunity for Tasmanian ornithologists to work out the distribution of B. n. gunni, and also decide whether it is the inland-breeding form and is represented by another form on the sea-rocks. As a parallel case may be cited the New Zealand B. bulleri which, breeding inland, as specifically distinct from the seashore B. n. scopulinus ; whether it is derived from B. novce-hollandice it seems now impossible to decide without careful study of the juvenile stages — it is so different in the adult stages. A casual glance at B. n. gunni at once recalls B. bulleri in the primary-coloration, though otherwise not comparable. * Emu, Vol. V., p. 162, 1906. 465 Order LABIFOBMES No. 150. Family LABI DM. BRUCHIGAVIA NOV^E-HOLLANDI^ ETHELJE. SOUTHERN SILVER GULL. Larus nov^-hollandi.® ETHELS Mathews, Austral Av. Rec., Vol. I., p. 30, 1912 ; Kangaroo Island. ? Xema jamesonii Sturt, Narr. Exp. Centr. Austr., App., p. 58, 1840. ? Larus novce-hoUandice Lyons, Emu, Vol. I., p. 135, 1902 ; Hall, ib., Vol. IX., p. 132, 1910, Distribution. South Australia. Adult. In primary-coloration quite unlike L. n. gunni, its nearest geographical neigh- bour, but more hke L. n. novce-hollandice, than which it is larger ; comparable with L. n. longirostris than which it has a shorter bill, and the third primary always with a mirror in adult birds. Iris white ; feet coral-red ; bill coral-red. Wing 317 mm., culmen 39, tarsus 52. Adult female. Similar. Immature. Agreeing with juv. L. n. longirostris in having elongate narrow mirrors on the first two primaries, in which feature they both disagree from the young of L. n. gouldi. Nest. Neat httle round structures formed of pieces of grass and water-weed placed round and forming a httle hollow cup about 2| inches deep and 6 inches across ” (MeUor.) Eggs. Clutch, three ; similar to those of the former species. Breeding-season. September (Mellor). Captain S. A. White, who collected the type of this species, sends me the following notes : “I have found these birds breeding in great numbers and at other times in small colonies of five or six pairs. They harrass other sea birds when breeding, and are continually on the watch to pounce down on their eggs and will soon devour them.” Mr. J. W. Mellor says : “ Very common in South Australia. They are much admired as garden pets. Have found them breeding in their natural habitats in a number of situations ; they like to build in colonies. “ They are to be seen on the shore scavenging for any bits of scraps or dead fish thrown up by the water, and left dry by the receding tide, which here goes out for a mile and a half, leaving a broad sandy flat, which would doubtless be covered with waders if visited at the right time of the year.” Mr. Mellor goes on to say that when he visited the island of the Coorong on September 20th to 25th, 1911 : “ These birds were nesting in several of 466 SOUTHEEN SILVER GULL. the islands, their nests being placed on the ground, for the most part in the little sheltered crannies of the rocks ; also in the open, some were placed on the tops of low thick bushes. The clutch was three, although in some instances there were two well set eggs in a nest. The eggs were in all stages of incubation from quite fresh to shells Just chipped ; one clutch of young was seen, the fluffy little grey squabs not being able to stand up, and when disturbed crawled into the grass at the edge of the nest. The nests were neat little round structures formed of pieces of grass and water weed placed round and forming a little hollow cup about 2J inches deep and 6 inches across. On one island the gulls had made their nests about the pelicans’ nesting grounds, and in some islands within reach of these large, cumbersome birds, but the guUs were not interfered with by the pelicans, and in return I noted that the gulls did not flock down and attack the larger birds’ eggs when they were unprotected, a thing that the guUs invariably do when they are not of the same rookery, it may be that they have a mutual understanding under this co-operative system. “ The guUs were ever on the alert to gather up any fish that were thrown up by the young pelicans, when they were disturbed by our approach. The gulls would pounce down in little clusters, and quarrel over these tit-bits until at last one more skilful than the rest would sail off on the wing with the trophy, several others flying after him in hot pursuit. “Although these birds were breeding in these enclosed islands, it is not generally thought that they will nest so early, their time on the sea rocks and islands being more in the summer time and early autumn, when the weather is calmer and more settled.” To this form I doubtfully attach the Coopers Creek bird as here noted. Mr. C. M. Lyons,* who collected this bird in the Lake Eyre District in South Australia, writes : “ These were fairly plentiful along all the rivers but especially so at the saltwater holes at Malkuni, on the Cooper. I was struck not so much with their distance inland — 300 miles from the head of Spencer Gulf — but with the fact that there is absolutely no connection between these rivers and the sea, as Lake Eyre into which they flow, is itself 39 feet below sea-level.” Mr. Edwin Ashby tells me this species is common everywhere on the sea-coast of South Australia. It nests in large numbers at thq Spit, near Kingscote, Kangaroo Island. The type-bird described above was collected by Captain Samuel White, after whose wife I named the bird. * Emu, Vol. I., p. 135, 1902. 467 Order LARIFORMES No. 151. Family LARIDJE. BRUCHIGAVIA NOV^-HOLLANDIiE LONGIROSTRIS. WESTERN SILVER GULL. Bruchigavia LONGIROSTRIS Masters, Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., Vol. II., p. 113, 1877 ; King George’s Sound, West Australia. BrucJiigavia longirostris Masters, Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., Vol. II., p. 113, 1877. Larus (Xema) longirostris Ramsay, ih., p. 201, 1877 ; id., Tab. List Austr. Birds, p. 22, 1888. Larus novm-hollandim MilKgan, Emu, Vol. II., p. 76, 1902 ; Carter, ih., Vol. III., p. 208, 1904 ; Lawson, ih., Vol. IV., p. 132, 1905 ; Whitlock, ih., Vol. VIII., p. 194, 1909 ; Crossman, ih., Vol. IX., p. 148, 1910 ; Ogilvie-Grant, Ibis 1910, p. 184. Larus novce-hollandice longirostris Mathews, Nov. Zool., Vol. XVIII., p. 211, 1912. Distribution. South-west AustraHa ; North-west Austraha. Adult. Differs from L. n. novce-hollandice in its dark red longer bill and longer legs. The mirrors on the first and second primaries are smaller, and there is rarely any mirror on the third ; in senile specimens a small white spot is sometimes present ; wing 300 mm., culmen 39, tarsus 55. Immature in fully adult 'plumage. Fully described by Masters, whose account I reproduce {post). Immature in post-nesthng plumage have small mirrors on the first and second primaries. Nestling, Nest, and Eggs. Appear to be undescribed. Breeding-season. October (Milligan) ; April (Carter). Mr. Milligan* says : “ In the ledges of rock at the base of the Pandion’s nest at Gape Mentelle these birds were nesting. Some of the nesting-places contained fully feathered young, other young in a less advanced stage, and others again eggs. This was the first week of October.” Mr. Tom Carter sends me the following note : “A common species all along the coast of West Australia, but I noticed that they were not seen at Point Cloates from January to April every year, doubtless having gone to the south coasts to breed there, as I never saw them breeding in the North-west, but in April, 1911, I was presented with seven fresh eggs by Mr. A. F. H. Muir, who resides on his station at Lake Muir, in the South West. They were * Emu, Vol. II., p. 76, 1902. 468 WESTERN SILVER GULL. aU he had left from some three dozen eggs he had taken from a small rocky islet in the Lake (salt water) on April 2nd by means of a boat, and his station hands had eaten the remainder. “ After a long continuation of heavy southerly gales at Point Gloates in December, 1899, I noticed that these Gulls forsook the beach for a few days, to feed eagerly on beetles, etc., caught in the spinifex some miles inland. They became very tame about the house and native camps, and were good scavengers of refuse.” Mr. F. Lawson,* writing from Rottnest Island, notes: “This was the common Gull on the Island. Nearly all I saw were adults. On one httle islet I found half a dozen empty nests, and one half-grown young one crouching in the vegetation growing in the clefts of the rocks.” Mr. A. J. CampbeUt says this Gull is a rare thief, and he witnessed their plundering the Noddy Terns of their eggs : “ The Gulls also rob these peaceful birds after the Noddies have returned from a fishing cruise, when the contents of their stomachs are just ‘ dished ’ on the edge of the nest for their mates or young. “ Silver Sea Gull always arrest attention with their comely forms and buoyant flight, and by being associated with our inter-colonial sea voyages. They will hover right over the taffrail of the travelling steamer in hopes of some morsels being thrown overboard. Presently the watcher observes a noisy bunch of graceful white forms, varied with black splashed pinions, and extended blood-red legs, left astern, disputing for a half-eaten fowl from the saloon table, that an unthrifty steward has heaved over the side.” As long ago as 1876 the present bird was carefully characterised as here detailed. In the Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., Vol. II., p. 113, 1876, Masters wrote as follows : — “ On Bruchigavia longirostris, a New Species of Gull, from King George’s Sound. “ A collection of birds received from King George’s Sound by Mr. Macleay contained two Gulls, of the subgenus Bruchigavia, one being fully adult, the other immature or young. At first sight they appeared to be identical with our common Silver GuU, Bruchigavia Jamesonii (Wilson), but upon comparison I find them to be very distinct from that species. Having carefully gone over the descriptions and measurements of aU the New Zealand species, and compared it with various kinds from other parts of the world, * Emu, Vol. IV., p. 132, 1905. •f Nests and Eggs Austr. Birds, p. 861, 1901. VOL. n. 469 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. I have come to the conclusion that it has not hitherto been described, and therefore propose for it the name of BrucJiigavia longirostris. “The adult has the head, neck, shoulders, rump, tail, and all the under surface white ; back and wings, silvery-grey ; the shaft of the first primary white at the base, black for the next three inches, then white for about two inches, and tipped with black ; the second is marked somewhat in the same way, but the white extends much farther from the base ; in the third the white extends to within about an inch of the tip ; the web of the first primary is black for about two-thirds of its distance from the base, where it is interrupted by a large elongate spot of white, not quite reaching to the inner margin ; of the second white at the base, and having the large white spot near the tip similar to the first ; the third is without the white spot (that colour extending from the base to within about an inch from the tip), internally margined with black, and slightly tipped with white ; secondaries white externally and crossed near the tip with a band of black, which extends along the inner margin, tips of the two first white, the others light grey ; scapularies silvery-grey ; spurious wing white ; eyelash black ; bill black, with a very slight tinge of red at the base ; legs and feet blackish, intermixed with a reddish or brown tint. “ In the young or immature specimen the shoulders are mottled with brown and the tail is crossed by a distinct band of blackish-brown near the tip. “ Total length 16 J inches, wing 11.8 inches, from eye to tip of bill 2J inches, from gape to tip of bill 2.3 inches, bill from forehead 2.1 inches, greatest depth of bill 0.46 inches, bill from anterior margin of nostril 0.8 inches, tarsi 2.1 inches, middle toe without nail 1.5 inches, hind toe without nail 0.3. “ The measurements of B. Jamesonii are given to show the great dif- ference that exists between the two species. B. Gouldii from Torres Straits is so much like B. Jamesonii that a comparison with that species is not necessary. “ Total length of B. Jamesonii 14| inches, wing 11.4 inches, from eye to tip of bill 1.95 inches, from gape to tip of bill 1.8 inches, bill from forehead 1.7 inches, greatest depth of bill 0.4 inch, bill from anterior margin of nostril 0.65 inch, tarsi 2.8 inches, middle toe without nail 1.4 inches, hind toe without nail 0.25 inch. B. longirostris can be easily distinguished by its long blackish bill and legs, and by the eyelash being black instead of red.” I have reproduced the whole of this description, as an example of the sin of lumping, well carried out. Ramsay the same year admitted the form, and in the Tab. List. Austr. Birds, 1888, he retained it and marked it as being in the Australian Museum, Sydney. In the Cat. Birds. Brit. Mus., Vol. XXV., 1896, p. 236, Saunders synonymised it, marking it as juv. Larus 470 WESTERN SILVER GULL. novce-hollandice. My criticisms of the Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. have been questioned by my Australian co-workers who pleaded, “ We were following that lead, were we wrong ? ” But blind acceptance can never be correct if science has to progress ; and if any Australian worker had examined the list of specimens given under Larus novce-hollandicB he would have noted that Saunders had no specimens, and therefore included this in the synonymy from a study of literature only. Further criticism of Masters’s diagnosis, so beautifully complete, would have enabled the Australian worker to come to only one conclusion : either Saunders was wrong or Masters’s diagnosis was incorrect. But Saunders had not seen the bird and therefore was not in a position to state that Masters was wrong. Therefore Saunders was wrong whether Masters’s diagnosis was incorrect or not, because he had concluded two things were alike with no basis, save suggestion, for that action. I hope this example will clearly show to the doubting Australians that it is really pos- sible for mistakes {which they, being the men on the spot, should have corrected) to be present in the Catalogue of Birds in the British Museum. Study of Masters’s description indicated that there must be some mistake in synonymising this with L. novce-hollandice while accepting Larus scopulinus as distinct. Masters deliberately compared his B. longirostris with B. jamesonii (as he called the New South Wales bird) and showed it to be bigger, with a longer bill and longer legs as well as the bill-coloration differing. Admitting that the bill-coloration pointed to a young bird, the measurements showed it to be larger than the Eastern adult, in the supposed young state. Was the adult not going to be larger ? But it was only guesswork when Saunders concluded that the biU-coloration indicated a juvenile, as had not a similar New Zealand Gull {L. hulleri Hutton) always a black bill ? As a matter of fact the black bill noted by Masters is a sign of imma- turity, but it also is to a great extent a feature of this subspecies. In a number of fully plumaged birds from West Australia the red bill is quite a different red, duU and deep, to that of the Eastern bird ; many others have dark bills. Out of an equal number of Eastern birds no fully-plumaged specimen has a dark bill and the majority have clear, light coral biUs. But the long bill and long legs are quite constant in the West Australian birds, adults giving culmen (exp.) 35-39, and tarsus 52-56, against Eastern birds culmen (exp.) 34-36 and tarsus 48-51 mm. Receipt of a nice series from Western Australia was not taken advantage of by Ogilvie-Grant {Ibis, 1910, p. 184), and the reinstatement of Masters’s B. longirostris was left to myself {Nov. Zool., Vol. XVIII, p. 211, 1912). The male described was collected by Mr. Tom Carter at Albany, South- west Australia, on December 21st, 1907. 471 Genus— G A B I A N U S . Gabianus Bmch, Journ. fiir Ornith., 1853, p. 100 . . Type G. pacificiis. Large Gulls witli square tails ; the bill short, very deep and compressed, the nostril placed well forward, small and pyriform in shape. 472 Key to the Species, Black band on tail, 40 mm. wide Black band on tail, 20 mm, wide G, p. pad ficus f p. 474. G, p. georgii, p. 480. Order LABIFORMES No. 152. Family LARID^, GABIANUS PACIFICUS PACIFICUS. PACIFIC GULL. Larus PACIFICUS Latham, Index Ornith., Suppl, p. lxviii., 1801 ; New South Wales. Pacific Gull, Latham, Gen. Syn. Birds, Suppl., Vol. II., p. 332, 1801. Larus pacificus Latham, Index Ornith., Suppl., p. lxviii., 1801; Gould, Birds Austr., Vol. VII., pi. 19, 1848 ; id., Handb. Birds Austr., Vol. II., p. 385, 1865 ; Ramsay, Proc. Zool. Soc. (Lond.) 1877, p. 347 ; id., Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., Vol. II., p. 201, 1877 ; id.. Tab. List Austr. Birds, p. 22, 1888 ; North, Austr. Mus. Cat., No. 12, p. 351, 1889 ; Cox and Hamilton, Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., Vol. XIV., p. 422, 1889 ; North, Birds County Cumber., p. 113, 1898 ; Heartland, Birds Melb. Distr., p. 119, 1900. Larus frontalis Vieillot, Nouv. Diet. d’Hist. Nat., Vol. XXI., p. 505, 1818. Larus leucomelas id., ib., p. 509. Larus hathyrinchus MacgiUivray, Mem. Wern. Soc. (Edin.), Vol. V., p. 253, 1824. Gabianus pacificus Bruch, Journ. fiir Ornith. 1853, p. 100 ; Bonaparte, Naumannia 1854, p. 211 ; Saunders, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., Vol. XXV., p. 297, 1896 ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 90, 1899 ; Campbell, Nests and Eggs Austr. Birds, p. 862, 1901 ; Campbell (A. G.), Emu, Vol. II., p. 209, 1903 ; Sharpe, Hist. Coll. Brit. Mus., Birds, p. 151, 1906 ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 90, 1906 ; Mathews, Handl. Birds Austral., p. 22, 1908 ; Hall, Emu, Vol. IX., p. 132, 1909 ; Littler, Handb. Birds Tasm., p. 153, 1910. Gabianus bathyrhynchus Bonaparte, Naumannia 1854, p. 21] ; Bruch, Journ. fiir Ornith. 1855, p. 280. Larus pacificus pacificus Mathews, Nov. Zool., Vol. XVIII., p. 212, 1912. Larus pacificus bathyrincfius id., ib. Distribution. Eastern Austraha. Adult male. Differs from L. p. georgii in the broader black band on the tail ; the regular band measures 40 mm. in depth, and extends to the outer feather where however it is confined to the inner web. Adult female. Similar, but smaller. Immature. Agreeing with that of L. p. georgii. Nest. “ Very neat, the grass used being wound round and round, making a beautiful symmetrical hollow — ^three to four inches deep. Placed under the lee of a bunch of tussock grass, or some sheltering bush ” (Mellor). Eggs. Clutch, one to three ; ground-colour light oHve-brown blotched aU over with reddish-brown and lavender ; axis 73-76 mm., diameter 60-53. Breeding-season. October to December (North) ; January (Mellor, Spencer Gulf). 474 PACIFIC GULL. This bird, as most authors have pointed out, does not get its fuUy-adult plumage till at least the third year is reached. Mr. J. W. Mellor says five years in captivity. Mr. Charles Belcher tells me this bird appears in considerable numbers in Corio Bay, Victoria, about the end of December, the adults being known as “ Big Gulls,” and the young as “ MoUyhawks.” They remain out on the more open water in fine weather, but during storms come in to shore and may even be seen flying a mile or two inland, though he has never known them alight inland in the manner that L. dominicanus does in New Zealand. Mr. Belcher further says : “ Like so many other sea-birds, the Pacific Gull wanders far from its nesting-places, and so it is that it is quite common in Port Phillip, though its nearest ‘ home ’ is over a hundred miles away. A great many nested in November, 1901, on Storehouse Island, just off Flinders Island in the Furneaux group.” Captain S. A. White informs me that “ This powerful bird is found at times on the Southern coasts of Australia, and is numerous in Bass Straits, and on the coast of Tasmania. I have seen this bird several hundreds of miles up the River Murray. It breeds on the islands of Bass Straits. The eggs are, as a rule, three in number, and are placed on the bare ground, in some cases a slight nest of rushes is formed. These birds are most power- ful of flight and their movements on the wing resemble the eagles more than guUs.” Mr. J. W. Mellor, of South Australia, says : “ They generally go in pairs or a few together, but never in flocks. They breed in scattered pairs on an island, making a very neat nest indeed, the reverse from what would be expected from such a lumbering bird in its actions on the sea-shore. The long grass used in nest building is wound round and round, making a beautiful symmetrical hollow, in which is laid 2 to 3 eggs. The nest is placed under the lee of a bunch of tussock grass, or some sheltering bush. I saw some very good examples of these on Cat Island, in Bass Strait. To watch the change of plumage, I kept a pair in captivity from December, 1907 (they were that year’s birds) till now, April, 1911, and they are barely in their adult plumage yet, showing that this pair at least, would require 5 years before getting their fully adult dress. The change starts by the appearance of a few scattered white feathers coming about the head and breast ; these gradually increase in number. As the brown feathers are moulted, they are replaced by fully adult white ones. Then the black feathers of the back begin to show. The quills are then moulted and replaced by blackish ones. The bill also now gets a deeper yellow.” 475 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. Dr. Ramsay,* writing on the birds of North-east Queensland, records: “ I found this noble species rather plentiful on the mud-flats and margins of many of the rivers at low tides. They ascend the rivers in company with Xema jamesoni to a considerable distance. I noticed several pairs near the wharfs at Rockhampton.” Messrs. Cox and Hamiltonf report this bird from Mudgee, New South Wales, as follows : “A large number of these birds appeared, with a few of the following species {Larus novce-hollandice) on the river at Beaudesert, and on the dams, especially a sludge dam, at Canadian Lead, in 1885 and 1886, about Christmas.” Ronald Gunn,J in his MS. journal, is quoted as giving the following : “ Abundant on the sea-coast and about Georgetown, it is also not unfrequent on the Tamar as high as Launceston, where the salt water ceases.” Mr. A. J. North§ says : “ It is common in all the bays and inlets, and along the coast. It may be frequently observed about Sydney Harbour and on the Parramatta River.” Mr. G. A. Heartland 1 1 observes : “ Birds of this species in aU stages of plumage, from the dark brown young to the pure white and black adult, may be seen in Hobson’s Bay disputing with the Silver GuUs for the offal thrown from the vessels at the piers.” Mr. Frank M. Littler,^ writing on Tasmanian Birds, says : “ Next to the Silver Gull, Larus novce-hollandice, this species is perhaps the most familiar sea-bird found round our coast. At no time, however, does it congregate in as large flocks as the previous species, on whose eggs and young it wages relentless war during the breeding season. “ On Ninth Island, where there are large rookeries of white-faced Storm Petrels {Pelagodroma marina) I found that the Pacific Gull was responsible for the death of great numbers of this dainty little Petrel, for on moonlight nights it could both be seen and heard ‘ hawking ’ over the rookeries, and every now and then pouncing down on a bird. It is a noble bird on the wing, reminding one much of the Swamp-Hawk {Circus gouldi) in the manner in which it sails in great circles, and, in small companies, hawks backwards and forwards over the same ground. When progressing at what might be termed an ordinary rate of speed, it beats the air with its wings 100 times in * Proc. Zool. Soc. 1877, p. 347. t Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., Vol. XIV., p. 422, 1889. X Bull. Liverpool Mus., No. 2, p. 58, 1900. § Birds County Cumber., p. 113, 1898. II Birds Melb. Distr., p. 119, 1900. ^ Handb. Birds Tasm., p. 154, 1910. 476 PACIFIC GULL. 80 seconds (actual count). When sailing directly in the eye of the wind on motionless wings, and wishful of changing its course either to the right or the left, the tips of the wings are slightly depressed, and the body brought round by a slight lateral movement of the head and tail, but not the faintest semblance of a flap is given. Its cry is a very harsh, single note, which frequently might be mistaken for a short, sharp bark uttered by a terrier dog. At other times a somewhat long drawn-out note, sounding like ‘ Oh-ah,’ is uttered in doublets, especially when hawking in couples over Petrel rookeries.” Colonel Legge* says : “ This Gull is a later breeder than the little species [Bruchigavia]. On the 31st October there were no nests on the Islands ; but on the 20th November I learned that large numbers of eggs had been taken by the Recherche people. On the 28th I only found two nests, as the birds had evidently been driven away from the Islands, owing to the whole- sale taking of their eggs. The nests were constructed in the centre of the wild celery plant, which was growing among the smaller rounded boulders near the top of the rocky shore. The centre of the plant was trampled down into a hollow and a few tufts of grass placed in the depression, forming a nest 10 inches wide by 5 inches deep. The eggs of this species are very large and vary considerably in size and shape. They are usually broad ovals, more or less stumpy at the small end, but some have a pointed or pyriform shape. I do not observe much variation in the ground colour, which is olive grey or pale stone grey or whitish stone colour. The markings are generally small and sparingly distributed over the surface without regard to either end, and are of a pale umber brown, or light sepia in some, over brownish blue spots, blots and specks, these again over-lying primary pale spots of blue grey. Occasionally eggs are found with large handsome clouds of reddish sepia over- lying faint blotches of bluish grey. A series of' five vary in length from 3.0 to 2.69 inches and in breadth from 2.1 to 2.2 inches.” When Latham went through the Watling drawings he came across a picture of a young bird, which he described in the Suppl Gen. Synops. Birds, Vol. II., p. 332, 1801, under the name of the Pacific Gull : — “ The general colour of the plumage in this bird is deep brown ; but the under parts, the rump, and tips of the lesser wing coverts are very pale brown, approaching to white ; tail rather short, rounded at the end ; bill dirtv orange, swelling near the point, where it is crossed with dusky or black ; legs dusky. “ Inhabits New South Wales ; where is also found the Black-backed GuU or a species so similar thereto^ as not to merit description.” * Papers Proc. Roy. Soc. Tasm. 1887, p. 132, 1888. VOL. n. 477 TPIE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. In the Suppl Index Ornith., p. Lxvin., 1801, Latham latinised this under the name Larus pacificus, thus : — L. fuscTis, pectore uropygioque albidis, rostro fulvo prope apicem nigro. Pacific Gull. Gen. Syn., Supp. II., p. 332, 2. Habitat in Nova Hollandia. In the Nouv. Diet. d’Hist. Nat., Vol. XXI., 1818, VieiUot described the young on p. 505 as Larus frontalis, and again on p. 509 as Larus leucomelas, both from Maria Island, as here reproduced : — Larus frontalis Vieill. Get oiseau, que je soup9onne n’etre pas encore sous un plumage parfait, est a peu pres de la grosseur du goeland a manteau noir ; mais il paroit moins long parce qu’il a la queue plus courte ; ii a le bee tres-epais, d’un orange teme a la base de la partie inferieure, et noiratre dans le reste, chez I’oiseau mort ; le front d’un gris cendre ; le menton blanchatre et tachete de brun ; les plumes de la tete, de la gorge, du cou et de toutes les parties posterieures blanches depuis leur origine jusqu’au dela du milieu, et ensuite brunes ; ceUes du dos, des scapulaires, des covertures superieures des ailes, des pennes secondaires les plus proches du corps et des couvertures inferieures de la queue, brxmes dans le milieu, bordees et terminees de roussatre ; les premieres remiges et les pennes caudales noires ; less pieds jaunatres le pouce tres-court et arme d’un ongle tres crochu. Ce goeland, que M. de Labillardiere a trouve a File Sainte-Marie, situee pres de la terre de Diemen, fait partie du Museum d’Histoire naturelle. Larus leucomelas Vieill. II a de tres-grands rapports avec le goeland d manteau noir, sous son habit de noces ; mais il en differe par une taille un peu plus forte, par son bee plus epais vers le bout, et surtout par sa queue qui est terminee de noir ; ces differences m’ont determine a I’isoler, d’autant plus que dans un age moins avance, il porte un v§te- ment qui le distingue de celui-ci, a la meme epoque de sa vie. Alors, il a la tete, le cou et le haut de la poitrine, varies de brun fence et de blanc ; la premiere couleur domine sur le dessus de la tete et sur la nuque ; la seconde, sur les autres parties ; la gorge est d’un blanc pur, ainsi que le reste de la poitrine, le ventre, les couvertures inferieures de la queue et les deux tiers de ses pennes, qui dans I’autre tiers sont noires ; le dos, les scapu- laires et les couvertures superieures des ailes sont d’un gris-noiratre imiforme ; les pennes primaires noires, avec une large marque blanche vers leur bout ; le bee est noiratre, d’un faune orange en dessous et sur les cotes, jusqu’a la hauteur des narines. Ces oiseaux, que M. de Labillardiere a trouves a File Maria, situee pres la terre de Diemen, sont au Museum d’Histoire naturelle. A few years afterwards Macgillivray, in the Hem. Wern. Soc. (Edin.), Vol. V., p. 253, 1824, described Larus hathyrincJius, as here given : — L. postro pone apicem utrinque gibbo, rubro, dorso alisque ardoisiaceis (brown, with a little ash-grey and red, upon a blackish basis), remigibus caudaeque sub apice fascia nigris. Adult. Beak shortish (not quite as long as the head) very deep, much compressed, gibbous in the lateral view both above and below beyond the middle, ochre yeUow to the forepart of the nostrils, bright red at the end ; length 2| inches, depth at the knob 1 inch. “ Irides and comer of the mouth bright scarlet. Feet greenish yellow (Parkin- son),” claws blackish-brown ; tarsus 2| inches long, middle toe (including the nail) 2f inches. Wings reaching to a little beyond the tip of the tail. Total length 24f inches, extent 52 inches. Back and wings slate-purple ; primaries brownish-black, from the seventh primary to the last secondary quill the tips white, forming a terminal bar, which is broadest in the middle ; the rest of the plumage snow-white with the exception of a band of brownish-black across the tail near the end, including the whole of the feathers, excepting the outer, which have only the shaft slightly marked. Variations dependent upon age, incubation, manners, uses, etc., unknown. Country. Coasts of New Holland. 478 PACIFIC GULL. Distinctive characters. This species, although one of three that are equally black or purple-blacked, is easily distinguished by the remarkable depth and gibbosity of the beak, as well as by the dark band across the tail. No locality was known but he recognised in this bird the one Parkinson noticed on the Great Barrier Reef, and inserted in his description the soft parts given by Parkinson. On account of that the type-locality has been accepted as Queensland (see Nov. ZooL, Vol. XVIII., p. 212, 1912) ; but there seems no good reason for this. By Bonaparte it was used for a smaller form, as instanced in the Naumannia, 1854, p. 211, where he gave: Gabianus paciflcus Lath (major) ex. Austr. Gdbianus hathyrhynchus'M.SiGG^ (minor) ex. Austr. He also impressed this upon Bruch who in his later “ Review of the Laridce ” {Journ. filr OrnitJi., 1855) wrote, p. 274: “ Unter Gdbianus erschienen zwei Vogel von sehr verschiedenen Grosse, wie ich diess schon bemerkt habe ; ob aber pacificus, leucmnelas and Georgii Vig., oder bathyrJiynchus der grosser Oder kleiner sei, wird schwer zu entschienden sein ” ; and admitted on p. 280 : G. bathyrhynchus. Vaterland und Zeichnung wie beim vorigen, aber kleiner von Gesalt und der Schnabel an der Wurzel mehr zusammengedruckt.” I cannot see much in Macgillivray’s description to conclude that he was handling a smaller bird, and it might be noted that he considered his bird identical with Vieillot’s L. leucomelas, and only introduced the new name L. bathyrinchus because he said leucmnelas was not distinctive, as it was applicable just as fairly to other birds. Perhaps the correct course would be to pass L. bathyrinchus into the synonymy of L. frontalis, but the description does not exactly apply to any Tasmanian birds I have examined. In the meanwhile, on account of lack of sufficient material, I am only recognising an Eastern and a Western bird. There is however a good field for investigation, as it is quite possible that as many subspecies of this Gull exist as is known of the preceding Bruchigavia novoe-hollandice. \\ 479 Order LARIF0EME8 No. 153. Family LARIDjF. GABIANUS PACIFIGUS GEORGII. WESTERN PACIFIC GULL. (Plate 121.)* Larus GEORGII King, Survey Intertrop. Coasts Austr., Vol. II., p. 423, 1826 ; King George Sound, West Australia. Larus georgii King, Survey Intertrop. Coasts Austr., Vol. II., p. 423, 1826. Gabianus pacificus Gibson, Emu, Vol. IX., p. 77, 1909. Larus paci ficus Ogilvie-Grant, Ibis 1910, p. 184. Larus pacificus georgii Mathews, Nov. Zool., Vol. XVIII., p. 212, 1912. Distribution. South-west Australia. Adult male. Back and wings dark brown ; small coverts round the bend of the wing pure white ; lesser, median, and greater wing-coverts blackish hke the bastard- wing, primary-coverts and quills, some of the latter tipped with white, more broadly on the innermost primaries which are also margined with white on the inner webs towards the tip ; sides of rump, upper tail-coverts, and tail white, the latter with a broad subterminal band of black on all the feathers except the outer pair, each of which have a very shght motthng of black and a black shaft- streak on the subterminal portion of the feather ; head and neck all round white like the under surface, which includes the axillaries, under wing-coverts, and under tail-coverts ; “ Bill green, tip red, cutting edges yellowish green ; iris silvery white ; eyehd yellow ; feet yellow ” (J. T. Tunney). Total length 645 mm. ; culmen 62, wing 475, tail 192, tarsus 78. * Adult female. Similar to the adult male but the sub terminal black band on the tail much more irregular in shape, the outer feathers pure white with the exception of the subterminal black shaft-streak, the second pair has a slight mark on the outer web with a black shaft-streak and a large blotch on the inner web, while on the corresponding feather there is only a black shaft- streak and a small black spot on the inner web ; “ Iris brown ” (J. T. Tunney). Total length 645 mm. ; culmen 60, wing 443, tail 178, tarsus 64. Immature. Upper surface brown, most of the feathers margined with white or ferru- ginous, and showing dark shaft-streaks on the scapulars and upper tail-coverts ; bastard-wing, primary-coverts and quills dark brown fringed and tipped with white, the shafts of the latter white on their basal portion ; secondaries similar but paler at the base of the inner web ; tail-feathers dark brown fringed with whitish at the tips, outer feather on one side margined with white, and white on the inner web at the base ; head and neck all round brown with white bases to the feathers ; throat white with brown pear-shaped spots to the feathers ; remainder of under surface brown with white bases to the feathers ; under wing-coverts dark browui ; axillaries uniform pale brown. * The Plate is lettered Oahianus pacifktus. 480 GABIANUS PACIFICUS . (PACIFIC GULL). WESTERN PACIFIC GULL. Nestling. Buffy-wliite, with longitudinal streaks of brown on the upper surface, the brown pattern somewhat darker on the head but scarcely pronounced on the under surface ; bill bluish horn-colour, tip hght horn-colour ; feet and iris black. Nest and Eggs. Undescribed. Breeding-season. September (Campbell). Nothing appears to have been written regarding the habits of this bird. A perfect-plumaged female killed by Mr. G. C. Shortridge has on the label, “ Iris ash-grey, eyelid scarlet, bill bright yellow, terminal third rose- red with edges of mandibles dark slate ; legs ochre yellow, pale olivaceous at joints, claws slate black. (During life the white of the under parts and neck tinged with a delicate pink, like the colour looking through a thin white egg.” An immature assuming adult plumage, procured at the same time, has : “ Iris dusky slate grey, eyelid brick red, bill ochre yellow, terminal third mottled rose-red and dark slate, legs dull ochre tinged with olivaceous ; tarsi in front olivaceous slate, feet (not webs) tinged above with light olivaceous slate, claws black.” The tail-coloration is quite different to that of the Eastern bird, as the band is much more irregular and narrower, the broadest part only 20 mm. deep. The original description reads : — Larus georgii King, Survey Intertrop. Coasts Austr., Vol. II., p. 423, 1826. L. albus, dorso alisque nigris ; rectricibus albus, fascia media atra. Rostrum flavum, apice rubro ; mandibulae inferioris gonide maxime angulata ; remiges primores atrae, secimdariae supra nigrae apice albo, infra albae ; tectrices inferiores albae ; pedes flavi. Longitude corporis, 28, alae, a carpo ad remigem primam 18| ; mandibulae. superioris ad frontem 2^* ; ad rictum ; tarsi 2ii ; caudae 8-y This bird was found at King George the Third’s Sound on the South-west Coast, in the vicinity of Seal Island. Is it too much to ask for field-observations to be made on this bird or its Eastern representative as to its plumage-changes ? It should be noted that birds in captivity do not exactly follow those variations which take place in nature, owing to the different feeding and cramped situations of the former. The bird figured and described is a male, collected on Mondrain Island on the south-east of West Australia by Mr. J. T. ' Tunney, on ^October 29th, 1907. 481 Family— CATHAR ACT ID Genus— C ATHARACTA. Catharaota Bmnnich, Ornith. Boreal, p. 32, 1764 . . . . Type G. shua. Also spelt: — Cataracta Retzius, ed. Fauna Suecica, p. 160, 1800. Cataractes Fleming, Philos. Zool., Vol. II., p. 263, 1822. Catarractes PaUas, Zool. Rosso-Asiat., Vol. II., p. 309, 1827. Gatarracta Gray, List Gen. Birds, p. 78, 1840. Catarrhacta Strickland, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., Vol. VII., p. 40, 1841. GatarrJiactes Bruch, Joum. fiir Omith., 1853, p. 108. Megalestris Bonaparte, Comptes Rendus Sci., Paris, Vol. XLIII., p. 643, 1856 . . . . . . . . . . Type G. skua. Buphagus Cones, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad. 1863, p. 124 Type G. skua. On account of anatomical differences, the Skuas have been granted a Family distinction from the Gulls and Terns, which are considered only worthy of sub-family separation. Superficially the bill of a Skua is quite different from that of a Gull on account of the presence of a horny cere, extending half way along the upper mandible, which overhangs the nostrils. But if a young Skua and a young GuU be compared, they will be found to possess very similar bills, and in some genera of Gulls (as instance Oabianus) the adult shows a well marked transition towards the cere. There seems no reason whatever to doubt the very close relationship of Gulls and Skuas, but the inter-relationship of the latter is not so clear. In my “ Reference List ” I classed the three Skuas which occur in Australian waters in the one genus Gatharacta, but this course, I am now con- vinced, was most improper. The limits of genera must not be so wide as to include such diverse types of birds, while admitting the minute subdivisions in the Passeriformes. It would seem that because the birds are big they have recently been unfairly treated. It must be acknowledged that the evolution of the different tails in the Skuas has most probably taken much longer than many of the changes, admittedly generic, in Passerine birds. Illogical subdivision, such as that in the A.O.U. Ghecklist, 3rd ed., 1910, where two genera are included — the former Megalestris for G. skua Brunnich, the second to include 8. poinarinus, 8. parasiticus, and 8. longicaudus — cannot be accepted. The latter three show two types as diverse as the first- mentioned genus is different from the first member of the second. A 482 CATHAKACTIDJE. better classification would obviously be C. skua Brunnicb and L. pmnarinus Temminck in one genus, and the other two in another genus, each with subgeneric rank. As I am only using one rank I am separating each under a separate genus. The present genus, Catharacta, is characterised by its large size, large powerful biU, strong legs and feet, and wedge-shaped tail. The bill is broad at the base, and the horny cere overhangs the longitudinal nostrils ; the hook is strong and powerful. The strong legs have the toes fully webbed, and provided with long, curved, sharp claws. The centre feathers of the tail are not specially lengthened, and the tad is less than half the length of the wing, which has the first primary longest. 483 Order LARIF0RME8 Family CATHARACTIDM, No. 154. CATHARACTA LONNBERGI LONNBERGI. AUSTRALIAN SKUA. (Plate 122.)* Catharacta ANTARCTICA LONNBERGI Mathcws, Nov. Zool., Vol. XVIII., p. 212, 1912 ; New Zealand seas. Lestris catarractes Gould, Birds Austr., Vol. VII., pi. 21, 1848. Lestris catarrhactes Hutton, Ibis 1872, p. 248. Stercorarius catarrhactes Gould, Handb. Birds Austr., Vol. II., p. 389, 1865. Stercorarius antarcticus BuUer, Birds New Zeal., p. 267, 1873 ; id., Trans. New Zeal. Inst., Vol. XI., p. 373, 1879; id., Birds New Zeal., 2nded., Vol. II., p. 63, 1888; Ramsay, Tab. List. Austr. Birds, p. 22, 1888. Megalestris antarctica Saunders, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., Vol. XXV., p. 319, 1896 (pars) ; North, Birds County Cumber., p. 114, 1898 ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 90, 1899 ; Campbell, Nests and Eggs Austr. Birds, p. 863, 1901 ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 90, 1906 ; Wilson, National Antarct. Exp., Vol. II., p. 63, 1907 ; Mathews, Handl. Birds Austral., p. 22, 1908 ; Littler, Handb. Birds Tasm., p. 155, 1910. Catharacta antarctica Waite, Subant. Isl. New Zeal., p. 556, 1909. Catharacta antarctica lonnbergi Mathews, Nov. Zool., Vol. XVIII., p. 212, 1912 ; id.. Austral Av. Rec., Vol. I., p. 55, 1912. Distribution. Austrahan and New Zealand seas ; Chatham Islands (breeding), sub- antarctic islands of New Zealand (breeding). Adult male. General colour above dark brown, inchning to blackish on the wings ; some of the scapulars fringed and mottled with white, as also some of the upper tail-coverts ; wing-coverts uniform dark brown like the bastard-wing and primary- coverts ; primary-quills white at the base, dark brown or blackish at the tips, the shafts for the greater part white ; secondaries and tail-feathers dark brown, white at the base ; head and neck all round, rufous-brown hke the under surface of the body ; the feathers on the hind-neck and sides of the neck lanceolate in form and show glossy shaft-streaks ; under wing-coverts and axillaries darker than the abdomen and more glossy ; a short, narrow streak of white below the eye ; bill black ; iris dark brown ; feet black. Total length 690 mm. ; culmen (exp.) 57, wing 433, tail 170, tarsus 78. Adult female. Similar to the adult male. Total length 610 mm. ; culmen 56, wing 410, tail 155, tarsus 77. * The Plate is lettered Megalestris antarctica. 484 MEGALESTRIS ANTARCTICA. r sKo^i. ) . AUSTEALIAN SKUA. Captain Hutton* says : “ Sometimes the feathers of the back of the neck are finely streaked with pale yellow ; but usually they are of a uniform brown.” Immature. Uniform brownish-black on the upper surface ; the lower, uniform brownish- grey ; the white bases of the primary-quills extensive. Nestling in dawn. Smoky-grey, darker above and paler below. Nest. None : a shallow depression (Wilson). Eggs. Clutch, two ; ground-colour dark stone, sparingly marked with blotches of brown, and a few dark grey ones round the middle ; axis 76 mm., diameter 52. Breeding-season. November (Chatham Island) (Macquarie Island). “ Every voyager to and from Australia, whether by the Cape of Good Hope or Cape Horn, will observe that in aU the higher latitudes, the ship will be frequently visited by solitary examples of this Gull, which may be dis- tinguished from the Albatross and Petrels by its more flapping and heavier mode of flight, and by the white mark on the wing, which shows conspicuously when seen from beneath. It appears, however, to be attracted to the ship more from curiosity than from aught else, for after passing round it two or three times, it wings its way again over the expansive ocean until lost to sight ; it is as often seen a thousand miles from land as it is near the coast, and I was for a long time surprised how a bird of this family could exist so far from any apparent means of repose, until the difficulty was at last solved by my seeing the bird settle on the masses of sea-weeds, which here and there float about in all seas, and on which it rested with as much ease as if standing on a rock ... It was nowhere more abundant than ofl the coast of Tasmania, and may be frequently seen in Storm Bay at the mouth of the Derwent. “We obtained six examples of Megalestris antarctica from the Macquarie Islands, but unfortunately none from the Aucklands, where the birds appeared to be even darker and larger than they were in the Macquarie Islands. We found it nesting in the latter islands on November 22nd, 1901. Each nest contained two eggs, laid merely on the ground, with rarely a few bents lining a shallow depression. The birds not only threatened to attack those who interfered with them, but also occasionally attempted to draw them away by feigning an inability to fly. They live here as Skuas do elsewhere, largely by harassing other birds till they disgorge. We saw one dipping at a whale- bird {Prion). Fear was a thing apparently unknown to them, for in the open ocean we watched them chasing even the largest Albatrosses, and no sooner did the sailing flight of the Skua change for its bee-line stoop, than the Albatross would immediately drop to the water, there to remain until either its tormentor was gone, or the coveted food in its stomach had passed beyond recall. *lUs, p. 248, 1872. I Gould, Handb. Birds Austr., Vol. II., p. 389, 1865. VOL. II. 485 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. “ On the Macquarie Islands the Skuas patrolled the Penguin’s rookeries with great persistence, and no doubt took a fair share of the eggs and young.”* Buller, writing of a specimen of this bird in captivity, says : “ He is almost omnivorous, but gives preference to fish and meat. On a dead bird being offered him, he runs off with it in his beak, then, holding it down with his feet, plucks the feathers off and devours the flesh. On throwing him a blight- bird {Zosterops lateralis) he bolted it, feathers and all. His capacity for swallowing fish is something astonishing, his crop becoming greatly distended. He has the power of regurgitating his food, and will sometimes reproduce from his throat a bone of marvellous size, the wonder being how he ever managed to swallow it. Although not habitually a nocturnal bird, he sometimes gets very excited after dark, hurrying about the garden with outstretched wings and uttering a peculiar cry, as if being suffocated. At other times he emits at intervals a note like the crowing of a pheasant. “ The flight of this bird is heavy, and performed by slow, regular flap- pings of the wings, with the shoulders much arched. It possesses, however, the faculty of turning quickly in the air, as I observed when the guUs were in pursuit. On the wing the white mark across the primaries is very con- spicuous, but it is not sufficiently apparent to distinguish the bird when the body is at rest.”f “ The impudence and aggressiveness of the sea-hawk surpasses anything I have seen among wild birds, and it is this bird more than any other which I believe to be responsible for the destruction of other birds on the islands. We found it to be common at the Snares, Aucklands and Campbell Islands, while I had good opportunities of examining it at Antipodes Island during the breeding season. “ Everywhere on the higher lands the ground was strewn with skeletons of petrels. Some bones were bleached by long exposure, others were recently picked, while several were found from which the feathers had not yet been stripped. All of these were without doubt the work of skua gulls, many of which we surprised at their meals. “ The entrances to many of the burrows of the petrels were enlarged, and it seems probable that the skuas actually enter the holes and drag the birds out . . . These parasites are ever on the watch : they chase other birds for the sake of their dinners, which the unfortunate victims disgorge ; they hover among the penguins on the chance of picking up a young or disabled bird, and they dance close attendance on the sitting albatroses. If one of these birds * Wilson, National Antarct. Exp., Vol. II., p. 64, 1907. f Buller, Trans. New Zeal. Inst., Vol. XI., pp. 374-5, 1879. 486 AUSTRALIAN SKUA. leaves its egg for but a dozen yards the skuas pounce upon it. Such a case happened while two of our party held an albatross for the purpose of photo- graphing its nest ; its egg was pierced by an impudent marauder in a moment. We also discovered two albatroses sitting upon eggs thus destroyed, the resulting odour apparently not seriously inconveniencing the birds. “ At the period of my visit to Antipodes Island most of the birds had hatched their eggs, and the young ones attempted to hide themselves by crouching close to the ground or crawling into a crevice. Meantime the parent birds swooped down quite close to us, and with loud screams essayed to drive us away. I struck one with the rim of my land net as it flew past, but another bird whose young one I had picked up knocked off my cap, which I hastily replaced. “ When drawing the seine net we were always objects of interest to the skuas. They alighted close to us, and walked over the net as it lay on the beach. When driven away they flew but a short distance, and soon returned. It was not safe to leave anything in the shape of specimens on the beach : a shag obtained by a member of the party being rendered useless by a couple of sea-hawks after a few minutes’ engagement. “ A member of the party having obtained a special permit to secure a seal for scientific purposes, one of these animals was killed at Enderby Island, and the carcase minus the head was left on the beach. This immediately attracted a number of skua gulls. One bird took possession by standing on the carcase, and in the most determined manner possible drove away all other comers. I approached the bird within 4 ft. or 5 ft. and took the photograph. ... As a good instance of the disre'gard of the presence of man, I may men- tion that the bird then hopped off the carcase between it and myself, and I very much surprised it by catching it by the legs. I released it, but it soon returned, to find its position usurped by another bird. Filhol found remains of rats in the stomachs of the skuas. “ The following is clipped from a recent issue of the Otogo Daily Ti^nes : ‘ The skua gull we are told is following on the evil courses of the Kea, and is making sad havoc amongst the island flocks. His delinquencies have been specially noted at Campbell Island. There he is understood to have relinquished his cutomary sea-faring pursuits, and devoted his attention exclusively^ to the pastoral interest. No sooner does the sheap get down on its back than he is down upon it like a flash, picking out its eyes, and otherwise assisting it to a rapid despatch. As we understand it, this is altogether a new departure, and the probabilities are that we may hear more about it in the lambing season.’ ”* * Waite, Subant. Isl. New Zeal., p. 556, 1909. 487 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. The type figured and described is a male, collected ofi New Zealand. This bird was one of the earliest known to the adventurous naturalists who accompanied Captain Cook, but it was confused with the northern bird. In Captain Cook’s Journal, edited by Wharton, 1893, we find the following notes regarding this form : — (p. 127) Saturday (Sept.) 30th (1769). Saw a dark brown bird as big as a Raven ; it is a Sea Fowl, and are seen in great numbers about the Faulkland Islands, as I am told. (p. 129) Thursday (Oct.) 5th (1769). Saw one of the same sort of Birds as we saw last Saturday. These birds are of a dark brown or Chocolate Colour, with some white feathers under their wings, and are as big as Ravens. Mr. Gore says that they are in great plenty at Port Egmont in Faulklands Islands, and for that reason calls them Port Egmont Hens. Friday 6th. Saw some Port Egmont Hens. The next day Cook saw the mainland of Poverty Bay, New Zealand. (p. 200) Saturday (Feb.) 24th (1770) (off Timaru). Mr. Banks, in a small boat, shott 2 Port Egmont Hens which were in every respect the same sort of Birds as are found in great numbers upon the island of Faro ; they are of a very dark brown plumage, with a little w^hite about the under side of their wings, and are as large as a Muscovy Duck. These were the first that we have seen since we arrived upon the Coast of this Country, but we saw of them for some days before we made land. (p, 236) Wednesday (April) 18th (1770). Last night we saw a Port Egmont Hen, and this morning 2 more . . . these birds are certain signs of the nearness of land. The succeeding day Cook was off Cape Howe, Victoria. On the next voyage Cook found that these birds were not sure signs of land, noting them far from any point. It seemed certain that Solander would have noted this bird, and it also appeared to me that such an accurate ornithologist would have remarked some difference between the New Zealand killed bird and the North Atlantic one. I therefore looked up the Solander MSS., and found that he had described it under the name of Larus skua. I reproduce the description as it seems worthy of attention : — Skua Larus fuliginosus, rectricibus remigibusque nigris, basi albis, pedibus atris, unguibus aduncis Skua-gull. Penn. Zool. fol. — tab. 140, p. 417 Skua 417 Hoyeri. Clus, exot 369 Catarractas noster. Will. orn. 265 {angl. p. 348) Baji av. 128 Habitat in Oceano Australiam alluente. Lat. austr. XLIV : 40 Log. occ. CLXXXVIII. (Febr. 23, 1770) Caput & Collum testaceo-fuliginosa : pennis apice griseis. Dorsum fuliginosum : penis apice testaceis Abdomen cinereo-fuliginosum, imaculatum Ala' lata', magna', nigra' Remiges basi alba', albido primorum extra tectrices purum extensa Cauda brevis (circiter sex uncias longa) lata, rotunda, nigra Becirices basi alba' dua' intermedia' reliquis paulo longiores Rostrum sordida nigrum, crassum, breviusculum 488 AUSTRALIAN SKUA. Nares antice valde aperta' Pedes aterrimi ; sa'pe et forte casu maculis paucis ina'qualibiis irregularibus albis bine inde adspersis Obs. Tibia' antice parum cinerascentes, forte e tritura, Ungues (etjam PoUici) nigri, adunci, acutissimi, Digiti interioris maxime arcuatus exterioris intermedio arcuatior Nostra avis (Australia') in omnibus convenit descriptionibus Clusii, WiUughba'i & Raji excepto colore in eorum dilutiore magisque testaceo Certe distincta species a Laro Catarracte Linn, et ceterorum Auctorum (exceptis citatis) quorum synonyma in Linn Syst nat p. 226, 11 enumerantur, ob colerem pedum, et forte unguibus etc. Longitudo ab apice rostri ad extr. cauda' ... 24 \ utriusque ala' expansa' ... 54 Ala' singula' Cauda' 24 1 6 Rostri (ad rictum oris) ... 21 Latitudo Alarum (ubi remiges secundaria ;) 8 Pondus 3 libr. 10 unc. It will be seen that Solander separated the Australian bird from Linne’s Larus catarractes, but accepted it as being the same as the Skua Gull of Pennant, yet even then noted colour differences. The forms of the genus Catharacta as here restricted make a most interesting study. I have written about the use of Catharacta as the genus- name in the Nov. ZooL, Vol. XVII., p. 498, 1910, and would here point out that under the International Rules Catharacta must be made use of whether the illegal Brissonian names be utilised or not. This Family has really only had two reviewers — Cones in 1863, and Saunders in 1876 and 1896. In the first-mentioned review {Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad. 1863, pp. 121- 138), Coues used as the generic names Buphagus Moehring, 1752, for these Skuas, and Stercorarius Brisson, 1760, for the lesser Skuas, or Jaegers as the Americans call them. Coues’s argument for the use of Moehring’s names was simple : they were in the same category as those of Brisson, and the rejection of the latter being apparently impossible, the acceptance of the former was the logical sequence. Moehring’s genera were published in 1752, and consequently are invalid as being pre-Linnean ; a reprint of Moehring appeared in 1758, and this^ has been rejected as having no status. The Brissonian “ genera ” are, according to the International Laws, inadmissible, though most ornithologists appear to consider a breach of the Laws in this direction as of little consequence, instead of regarding it a dangerous precedent. I have determined to abide by the Laws, and until those are altered I have no alternative but to ignore Brisson’s genera entirely. 489 THE BIRDS OF • AUSTRALIA. Coues noted that the Falkland Islands Skua had b^n separated by Lesson, and concluded that it seemed so similar that he was doubtful of recognising it. He however noted that some specimens (exact locality unknown) from the Southern Ocean were much larger and more uniformly darker, and somewhat iUogicaUy suggested that they might become larger and darker with age and that these very large birds were simply senile specimens. I have termed this remark “ illogical,” as he knew the Northern Skua — which he considered identical — became lighter with age and certainly not abnormally larger. In the Bull. U.8. Nat. Mus., No. 2, p. 9, 1875, he called the Southern Skua Buphagus skua antarcticus. The following year Saunders revised the group {Proc. Zool. Soc. (Lond.) 1876, pp. 317-332), and with the thoroughness that characterises aU his early papers on the Larifonnes, carefully discussed aU the questions raised by Coues, but coincident with the peculiar views at that time held by working British ornithologists, failed to foUow up his reasoning to its logical conclusions. Thus, Coues had acknowledged two genera and had relegated S. pomarinus to that containing the “ Jaegers,” observing that though this bird was somewhat intermediate in its features, it could not be reckoned as a link connecting the two genera. Gray, in his Handlist^ included aU in the one genus but recognised three subgenera, giving the Pomarine Skua subgeneric rank equal with the Skuas and “ Jaegers.” Saunders used one genus for aU the Skuas, but wrote : “ Nor do there appear to be any sufficient structural differences to warrant the generic separation of the Great Skuas from the other species, the Pomatorhine Skua forming such a connecting link between the heavy and the elegant forms as to preclude any consistent separation, unless Reichenbach’s genus Coprotheres be also accepted for the Pomatorhine.” I have adopted the consistent attitude here indicated, but not followed, by Saunders : the latter admitted three species of Great Skuas, catarractes Linne, 1766 (rejecting skua Brunnich, 1764, as pre-Linnean), antarctica Lesson, and chilensis Bonaparte. Regarding the Southern forms, he wrote : — It seems to me that only the want of a sufficient series of both species for comparison can ever have led to their being united ; for undoubtedly the distinctness of many other birds as species is imhesitatingly acknowledged on much lighter grounds. In the examin - ation of a large series I have never met with any Northern Skua with the stout deep bill with its well-marked angle at the gonys which invariably characterises the southern bird ; and if mere colour is taken into consideration, the total absence of rufous both on the under -parts, the axiUaries and the under wing -coverts serves to distinguish the Antarctic Skua at a glance. But whilst perfectly distinguishable from S. catarrhuctes, it presents 490 AUSTRALIAN SKUA. three interesting variations in the course of its range, which I have been enabled to trace by the aid of a fine series in the British Museum. From Campbell’s Island in 54° S. 168° E. up to Norfolk Island, in 29° S. (its most northern known range), past Kerguelen’s Island, the Crozets, and up to the Cape of Good Hope, where Layard observed it in April, the specimens all agree in their remarkable uniformity of sooty-brown plumage, there being few, if any, striations even upon the feathers of the neck. wEilst the size of some of the examples is enormous, the primaries measuring 16 and 17 inches from carpal joint to tips of primaries. The Falkland Island Skuas, locally known as “ Cape Egmont Hens ” and “ Sea Hens,” are decidedly smaller, and the acuminate feathers of the neck and shoulders are distinctly streaked wdth yellowish- white, although the general sooty appearance is preserved. On the coasts of Chili or Peru, its place is taken by a bird which I consider fully entitled to specific rank, and wEich, strange to say, has all its affinities with the Northern Skua. The affinities of this well-defined form are decidedly with 8. catarrhactes and not with 8. antarcticus ; it is, indeed, a somewhat slighter bird than the former, and remarkable for its rich cinnamon-coloured under-parts, wing-coverts and axillaries. and noted as well that three specimens obtained by the “ Erebus ” and “ Terror ” on the pack-ice differed considerably, as if they lived under Antarctic conditions. Twenty years afterward, when he monographed the Larifor7nes in the Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., Vol. XXV., he named this last-mentioned form, 8. lYiaccor^nicki— hut did not divide the Falkland Islands, Kerguelen, and New Zealand breeding Great Skuas. He has been generally followed without investigation by English-speaking authors, so that it was not Until Lonnberg wrote up the birds of the Swedish South Polar Expedition that the New Zealand and Falkland Islands forms were recognised as worthy of separate names. Lonnberg however named the Falkland Islands bird, leaving the New Zealand and Kerguelen ones to bear the name of 8. antarcticus ; but upon looking up the type-locality of Lesson’s 8. antarcticus I was enabled to rectify Lonnberg’s error, and therefore named the New Zealand bird in honour of him for having indicated the confusion by his action. Lesson’s description {Traite d^Orn., p. 616, 1831) reads: — Lestris antarcticus. Lestris cataractes Quoy et Gaim. Uran., pi. 38. Bee et tarses noirs ; queue courte, cuneiforme ; plumage brim fuligineux, zone en devant de cercles gris-blanc : un miroir blanc sur les remiges. Des lies Malouines ; de la Nouvelle-Zelande. There is not much in this description, but the “ zone en devant de cercles gris-blanc ” does not apply to the New Zealand bird. The figure quoted is that of a Falkland Islands bird and the first-named locality is “ iles Malouines ” : consequently the type-locality of Lesson’s L. antarcticus must be accepted as Falkland Islands. In the Consp. Gen. Av., Vol. II., p. 207, 1857, Bonaparte included : — Stercorarius antarcticus Mus. Paris a Gaimardo ex Mar. Antarct, Austral, Ins. Campbell, Terra Kerguelen! . Major : Rostro brevi, crasso. 491 THE BIRDS OP AUSTRALIA. Adult : subtus roseo-cinnamomeus ; speculo alarum albido, latissimo. a : madagascariensis Bp. Mus, Paris, a Berniero, ex Madagascar. Bostro elongate, robusto. b : chilensis Bp. Mus. Berol ex Am. m. Bostro vix breviore quam in europseo, potius graciliore quam robustiore. This covers all the names given to the forms of the Southern Great Skua. When I introduced the Neozelanic form as a new subspecies {Nov. Zool, Vol. XVIII., p. 212, 1912) I called it Gatharacta antarctica lonnhergi with the diagnosis — “ differs from C. a. antarctica in its much larger size: wing 433 mm.” Upon reviewing the whole of the forms at the present time, I find that the Falkland Islands bird is much closer to the Northern Skua than it is to the New Zealand Skua. The Northern Skua has the upper-back broadly tipped with rufous which wears whitish or yellowish-white ; pale yellowish-white lanceolate neck- feathers in the fully adult ; the under surface is ruddy-tinged, wearing lighter but always so tinged ; in the adult the inner wing-coverts and axiUaries are uniformly brown while these parts in the young have rufous tips. The adult Falkland Islands bird has the upper surface brown, the feathers wearing rapidly to yellowish-white ; noticeable yeUow neck-streaks ; under surface brown, yellowish-white tipped when worn, but with no ruddy tinge, neither does this colour appear on the wing-coverts or axillaries in the adult. But the juvenile Falkland Islands bird is brown above, with rufous tips to the feathers of the upper-back, upper wing-coverts, and scapulars ; the under-surface throughout has the feathers rufous-tipped like the axillaries and the feathers of the inner side of the wings. The adult is easily differentiated from that of the Northern Skua by the lack of the ruddy tinge of the under surface, but more particularly by the shorter, much stouter bill ; but these seem to me to be only worthy of subspecific distinction. We do not yet seem to know the breeding-place of the Chilian bird. It is a splendid form in which the ruddy coloration of the Northern Skua has become intensified into a beautiful cinnamon-red while the axiUaries have broad rufous tips and the inner wing is deep cinnamon throughout. The bird which Saunders considered to be the youngest is the most deeply coloured. This form would appear to be the one in which the characters of the juvenile have persisted and become fixed in the adult and therefore the least specialised, and as we do not know where it breeds we must for the time withhold the speculation which is thus enticed. A disturbing factor is introduced into the forms and distribution of these Southern Skuas, when we come to consider those brought home by the recent Antarctic exploring expeditions. 492 AUSTRALIAN SKUA. Writing upon the “ Birds of the South Orkney Islands ” {Ihis^ 1906, pp. 180-182), under the title Megalestris antarcticus Eagle Clarke gives the following : — “About five hundred Antarctic Great Skuas spend the summer on Laurie I. . . . They were also observed nesting in similar situations on Saddle I. . . . Numerous specimens were obtained at the South Orkneys. These vary in colour, though mature and obtained at identical periods. Specimens captured in November, soon after their arrival on the nesting grounds, were of two types. One had the ground colour of both upper and under surfaces dark, being of a deep-blackish-brown, rather paler below, and showing comparatively few light markings on the mantle and scapulars, indeed, in some specimens the back is practically uniform. The other type is less numerously represented in the collections, and is much paler (drab) generally, except on the head ; while the feathers of the interscapulary region and under-surface have grey-buff margins. In these light-coloured birds the yellow streaks on the neck are much more numerous and pronounced than in the darker birds ; and they agree with the form described by Saunders {Brit. Mus, Cat., Birds, XXV., p. 320) as inhabiting the Falklands, except that they are not smaller in size than the ordinary dark form, their wings measuring 16.65 inches, as against 16 to 17 inches in the last mentioned.” At the same place was recorded : ^^Megalestris maccormicki (Saund.). Mr. Mossman informs me that a specimen of McCormick’s Skua was procured by the Argentine naturalists at Laurie I. on November 11th, 1904, and is in their collection of birds ; ” and the next year {Ihis, 1907, p. 348) was added : “ There are only two skins of this Skua in the collection brought home by the ‘ Scotia.’ The first of these, an adult, was procured on March 10th, 1903, in 66° 40' S. and 40° 35' W. . . . The second example, an adult male, was shot alongside the ship on March 9th, 1904, in 74° S. and 22° W. . . . The Antarctic Skua {M. antarctica) did not occur with certainty beyond 62° 49' S. (38° 12' W.).” Upon writing to my friend, Mr. Eagle Clarke, with his usual unfailing courtesy, allowed me to examine the specimens above referred to. However, the November birds from the South Orkneys are aU dark-coloured without light markings, while those showing light feather-edges are January-February- March birds, and the light edges are obviously due to wearing. With^ them was forwarded a nestling in down, with the primaries and rectrices half-grown. I now put forward rather a novel classification, based mainly upon the study of the young plumages. I have noted that the plumage of the juvenile Falkland Islands bird approaches closely to that of the Northern Skua, and would class it as a subspecies of Gatharacta skua (Brunnich). The Scottish Antarctic Expedition brought back a specimen from Gough Island, and that VOL. II. 493 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. single bird agrees generally with the Falkland Islands form and at present may be included under the name Catharacta skua antarctica (Lesson). The New Zealand birds are uniformly very dark-coloured when adult but show slight tips of lighter coloration in the autumn through wearing, and rarely do the neck-feathers have yeUow streaks. The young however are much darker, and more uniform both above and below, with absolutely no light edgings. These are much larger in every dimension than Falkland Islands birds, as was pointed out by Saunders as long ago as 1876. There is no reddish coloration apparent in any stage so that I have concluded that these must be recognised as specifically distinct, and not regarded as subspecies of the Northern Skua. As the earliest name available is the one I proposed, it follows that the subject of the present article must be known as Catharacta lonnbergi lonnhergi Mathews. The trinomial is necessary as the South Orkneys bird is referable here while I also attach temporarily the Kerguelen breeding bird. As shown above the nestling of the South Orkneys bird agreed in lacking aU the rufous coloration of the Falkland Islands bird and is closer to the New Zealand bird in every detail, so that it is better to class it with the latter than the former. I therefore propose for the South Orkneys breeding form the name Catharacta lonnhergi clarkei, subsp. n. This form though much larger than C. s. antarctica (Lesson) is less than C. 1. lonnbergi Mathews, the wing-measurements averaging 400 mm., while the former gives about 380 and the latter 430. The Kerguelen Island breeding form I also associate with this species on account of the similarity of the adults, as I have no juveniles at hand. In size it is intermediate between the New Zealand and the South Georgian forms, and I would call it Catharacta lonnbergi intercedens, subsp. n. The wing averages about 410 mm. and the bill is noticeably longer. It seems necessary to refer to the interesting relationship of McCormick’s Skua with the preceding, as they seem to show another somewhat parallel case to Macronectes giganteus (Gmelin) and Phoebetria palpebrata (Forster) and Phoebetria fusca (Hilsenberg). The history of McCormick’s Skua has been related by Saunders, and Wilson {National Antarct. Exp., Vol. II., Aves, pp. 63-76, pis. XII. -xm., 1907) has given a splendid account of its life- history and beautiful figures of its growth-stages. It was discovered at Victoria Land somewhat south of New Zealand, and Wilson’s grand series are preserved in the British Museum. These are most interesting as they 494 AUSTRALIAN SKUA. show that the young is scarcely separable in coloration from the New Zealand C. lonnbergi, being uniformly blackish above and deep blackish-grey below. Yet the adult birds are very different and certainly worthy of specific recognition. In this case it is easily seen that living in the ice regions has brought about the light condition of the species. The specimens noted by Eagle Clarke above seem to be the only ones known from any other than the type-locality. Wilson recorded that variability in size was met with in the long series he had and gave detailed measurements, as wing $ 16.5-15.3, ^ 16.4-15.0. I find that the short ones are due to the fact that the primaries have not finished growing. It is interesting to notice that Cones {Bull. U.S. Nat. Mus., Vol. II., p. 75, 1875) wrote, “ Second primary longest.” This was due to the same cause, as when the wing is fuUy grown the first primary is clearly the longest. The two specimens procured by the Scottish Antarctic Expedition would seem to belong to a smaller race, as though the primaries are undoubtedly fully grown they measure under 400 mm. while adult typical birds go over this limit. Though there are only two specimens I consider they should be called Catharacta 7)iaccor7nicJci wilsoni, subsp. n. 1 would point out that this differs from the typical form exactly as the forms of C. lonnbergi do from the respective northern localities. In the case of the Great Skuas, then, I should think that it might be considered that Catharacta skua antarctica (Lesson) might be compared with Phcebetria fusca fusca (Hilsenberg), but the form that would correspond to P. f. ca7npbelli Mathews is unknown. In their ranges Catharacta lonnbergi Mathews and Phcebetria palpebrata (Forster) appear to synchronise, but Catharacta 7naccor7nicki (Saunders) would be a form which has become specialised through its Antarctic living, and no form of Phcebetria has yet taken up that life. In this phase Macronectes giganteus (Gmelin) shows a better parallel, as a light form of this species exists at South Victoria Land and another light form also breeds at Graham’s Land and the South Orkneys. These have however not become so distinctly fixed as have the Skuas. ^ These Antarctic breeding birds vdll furnish a lot of interest for a long time to come, as we do not yet know anything of the bird-life of the Antarctic Continent between about Victoria Land and Graham’s Land and the South Orkneys. As I have indicated before, we know very little about the birds which are met with on the west coast of South America, and the Chilian Skua adds another. This beautiful form has not yet been traced to its breeding 495 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. place, yet no bird possesses more interest in connection with the problems of species-evolution. I would therefore advocate the use of the following nomenclature : — Catharacta skua skua (Brunnich) ; North Atlantic (breeds Faroe Islands, Shetland Islands, and Iceland), Hudson Strait district (c/. A.O.U. Checklist, 3rd ed., p. 33, 1910). Catharacta skua anUirctica (Lesson) ; Falkland Islands (breeding), (Gough Island). Megalestris antarctica falklandica Lonnberg {Schwed. Sud. Exp., Bd. V., Lfg. 5, p. 8, 1905) is an absolute synonym of this form. Catharacta chilensis (Saunders) ; West coast of South America (breeding-place unknown). Catharacta lonnbergi lonnhergi Mathews ; Australian seas, Chatham Island and all subantarctic islands of New Zealand (breeding). Catharacta lonnhergi intercedens Mathews ; Kerguelen Island (breeding). Catharacta lonnbergi clarkei Mathews ; South Orkneys (breeding). Catharacta maccormicki maccormicki (Saunders) ; South Victoria Land (breeding). Catharacta maccormicki wilsoni Mathews ; Weddell Sea (breeding-place unknown). 496 Genus— C OPROTHERES. CoPROTHERES Reiclienbach, Nat. Syst. Vogel, p. v., 1852 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Type C. pomarinus. Medium-sized Skuas, with strong bill, long wings, strong legs and feet and short tail, with the two centre tail-feathers elongated and twisted, but broad. I cannot follow the reasoning that would separate this bird generically from Gatharacta and include it in the same genus as members of the genus Ster- corarius. In the Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., Vol. XXV., p. 314, 1896, Saunders differentiated two genera thus : Megalestris ( = Gatharacta mihi). Size larger, form robust ; depth of the bill at the exposed base nearly equal to the length of the cere; tarsus rather shorter than the middle toe with its claw ; tail short, the central pair of rectrices projecting about 0.5 inch. Stercorarius — Coprotheres and Stercorarms mihi). Size smaller, form more slender ; depth of the bill at the exposed base decidedly less than the length of the cere ; tarsus distinctly shorter than the middle toe with its claw ; central pair of rectrices projecting 3 inches or more in adults. In the last diagnosis, “ tarsus shorter ” should read “ tarsus longer.” This Skua, which I separate generically as Coprotheres, is intermediate between Gatharacta and Stercorarius, but cannot fairly be allocated to either. It differs from members of the genus Gatharacta in its less stout bill and smaller size, and in the elongated central tail-feathers ; from members of the genus Stercorarius it differs in its stouter bill, larger size, stronger legs and feet, and in the elongated tail-feathers being broad to the tips and twisted. The tail is more than half the length of the wing. 497 Order LARIFOBMES No. 155. Family CATHARACTIDAE. COPROTHERES POMARINUS CAMTSCHATICA. SIBERIAN POMARINE SKUA. (Plate 123.)* Catarractes CAMTSCHATICA Pallas, Zoogr. Rosso-Asiat., Vol. II., p. 312, 1826 ; Kamchatka. Gatarractes camtschatica Pallas, Zoogr. Rosso-Asiat., Vol. II., p. 312, 1826. Lestris pomarina Middendorff, Sibirische Reise, Vol. II., p. 240, pi. xxiv., 1851. Stercorarius pomarinus Taczanowski, Mem. I’Acad. Imp. Sci. St. Petersb., ser. vn., Vol. XXXIX., p. 1061, 1893. Stercorarius pomatorhinus Saunders, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., Vol. XXV., p. 322, 1896 (pars) ; Campbell, Nests and Eggs Austr. Birds, p. 867, 1901 ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 91, 1906 ; Mathews, Handl. Birds Austral., p. 22, 1908 ; Bahr, Ibis 1912, p. 286. Catharacta pomarina Mathews, Nov. Zool., Vol. XVIII., p. 213, 1912. Distribution. Alaska and Siberia (breeding). Adult male. General colour of the upper surface sooty-black including the crown of head, cheeks, back, wings, and tail ; primary-quills black on the outer webs and tips, brown on the inner webs and white at the base, the shafts white, dark brown at the tips ; secondaries dark brown, white at the base ; tail dark brown with white shafts at the basal portion, the two middle feathers produced beyond the rest of the tail and twisted ; hind-neck and sides of neck straw-colour ; a band which encircles the fore-neck and lower hind-neck, is composed of white feathers barred with brown and fringed with white at the tips. This colour extends on to the sides of the body ; throat, breast, and abdomen white ; axillaries and under wing-coyerts sooty-black hke the vent and under tail-coverts ; “ Bill horn brown ; tarsi and toes reddish black ” {Cat. Birds Brit. Mus.). Total length 550 mm. ; culmen 38, wing 366, tail 227, tarsus 53. Adult female. Similar to the adult male, but not so dark on the head, upper-parts, vent, and under tail-coverts. Total length 550 mm. ; culmen 37, wing 348, tail 215, tarsus 53. Immature. General colour above dark brown, the feathers everywhere margined and spotted with ochreous or rufous, more thickly on the rump and upper tail-coverts and more sparsely on the head and hind- neck ; the small coverts round the bend of the wing white with dark centres ; under-parts more rufous and barred almost entirely over the whole surface, each feather being white at the base with two brown bars and fringed with rufous, more coarsely on the flanks ; the long under tail-coverts have four brown bars ; under wing-coverts brown barred with white ; axillaries, some uniform grey with twin spots of rufous at the tips, others are greyish-brown barred and irregularly marked with white, fringed also with the same colour at the tips ; a dark spot in front of the eye. * The Plate is lettered Stercorarius ‘pomatorhinus. 498 STERCORARIUvS POMATORHINU8 . ( POMARINE EEf/A J . ■raij SIBEKIAN POMARINE SKUA. Nest. “ None made, the eggs are placed on the moss ” (Middendorff). Eggs. “ Clutch two : the eggs have, on a yellowish oMve ground colour, a few spots of greyish brown, irregular and fairly pale, and other over-lying spots of a rather deep ohve-brown ; others have a pale greenish ground colour, varied by small pale ashy spots, and ohve-brown ones smaller than the former and a httle deeper in colour. The surface is fairly rough and a Httle glossy. Length 61-64 mm. : by 42-43.5 ” / (Taczanbwski) (63-64 mm. by 46, Middendorff). Breeding-season. July (Middendorff). This would appear to be another erroneous entrant into the Australian List. Saunders, in the Catalogue of the Birds in the British Museum, included an immature specimen from “Uape York, North Australia (J. T. Cockerell), ” and since then, as above, it has been generally included in the Australian avifauna; but it is now common knowledge that the “ Cockerell Australian ” collection contained many extralimital birds, and none are now admitted that are not otherwise confirmed. I have not traced any other occurrences of this Skua, and therefore it seems incorrect to accept this as an Australian visitor. Middendorff* writes that he found this bird breeding quite commonly on the Tundra round the Taimyr River. On the Boganida only a single specimen was shot during migration (May 31st). He first noticed it on June 6th ; on July 7th (in 74° N.) the first eggs (the clutch being two) were discovered, laid on the moss without any nest. Above 74J° N. he did not find this bird. On August 22nd a young bird was shot in the neighbourhood of the mouth of the Uda. He also found them breeding before they had attained the fully-adult plumage. Some of these were mated with those which had acquired the fully-adult stage. Their call resembled the alarm-note of some species of duck, when frightened away from its newly-hatched young. The eggs measured 63 to 64 mm. by 46. The male bird figured and described was collected in Alaska on May 31st, 1898. * Sibirische Beise, Vol. II., p. 240, 1851. Genus-S TERCORARIUS. Stercorarius Schaeffer, Mus. Ornith., p. 62, 1789 . . Lestris lUiger, Prodromus, p. 272, 1811 Proedatrix Vieillot, Analyse, p. 65, 1816 Oceanus Koch, Syst. baier. Vogel, p. 380, 1816 Type S. 'parasiticus. Type S. parasiticus. Type S. parasiticus. Type 8. parasiticus. This genus is recognised in the A.O.U. Checklist^ 3rd ed., 1910, as including L. pomarinus Temminck and 8. longicaudus Vieillot in addition to the type- species ; the former I consider more closely related to members of the genus Catharacta, and to the latter I would certainly give subgeneric rank. However, there would be no name available, as Lestris Reichenbach, 1852, is preoccupied by Lestris Illiger, 1811. I therefore propose the new subgeneric name ATALOLESTRIS with type 8tercorarius longicaudus Vieillot. It is well characterised by its delicate form and very elongated central tail-feathers which make the tail longer than the wing. The two species I restrict to the genus 8tercorarius are small Skuas with slender bills, weak legs and feet (comparatively), long wings, and very long central tail-feathers, acuminate, and attentuated into long streamers in the subgenus Atalolestris. In the subgenus 8tercorarius the tail does not exceed the wing, but is about equal to it. 500 STERCORARIUS CREPIDATUS (ARCTIC SKUA ) Order LARIFOBMES Nc. 156. Family CATHARAGTIDM. STERCORARIUS PARASITICUS. ARCTIC SKUA. (Plate 124.)* Laeijs parasiticus Lirme, Syst. Nat.^, 10th ed., p. 136, 1758 ; coast of Sweden. Larus pirasiticus Linne, Syst. Nat., 10th ed., p. 136, 1758. Lestris parasita Middendorff, Sibirische Reise, Vol. II., p. 241, 1851. Lestris parasiticus Hutton, Cat. Birds New Zeal., pp. 40, 77, 1871. Lestris lougicaudus Pinsch, Journ. flir Ornith. 1872, p. 241. Stercorarius parasiticus Buller, Birds New Zeal., p. 268, 1873 ; id., Trans. New Zeal. Inst. 1874, Vol. VII., p. 225, 1875; id., ib. 1877, Vol. X., p. 200, 1878; Stejneger, Bull. U.S. Nat. Mus., No.* 29, p. 86, 1885; id., Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus., Vol. X., p. 124, 1887 ; Mathews, Nov. Zool., Vol. XVII., p. 498, 1910. Lestris (sp.) Buller, Trans. New Zeal. Inst. 1878, Vol. XI., p. 355, 1879. Lestris richardsoni {parasiticus) Campbell, Nests and Eggs Austr. Birds, p. 65, 1883. Stercorarius crepidatus Legge, Proc. Roy. Soc. Tasm. 1886, p. 243, 1887 ; Buller, Birds New Zeal., 2nd ed., Vol. II., p. 66, 1888 ; Ramsay, Tab. List Austr. Birds, p. 22, 1888 ; Saunders, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., Vol. XXV., p. 327, 1896 ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 91, 1899 ; Campbell, Nests and Eggs Austr. Birds, p, 867, 1901 ; Buller, Suppl. Birds New Zeal., Vol. I., p. 171, 1905 ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 91, 1906 ; Mathews, Handl. Birds Austral., p. 22, 1908 ; Littler Handb. Birds Tasm., p. 156 ; 1910 ; Bahr, Ibis 1912, p. 286. Catharacta parasitica Mathews, Nov. Zool., Vol. XVIII., p. 213, 1912. Distribution. Arctic and subarctic zones of the Holarctic Region; Siberia, south to Tasmania and South Australia. Adult {dark phase). General colour above and below sooty-black with white shafts to the primary-quills ; the lanceolate feathers on the sides of the neck rufous-brown , nostril-plumes dull white ; bill brownish horn-colour, tip black ; tarsi ^d toes black. Total length 525 mm. ; culmen 32, wing 333, tail 212, tarsus 5o\ Adult {light phase). Differs from the dark phase in having the breast and abdomen dull white like the sides of the head ; cheeks, throat, and fore-neck pale brown ; hind- neck pale brown with straw-coloured shaft-streaks. Immature male. Dark brown above, the small coverts along the edge of the wing margined with fulvous, the head and neck all round very similar in colour, which * The Plate is lettered Stercorarius crepidatus. VOL. II. 501 s THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. colour is spread, more or less, over the breast ; remainder of under-surface rufous or rust-brown, becoming almost black on the under tail-coverts, which have slightly pale edges. Eggs. Clutch, two ; ground-colour dark stone to greenish-buff, spotted, but more at the larger end, with very dark brown to light grey ; others have large irregular markings of light brown ; axis 56 to 59 mm., diameter 40 to 41. Breeding-season. June ; July ? (Bering Island). When recorded first from New Zealand, this Skua seems to have caused much trouble through the inability of European workers to correctly identify the bird in immature plumage. There are two species of Stercorarius somewhat alike, but which are very easily separated when adult by the different elongation of the central tail-feathers. Immature birds are not so easily differentiated, and it does not seem to me to be at all certain whether or not both species are found in Australian waters. Most of the identifications seem to have been “ sight,” and of course these are strictly not reliable. The only specimen I have seen from Australian waters belongs to the present species, but careful consideration of the literature concerning the New Zealand occurrences, makes me doubtful as to the reference of all the New Zealand records to the one species. The synonymy around the European form is so complex and unsatisfactory, that I have omitted all from considera- tion, and have only given the entrances relating to the New Zealand and Australian occurrences. I would here note that Nicholl procured a specimen of the Long-tailed Skua in Valparaiso Harbour. Buller shot an example on the sea-beach at Horowhenua in the Province of Wellington, on April 30th, 1864, and Mr. A. J. Campbell recorded it for the first time for Australia in 1883. He writes : “ When steaming up Port PhiUip Bay last October, I observed numbers of these birds hovering over our wake near the vessel.” The same writer further says : “ Several occasions since, but always in summer, I have noticed these birds in the bay. On the 26th November, 1892, when returning home from Portarlington, ten or twelve of these dusky-coloured birds were flying around the steamer. As they passed overhead one could see the dark chests and speckled under parts, while the two long narrow plumes or central tail-feathers were very conspicuous. Some of these birds dipped into the water in the wake of the vessel after the manner of Gulls. “ In the Tasman Sea, during a passage from Sydney to Hobart, I often noticed birds which I took to be this Skua, therefore they appear to be more prevalent in Australian waters than is generally believed.” Captain S. A. White writes that it is fairly common off South Australia. 502 ARCTIC SKUA. Mr. Charles Belcher tells me that it “ may be seen following in the wake of steamers in Port Phillip Bay at almost any time of the year ; it is easily distinguishable by the projecting centre tail-feathers. It has never been known to breed in Australia.” Stejneger* says : On the Commander Islands the dark form is the most common. A few only with white lower surface were seen, and one secured. This species is found mostly on Bering Island where it breeds on the great tundra, or rather swamp, near the village. In 1883 the first ones made their appearance on the 4th of May. In the autumn they seem to feed to a great extent on the berries of Empetrum nigrwriy and their excreta at that time are colored dark blue. The natives call them by the Russian name ‘ Basbojnih' ” Meddendorff records it from on the Boganida and the Taimyr River. The bird figured and described was collected in Alaska on August 30th, 1897. From a careful consideration of the facts relative to this species, the well-known dimorphism would seem to supply a northern equivalent to the southern cases of Macronectes giganteus (Gmelin) and the Antarctic Skuas. Instead of long series from definite localities, however, we have only uncon- nected observations which, unfortunately, mostly miss the points that need most investigation. It however seems certain that the further north the bird breeds the fewer dark birds are met with, while in the southern breeding localities only a small proportion of light birds, and those somewhat piebald, occur together. If inquiries were carried out on these lines we should learn something about the species. At the present time the series available are from scattered localities, and generally atypical — i.e. the dark birds are shot from light colonies and the light ones from dark colonies. The plumage changes are quite unintelligible on account of lack of material, and need much study. Whether the piebald birds breed true or not is as yet unknown, and from the specimens I have examined the light-breasted bird breeding in northern climes is not mixed with dark birds at all. This would seem to be the case all round the Subarctic Zone, and a most interesting study seems to have been entirely neglected by northern ornithologists. It has been proved that this species, known as S. crepidatus Gmelin or Banks, is the true L. parasiticus of Linne. As there has been controversy as to the exact status of Gmelin’s name, which was primarily founded oU Banks’s nude name, it becomes appropriate to reproduce Solander’s detailed description prepared from the specimen noted by Banks : — crepidatus Larus supra nigricans cinereo-undulatus, subtus cinerascens fusco-undulatus, pedibus albidis : membrana nigra basi alba ♦ Bull. U.S. Nal. Mua., No. 29, p. 86, 1885. 503 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. Black -toed Gull Pennant Brit. Zoology 8® p. 419 t. 11 Obs. var. obscurior Pen p. 4 t. Habitat intra tropicos ubi Lat. Sept, & ad minimum Levcas e litore proximo, victitans Helice Janthina Rostrum antice nigricans, prope medium albicans, ibique cute moiliuseula tectum Oculi nigri Ctt'put et Collum e fusco nigricantia Dorsum & TectHces alarum superiores nigricantia vel fuliginosa, apicibus penarum cinereis ; Tectrices inferiores fuliginosa', maculis albis parvis adspersa' Latera & Abdomen cinerea, fasciis angustis albis transversis undulata ; Pena' enim fasciata' sunt Crissi fascia' latiores, evidentiores Uropygium fasciatum Pectus abdomine paulo dilutius Ala' longa', angusta' Remiges nigricantes, primores basi oblique alba' Cauda cuneata alis brevier Rectrices intermedia' parum longiores ; omnes nigra', basi alba' Pedes e glauco albidi Membrana digitum connectens nigcrima basi alba' Digito postico solute, albo ab apice rostri ad extremitatem cauda' 15 I inter alas expansas 38 J Obs. Est inter Laros minores, vix Columba Domestica major The only Australian killed specimen I have examined is one in the British Museum, presented by Colonel W. V. Legge; it bears the following: “ 27.1.85. Derwent River, Hobart, Tasmania. Iris Hazelbrown. Bill black greenish slate above. Legs and feet black, webs black.” It belongs to the light form, and has the wings, tail, head and back dark brown, the head slightly lighter ; tips of feathers of lores, above the eyes, and towards back of neck white ; feathers of back of neck black-tipped, with dusky-grey bases, a broad white bar intervening ; the feathers of upper-back have few white tips ; upper tail-coverts white with alternate brown bars ; tail-feathers have white bases ; under-surface white, the feathers of the upper-breast more or less barred with brown tips, such coloration persisting on the sides of the body and becoming more pronounced on the flanks and under tail-coverts ; under wing-coverts and axillaries uniformly dark brown ; bases of primaries paler, dusky ; a faint yellowish-bufi tinge pervades the sides of the neck. 504 Is (?■ il ' M •• ' ■/ :7'‘ '*•. v.<. V \ / • z'^"' lR4f ? , ,' ■■■•'<< ^ I • -^y. ■■’ i'L^ I m ■f/Ai I Ss >'7?4 1 1 'W'VriTl ^ I:',' '• m ' . )■ ■y!',: m i(K :m v;i '.i 4, ' rT7 -i f 1'. .'/’-V ».* INDEX SB f.- . / t '■ ' j-.f ^ ■/ j ’*ivf ' / ‘fi ' '. ■'•'Mirj* Wv !.'V- ■'■■■ '• ?*■■■■’, : ';' i' ">r " 'lUi' = ■ . tIK mi,t '.(■>! ‘4, ■(.. Vi, m-l Ktm M'. .... > - X"'' < • •■•'•./■' ‘ ». . . • •■ *• : K. ' t \ • . • « !►:.’ I m 5;i\ri’V I'j.ts.V) R'.t '*‘V‘. ! ‘ >'X« 'i,r:,, iu ^ Jf j,i'^i'rii p(' /I,. 0i^ ■ ' ■ !il‘ t'. ' i, ♦ /t !•"( ■ ^'i icvi rv.r, . I .>,f> V M- mm !?<;• VKVi h V '“.f.fc'y ,-.>.’l'.';.4.'; >; m ti'.-y'i iu .'t' rf" Af./ Cfr 1 ■■ .'i Bn -we- .« .. ; 1 1 ■V ;b''t I nt/'. i: I '^ i K* • . ' I,' I J'. ■^- • ■>, *?-3.t ?d?l cL Wm Sfll t!L< ■\tt'~ '< , ' I. ' ' '^'V ‘ ‘4 . v>.''4 v..., -VL'.i.Vi: ^ ■' * ' ' ■ f ’ . . i^.*' ; ' < II » ‘ ■ /,.' “ i ' .1' i- i • \' '• \^ .»/ ' ' i' ' ’* "i I'r ';■, ■.' I ; ' .^iV-V'-V '■■-r ■' -IvV INDEX Note. — The ciphers in thick type refer to the page where the genus or species is systematically treated. These are placed first. Actochelidon, 308, 325, 326, 338. Adamastor, 106. cinerea, 119. cinereus, 119, 121. gelidus, 121. typus, 119, 124. adamastor, Procellaria, 119. addenda, Geloclielidon nilotica, 331. adusta, Diomedea, 250. cenoihetus. Sterna, 399. cequinoctialis, Majaqueus, 108, 114. , Procellaria, 106, 109, 110, 113, 115, 116, 117, 244. , cequinoctialis, 110. , Puffinus, 117. oequorea, Procellaria, 7, 23. JEstrelata, 129, 131, 132. coolcii, 166. gouldi, 134, 137. licesitata, 143. lessoni, 150. leitcocephala, 153. leucoptera, 171. macroptera, 96. mollis, 143, 157. solandri, 141. afjinis, Gelochelidon nilotica, 330. , Procellaria, 163. , PufjinUfS, 50. , Sterna, 354, 355. Aganophron, 404. agilis, Procellaria, 7, 152. agraria, Gelochelidon, 330. alba, Gygis, 432, 433, 440, 441, 442. , alba, 442. , Ossifraga, 179, 188. , Procellaria, 144, 149, 150, 151. , Sterna, 439, 441. albani, Pterodroma macroptera, 139, 133, 140. Albatros, 240, 249. Albatros, Australian Sooty, 304. , Wandering, 246. , Campbell Island Royal, 258. , New Zealand Light-mantled Sooty, 297. , Snowy, 255. , Sooty, 298. , Yellow-billed, 278. , nosed, 282. Albatrossa, 240. albatrus, Diomedea, 183, 242, 244, 249. , Phabastria, 243. albifrons, Sternula, 373. , albifrons, 380. albigularis, Fregetta, 31. albivitta, Anous, 426. , Procelsterna, 426, 429, 431. albivittatus, Anous, 426. albus, Fulmarus, 150. , Macronectes giganteus, 179, 188. alleni, Puffinus pacificus, 83, 84. Allied Petrel, 50. alter. Heteroprion desolatus, 231. americanus, Megalopterus minutus, 423. anoBstheta, Sterna, 397, 399. anoesthetica, Sterna, 399. anoetheta, Sterrm, 399. Ancethetus 400. ancethetus Melanosterna, 395. , ancethetus, 396. , Sterna, 399, 400, 401. , ancethetus, 397. anasthcetus. Sterna, 399. andersonii, Gavia, 448, 454, 455. anglica, Gelochelidon, 327, 329. , Sterna, 317, 326, 327, 32 9, 330, 338. — — , Thalasseus, 325. anglorum, Puffinus, 54, 55, 100, 165. anosthceta. Sterna, 399. anostheta, Sterna, 399. Anous, 404, 307, 308, 395, 412. albivitta, 426. albivittatus, 426. atrqfuscus, 417, 421, 423. cceruleus, 426, 430. cinereus, 426, 429. f rater, 409, 411. fuliginosus, 389. galapagensis, 410, 411. gracilis, 358. ' hawaiiensis, 421, 422, 423. leucocapillus, 412, 417, 420, 421, 422, 423. leucocapillus, 417. leucocephalus, 417. — — melanogenys, 421, 422, 427. — — melanops, 414, 415. minutus, 412, 417, 420. \ 507 THE BIRDS OP AUSTRALIA. Anous, niger, 408. parvultts, 429, 431. plumbeigularis, 409. pullibs, 410, 411. raussaui, 410. rousseaui, 409, 410. stolidus, 391, 404, 405, 410, 411, 412, 415. galapagensis, 411. gilberti, 405, 411. pilmtus, 405, 410, 411. plumbeigularis, 411. ridgwayi, 410, 411. rousseaui, 411. stolidus, 410. — unicolor, 411. super ciliosus, 409, 410. tenuirostris, 414, 422. melanops, 414. tephrodes, 429, 431. Anousella, 412. Aiitai’ctio Fulmar, 127. antarctica, Gatliaracta, 484. , antarctica, 492. , skua, 494, 495, 496. , Diomedea, 7, 302. , Lestris, 490. , Megalestris, 484, 485, 493. , Melanosterna anoethetus, 402. , Phcebetria palpebrata, 303. , Priocella, 126, 46, 125. , Procellaria, 127. , Sterna, 401. , Thalassoica, 16, 190. antarcticus, Buphagus skua, 490. , Fulmarus, 126, 127. , Larus, 491. , Lestris, 491. , Stercorarius, 484, 491. arabicus, Thalasseus bengalensis, 355. aranea, GelocJielidon, 330. , nilotica, 330. Arctic Skua, 501. Ardenna, 45. arideensis, Sterna dougalli, 364. ariel, Prion, 199, 200, 201, 202, 217, 218, 219, 220, 222, 224, 225, 229. , brevirostris, 217. , Procellaria, 217. , Pseudoprion, 217. arminjoniana, (Estrelata, 150, 151. assimilis, Puffinus, 50, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 61, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73. , assimilis, 50, 47, 69, 76. , obscurus, 50, 58. Atalolestris, 500. atlantica, Procellaria, 102, 136, 137. , Pterodroma, 134. atlanticus, Fulmarus, 134. , Megalopterus minutus, 423. — — , Puffinus obscurus, 59, 69. atrata, Procellaria, 7, 163. atrofuscus, Anous, 417, 421, 423. auduboni, Puffinus, 55, 56, 57, 58, 61, 70. , obscurus, 58. auricularis, Puffinus, 65, 66. Australian Black-browed Mollymawk, 267, naped Tern, 370. — — Broad-billed Prion, 210. Brown-Avinged Tern, 397. Caspian Tern, 333. ■ Dove-Prion, 226. Fairy-Prion, 217. Flat-billed Mollymawk, 277, Lesser Noddy, 414. Noddy, 405. Boseate Tern, 358. Skua, 484 Sooty Albatros, 304, Tern, 389, Thin-billed Prion, 224. Wandering Albatros, 246, White Tern, 433, -capped Noddy, 417. -fronted Tern, 366. Yellow-webbed Storm-Petrel, 11. australis, Prion, 200, 201, 204, 209, 210. , Puffinus, 50, 69. avis, Diomedea, 165. axillaris, Pterodroma, 170. , Pterodroma cookii, 168. hailloni, Puffinus, 57, 58, 68. , iherminieri, 70. , nugax, 54, 57. , obscurus, 58, 59. bakeri, Thalasseus bergii, 346. balthica, Gelochelidon, 330. , Sylochelidon, 336, 337. bangsi. Sterna dougalli, 364. banksi. Heteroprion desolatus, 230, 231. , Prion, 199, 200, 201, 202, 212, 222, 224, 226, 228, 229. , Procellaria, 229. haroli, Puffinus, 58, 68. , assimilis, 69. Bass Strait Tern, 340. hassi, Diomedea, 281, 283. , Thalassogeron chlororhynchus, 281, 274, 276, 282. bathyrinchus, Gabianus, 474, 479. , Larus, 474, 478, 479. , pacificus, 474. hecki, Puffinus Iherminieri, 70. belcheri. Heteroprion, 224, 213, 215, 222, 223, 225. • , Thalassarche melanophris, 271, bengalensis. Sterna, 354. ■ , Thalasseus, 352. , bengalensis, 354. herard, Pelicanoides, 234, 237. 508 INDEX herard, Pdicanoides urinatrix, 238. , Procellaria, 236, 239. bergii, Sterna, 340, 342, 344, 345, 348, 349. , bergii, 345. , Thalasseus, 351, 354. , bergii, 346, 347. bethunei. Sterna, 368. , striata, 369. Black Petrel 116. — — - -bellied Storm-Petrel, 33. toed Petrel, 142. Blue Petrel, 195, 198. footed Petrel, 166, boreotis. Sterna bergii, 345. ■ — ■ — , Thalasseus bergii, 347. boydi, Pu-ffinus Iherminieri, 70. brabournei, Procellaria cequinoctialis, 113. brachyura, Diomedea, 241, 250, 251. brevicauda, Nectris, 97, 99. brevicaudus, Nectris, 99. , Puffinus, 29, 86, 87, 99, 100, 104, 105. , tenuirostris, 99, 47, 83, 88, 101, 103. , {Nectris), 99. brevipes, Procellaria, 163. , Pterodroma, 168. brevirostris. Prion, 200, 201, 202, 218, 219, 220, 222, 229. , Procellaria, 159. , Pseudoprion turtur, 220. Broad-billed Petrel, 204, 208. Brown -backed Petrel, 74, 54. banded Petrel, 228. headed Petrel, 141. Bruchigavia, 444, 445, 455, 477. bulleri, 465. corallinus, 448. gouldi, 446, 458, 460 470. gunni, 447. jamesoni, 460, 462, 469, 470, 471. gouldi, 458. longirostris, 447, 455, 468, 469, 470, 471. novce-hollandice, 444, 446, 456, 465. ethelce, 466, 457. forsteri, 457. gouldi, 458, 457, 466. gunni, 462, 457, 465, 466. hartlaubi, 457. longirostris, 457, 460, 466, 468. novce-hollandice, 448, 456, 457, 458, 466. scopulinus, 457, 465. pomare, 460. bulleri, Bruchigavia, 465. , Diomedea, 265. , Larus, 471. , Puffinus, 83, 84. , Thalassogeron, 278, 282. Bulweria, 106. Buphagus, 482, 489. skua antarcticus, 490. ccerulea, Halobcena, 195, 168, 169, 194, 200, 219, 220. , Pachyptila, 195. , Prion, 195, 201. , Procellaria, 195, 198, 200. , Procelsterna, 430. , Pterodroma {NSstrelata), 195. cceruleus, Anous, 426, 430. , Fulmarus, 195. , Prion, 195, 200. Galopetes, 190. capensis, 191. Campbell Island Royal Albatros, 258. campbelli, Phoebetria, 495. , ■ — — fusca, 304, 296, 305. camtschatica, Catarractes, 498. — ■ — -, Coprotheres pomarinus, 498. Candida, Gygis, 433, 440, 441. , alba, 433, 442, 443. , Pagodroma nivea, 177. , Procellaria, 175, 17o. , Sterna, 439, 441, 442. cantiaca. Sterna, 325, 326, 338. , Thalasseus, 325. capense, Daption, 191, 46, 190. , Daptium, 191. capenses, Daption, 191. capensis, Galopetes, 191. , Daptes, 191. , Daption, 191. , Daptrion, 191. , Fulmarus, 191. , Procellaria, 191. Cape Petrel, 191. carbonaria, Nectris, 8, 45, 90, 91. carbonarius, Puffinus carneipes, 45, 90. carneipes, Nectris, 89. , Priofinus, 89. , Puffinus, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 97, 102, 103, 244. , carneipes, 89, 47, 83. , {Nectris), 89. carteri, Diomedea, 287. , Diomedia, 287. , Thalassogeron, 284, 287, 288. , chlororhynchos, 287, 276. caspia, Hydroprogne, 333. , Sterna, 307, 308, 325, 326, 333, 334, 335, 337, 343, 346. , Sylochelidon, 333. , Thalasseus, 325. caspioides. Sterna, 334, 343, 345. \ Gataracta, 482. Gataractes, 482. Gatarracta, 482. Gatarractes, 482. camtschatica, 498. catarractes, Larus, 489, 490. , Lestris, 484, 491. Gatarrhacta, 482. VOL. n. 509 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. GatarrJiactes, 482. catarrhactes, Lestris, 484. , Stercorarius, 484, 490, 491, Gatharacta, 482, 483, 489, 497, 500. antarctica, 848. antarctica, 492. lonnhergi, 484, 492, ■ — — chilensis, 496. lonnhergi, 495. claricei, 494, 496, intercedens, 494, 496. lonnhergi, 484, 494, 496. nmccormichi, 495. maccormicki, 496. wilsoni, 495, 496. 'parasitica, 501. pomarina, 498. skua, 482, 483, 490, 493. antarctica, 494, 495, 496. ^ skua, 496. cauta, Diomedea, 271, 275, 289, 293. — ■ — , Diomedia cauta, 289. cautus, TJialassogeron, 275, 289, 292, 293. , cautus, 289, 274, 276, 282, 293. cerulea, Procelsterna, 425. — — , cerulea, 431. , Sterna, 428. Ghelido, 356. Ghelidon urhica, 12. Ghelochelidon, 325. chilensis, Gatharacta, 496. , Lestris, 490. , Puffinus fuliginosus, 97. , griseus, 96, chionoptera, Diomedea, 251, 253, 255, 257, 262, 282. , exulans, 255, 245, 251, 252, 253, 257. GhUdonias, 310. melanops, 310. chlororhyncha, Diomedea, 281. chlororhynchos, Thalassogeron, 271, 285. chlororhynchus, Diomedea, 270, 281, 282, 283, 284, 285. , Procellaria, 78. , Puffinus, 78, 80, 82, 85, 87, 97. , pacificus, 78, 47, 81, 83, 88, 90. — — , Thalassogeron, 281, 284, 287, 288. ■ — — , Thiellus, 78. ■ , Z alias, 78. christopheri, Sterna striata, 358, 361. Ghroicocephalus, 399, 444. ■ jamesoni, 448. chrysostoifna, Diomedea, 277, 278, 283. , Thalassogeron, 242, 278, 285, 286. , chrysostoma, 280. chuhhi, Oceanites nereis, 18. cinerea, Adamnster, 119. • , Priofinus, 119. , Procellaria, 119, 106, 107, 121, 123, 124, 159. cinerea, Procelsterna, 426, 430, 431. • , cerulea, 426, 431. , Sterna, 426. , Stolida, 429, 430, 431. Cinereous Fulmar, 119, 121, 123. cinereus, Adamastor, 119, 121. , Anous, 426, 430. ■ , Priofinus, 119, 123. , Procellaria, 121. , Puffinus, 96, 97, 119, 165. Gircus gouldi, 476. clarkei, Gatharacta lonnhergi, 494, 496. confusa, Pagadroma, 177. conspicellatus, Majaqueus, 108. conspicillata, Procellaria, 108, 109, 113. , — - — cequinoctialis, 108, 107, 109, 110, 111, 112, 114. conspicillatus, Gymatoholus, 108. , Fulmarus, 108. • , {Majaqueus), 108. , Majaqueus, 108. cookii, Mstrelata, 166. , Fulmarus, 166. , (Estrelata, 166. , Procellaria, 166, 167, 168, 170, 171, 173, 197. — — , Pterodroma, 129, 168. , cookii, 166, 133, 168. , Pterodroma {Mstrelata), 166, ■ , Rhantistes, 166. Gookilaria, 129, 131. leucoptera, 166, 171. mollis, 157, 159. velox, 166, 171. coppingeri, Pelecanoides urinatrix, 238, 239. Goprotheres, 497, 490. pomarinus, 497. camtschatica, 498. corallinus, Bruchigavia, 448. , Gelastes, 448, 455. cornicoides, Diomedea fuliginosa, 300, 301. , Phcehetria, 300, 301. — — , fuliginosa, 300, 301, 302. couesi, Oceanites nereis, 18. , Puffinus, 67. crassirostris. Pseudoprion turtur, 221, 215. crawfordi, Gygis, 440, 442. crepidata, Procellaria, 7, 143, 155, 159, 161, 164. crepidatus, Larus, 503. , Stercorarius, 501, 503. Crimson -billed Gull, 448. crissalis. Sterna fuscata, 394. cristata. Sterna, 343, 346. , hergii, 340. cristatus, Thalasseus, 348. , hergii, 347, 351. culminata, Diomedea, 241. 242, 246, 270, 277, 278 279, 283, 284. , culminata, 279. , Thalassarche, 264. , Thalassiarche, 277. 510 INDEX. Gulminata, Thalassogeron chrysostoma, 280. culminatus, Thalassarche, 265. , Thalassogeron, 265, 271, 275, 277, 285. , chrysostoma, 277, 273, 274, 276. cuneatus, Puffinus, 82, 83. , pacificm, 84. cyanopedo, Procellaria, 52. cyanops, Sula, 439. Gymatobolus, 106. conspicillatus, 108. Cymodroma, 31, 44. grallaria, 13, 37. melanogaster, 33. Gymotomus, 45. dacimhce, Pelecanoides, 237, 239. , urinatrix, 238. Daptes, 190. capensis, 191. Daption, 190, 125, 127. capense, 191, 46, 190. capenses, 191. capensis, 191. grisewm, 92. Daptium, 190. capense, 191. Daptrion, 190. — — capensis, 191. Dark Grey Petrel, 94, 144. decor ata, Gygis, 372. defilippiana, Pterodroma cookii, 168. delalandii, Hydrochelidon, 318, 320. , leucopareia, 320, 321. delamotta. Sterna, 318, 319, 321. desolata, Procellaria, 131, 228, 229, 230. desolationis, Thalassogeron, 285. desolatus. Heteroprion, 213, 224, 225, 230. , desolatus, 230. , Prion, 197, 199, 200, 201, 202, 212, 213, 216, 222, 224, 226, 227, 228, 229, 300. diamesus, Megalopterus minutus, 423. , Micranous, 422. dichrous, Pujfinus, 55, 57, 58, 68. , Iherminieri, 70. Diommdea, 240. Diomedcea, 240. epomophora, 258, 259, 260. regia, 258, 259, 260. Diomedea, 240, 4, 46, 124, 241, 242, 243, 264, 266, 294. adusta, 250. albatrus, 183, 242, 244, 249. antarctica, 7, 302. avis, 165. bassi, 281, 283. brachyura, 241, 250, 251. bulleri, 265. carter i, 287. cauta, 271, 275, 289, 293. chionoptera, 251, 253, 255, 257, 262, 282. Diomedea chlororhyncha, 281. chlororhynchus, 270, 281, 282, 283, 284, 285. chrysostoma, 277, 278, 283. culminata, 241, 242, 264, 270, 277, 278, 279, 283, 284. culminata, 279. mathewsi, 279. epomophora, 250, 251, 261, 262, 282. epomophora, 258, 245, 259, 261. mccormicki, 261. exulans, 7, 8, 240, 241, 242, 244, 246, 249, 250, 251, 252, 254, 256, 259, 261, 262, 264 268 272 chionoptera, 255, 245, 251, 252, 253, 257. exulans, 246, 251, 252, 253, 255, 260. rothschildi, 246, 242, 243, 245, 251, 253, 254, 257, 258, 260, 261, 262. fuliginosa, 241, 297, 299, 300, 304. cornicoides, 300, 301. fusca, 299, 300, 304. gilliana, 269. impavida, 8, 271. melanophris, 241, 242, 262, 264, 267, 269, 270, 271, 279, 288, 292. palpebrata, 299, 300. profuga, 7, 272, 285. regia, 251, 254, 261, 262, 263. spadicea, 250, 251. Diomedella, 275. Diomedia, 240. carteri, 287. Dipsaleon, 388. discolor, Hydroprogne, 401, 402, 403. dispar, Prion, 229. Diving Petrel, 334. dominicanus, Larus, 475. dougalli. Sterna, 325, 356, 357, 358, 360, 361, 372, 389. dulcice, Pelagodromamarina, 21, 20, 24, 26. Dusky Petrel, 52. East Australian Yellow-nosed Mollymawk, 281. Whiskered Tern, 316. White-faced Storm-Petrel, 26. Eastern Grey-faced Petrel, 134. Wedge-tailed Petrel, 85. White-faced Ternlet, 383. headed Petrel, 153. shafted Ternlet, 375. winged Tern, 312. \\ eatoni. Pseudoprion turtur, 220. edwardsi, Thalasseus bergii, 347. Egyptian Tern, 329. elegans, Puffinus, 55, 57, 58, 68. , assimilis, 69. epomophora, Diomedcea, 258, 259, 260. , Diomedea, 250, 251, 261, 262, 282. , epomophora, 258, 245, 259, 261. ethelce, Bruchigavia novce-hollandice, 466, 457. 511 THE BIHDS OF AUSTRALIA. ethelce, Larus novce-hoUandice, 466. exasperatus, Oceanites oceanicits, 11, 10, 13, 14. eximius, Thalassogeron, 284, 285. exsul, Pelecanoides, 234, 237, 238. urinafrix, 238. -, Sternula nereis, 385. fuUginosa, Procellaria, 7, 94, 96, 113, 115, 117, 134, 136. , Sterna, 389, 393, 401, 402. fuliginosus, Anous, 389. -, Onychoprion, 389, 406. exulans, Diomedea, 7, 8, 240, 241, 242, 244, 246, 249, 250, 251, 252, 254, 256, 259, 261, 262, 264, 268, 272. ■ , exulans, 246, 251, 252, 253, 255, 260. falJdandica, Megalestris antarctica, 496. falMandius, Procellaria, 239. fasciata, Procellaria, 228. fece, CEstrelata, 165. , Pterodroma, 165. fisher i, CEstrelata, 163. flamrostris, Procellaria, 131. Flesh-footed Petrel, 89. floridanus, Puffinus, 55, 70. ftuviatilis, Hydrochelidon, 316, 318, 320. ■ , fluviatilis, 316, 311, 321, 322. forsteri, Bruchigavia novce-hollandice, 457. ■ , Macronectes giganteus, 189. , Pachyptila, 204. , Prion, 194, 200, 201, 204. , Procellaria, 195, 198, 204, 208, 209. f rater, Anous, 409, 411. Fregata, 31. — — marina, 22. fregata, Pelagodroma, 21. , Procellaria, 7, 21, 22, 23, 38. ■ , {Pelagodroma), 21. fregatta, Procellaria, 22. Fregetta, 31, 14, 18, 34. albigularis, 31. grallaria, 31, 37, 39, 41, 42, 43, 44. grallaria, 37, 32, 41, 42. segeihi, 41, 44. - lawrencii, 44. - leucogaster, 23, 31, 33, 35, 41, 42, 43, 44. - leucogastra, 31, 33, 34. - melanogaster, 33, 35, 38, 39, 42. - melanoleuca, 40, 42, 43. - moestissima, 31. - segeihi, 40, 41, 42. - tropica, 31, 35, 42, 44. melanogaster, 33, 32, 35. tropica, 35. - tuhulata, 42. fregetta, Thalassidroma, 37. Fregettornis, 31. Frigate Petrel, 22. frontalis, Larus, 474, 478, 479. , Sterna, 358, 361, 362, 366, 367, 368, 369. fuUginosa, Diomedea, 241, 297, 299, 300, 304. , Nectris, 7, 8, 45, 95, 96. , CEstrelata, 134, 137. , Onychoprion, 389. ■ , Phoebetria, 297, 300, 301, 304. , Puffinus, 97. fuligula, Melanosterna anoethetus, 402. ■ — — , Sterna, 402. Palmar, Antarctic, 127. — , Cinereous, 119, 121, 123. Petrel, 127. , Phillips’s, 151. Fulmariprion, 215. Fulmarus, 46, 126, 130. albus, 150. — — antarcticus, 126, 127. — atlanticus, 134. — cceruleus, 195. — capensis, 191. — conspicillatus, 108. — cooJcii, 166. — giganteus, 179. — glacialoides, 126. — leucopterus, 171. — mollis, 157. — neglectus, 150. — parJcinsoni, 116. — phillipii, 152. — sandaliatus, 150. — solandri, 141, = — tenuirostris, 126. — velox, 171. — {Adamastor) gelidus, 119. — {Majaqueus) conspicillatus, 108. [Ossifraga] giganteus, 179. fusca, Diomedea, 299, 300, 304. , Phcebetria, 294, 295, 301, 494. , fusca, 305, 495. palpebrata, 301, 304. fuscata. Sterna, 389, 393. fuscatus, Onychoprion, 388. , fuscatus, 394. Gabianus, 472, 482. bathyrinchus, 474, 479. georgii, 479. leucomelas, 479. pacificus, 474, 479, 480. georgii, 480, 473. pacificus, 474, 473. galapagensis, Anous, 410, 411. — — , stolidus, 411. gama, Nectris, 96, 97, 124. garnotii, Pelecanoides, 232, 237. , Priocella, 126. , Procellaria, 126. , Puffinuria, 237, 238, 239. , garnotii, 239. Garrodia, 9, 14, 18, 19, 31. — ^ — nereis, 15. 512 INDEX. Gavia, 404. andersonii, 448, 454, 455. gouldi, 458. hartlaubii, 454. jamesonii, 454, 459, 460, 462. leucoceps, 409, 410. pomare, 454, 455. pomarre, 448. gavia, Procellaria, 51, 68. , Puffinus, 51, 53, 57, 73, 74, 76. , assimilis, 69. gavius, Puffinus, 74. Gdastes corrallinus, 448, 455. gouldi, 455, 458, 459, 460. jamesonii, 462. novoe-hollandice, 448. Gelichelidon, 325. gelida, Procellaria, 119, 121, 122, 123. gelidus, Adamastor, 121. , Fulmarus {Adamastor), 119. , Procellaria, 121. Gelochelidon, 325, 307, 308, 326, 395. agraria, 330. anglica, 327, 329. aranea, 330. — — halihica, 330. macrotarsa, 327. meridionalis, 326. nilotica, 325, 326, 328, 329. addenda, 331. affinis, 330. aranea, 330. grdnvoldi, 331. macrotarsa, 327, 331, 337. nilotica, 330. palustris, 330. georgii, Gabianus, 479. , pad ficus, 480, 473. , Larus, 480, 481. , pacificus, 474, 480. Giant Petrel, 183. gigantea, Macronectes, 179. , Ossifraga, 179. , Procellaria, 7, 179, 181, 182, 183, 186. giganteus, Fulmarus, 179. , (Ossifraga), 179. , Macronectes, 178, 179, 187, 188, 494, 495, 503. , giganteus, 186. , Ossifraga,' gilberti, Anous stolidus, 405, 411. gilliana, Diomedea, 269. glacialina, Thalassoeca, 127. glacialis, Procellaria, 122, 127. glacialoides, Fulmarus, 126. , Priocella, 46, 126. , Procellaria, 126, 128. , Thalassoeca, 126. ■ , (Priocella), 127. — — , Thalassoica, 126. Glacial Petrel, 122. godmani, Puffinus, 59, 69. gouldi, Mstrelata, 134, 137. , Bruchigavia, 446, 458, 460, 470. , jamesoni, 458. , — — novce-hollandioe, 458, 457, 466. , Circus, 476. , Gavia, 458. , Gdastes, 455, 458, 459, 460. • , Larus, 454, 458, 460, 461. , novcB-hollandicB, 458. , Larus (Xema), 458. , Majaqueus, 114, 134. , QSstrdata, 134, 137. ■ , Prion viitatus, 211, 203, 212, 213, 225. • — — , Procellaria, 134. ■ , Pterodroma, 134. — — , macroptera, 134, 114, 133, 139, 140, 145, 146. , Sterna, 379, 394. gracilirostris, Puffinus, 69. gracilis, Anous, 358. , Oceanites, 9, 41. , Sterna, 323, 358, 360, 361, 362, 363, 364. , dougalli, 358, 357, 361, 363, 365. grallaria, Gymodroma, 13, 37. , Fregetta, 31, 37, 39, 41, 42, 43, 44. , grallaria, 37, 32, 41, 42. , Procellaria, 34, 37, 38, 39, 40. — ■ — , (Pelagodroma), 37. , Thalassidroma, 37. gravis, Puffinus, 45, 83, 97. Grey-baeked Storm-Petrel, 15. Noddy, 426. Petrel, 119, 92, 144. grisea, Hydrochelidon leucoptera, 312, 311. , Procellaria, 92, 94, 95, 96, 97, 143, 159. , Sterna, 312, 313. griseum, Daption, 92. griseus, Puffinus, 45, 80, 83, 86, 87, 92, 93, 104, 123, 124. ■ , griseus, 92, 47, 83, 96. grdnvoldi, Gelochelidon nilotica, 331. gularis, Procellaria, 161, 163, 164. , Pterodroma, 168. Gull, Crimson-billed, 448. , Pacific, 474. , Silver, 448. , Southern Silver, 466. , Tasmanian Silver, 462. , Western Pacific, 480. > , Silver, 468. gunni, Bruchigavia, 447. — — , novm-hollandioe, 462, 457, 465, 466. ■ , Larus novm-hollandioe, 456, 462. gwendolenm. Sterna bergii, 350. , Thalasseus bergii, 350, 339, 347, 351. Gyges, 432. Gygis, 432, 307, 308. , sp., 372. 513 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. Qygis alba, 432, 433, 440, 441, 442. alba, 442. Candida, 433, 442, 443. kittlitzi, 440, 443. monte, 443. pacifica, 443. royana, 433, 443. Candida, 433, 440, 441. crawfordi, 440, 442. decorata, 372. microrhyncha, 432, 440, 441, 442. — — Tiapoleonis, 440. Gygisterna, 365. Gymnorhina, 465. hcesitata, dLstrelata, 143. , Procellaria, 119, 121, 122, 159. hakodate, Pujfinus carneipes, 90, 83. Haladrotna, 232, 233. urinatrix, 234. Haliplana, 388. keri, 402. serrata, 389. halli, Macronectes giganteus, 187. Halobcena, 194, 219. ccerulea, 195, 168, 169, 194, 200, 219, 220. typica, 201, 217, 219. Halodroma, 232. hamiltoni, Pufjinus pacificus, 82, 84. harterti, Thalassogeron chrysostoma, 280. hartlaubi, Brndhigavia novce-hollandice, 457. , Gavia, 454. , Larus, 455, 460. hasitata, Pterodroma, 129. hawaiiensis, Anous, 421, 422, 423. , Micranous 422. Helopus, 326, 332. Heroprogne, 332. Heteroprion, 222, 194, 216, 217, 218, 219. belcheri, 224, 213, 215, 222, 223, 225. desolatus, 213, 224, 225, 230. alter, 231. banksi, 230, 231. desolatus, 230. macquariensis, 231. mattingleyi, 226, 213, 223, 224, 230, 231. peringueyi, 230. hirundo, Sterna, 309, 356. horni. Sterna nereis, 383. , Sternula nereis, 386, 374, 383, 385. howei, Pelagodroma nmrina, 26, 20. hullianus, Puffinus carneipes, 90, 123. huttoni, Phcebetria palpebrata, 297, 296, 302, 303. , Pseudoprion turtur, 220, 115, 216. , Puffinus reinholdi, 77, 47. hyhrida, Hydrochelidon, 316, 318, 320. , Sterna, 318, 319, 321. Hydrobates, 9, 14, 31. Hydrocecropis, 356. Hydrochelidon, 310, 307, 308, 309. delalandii, 318, 320. fiuviatilis, 316, 318, 320. hybrida, 316, 318, 320. leucogenys, 318, 319, 321. leucopareia, 310, 316, 320, 321. delalandii, 320, 321. fiuviatilis, 318, 311, 321, 322. indica, 321. javanica, 321. leggei, 320, 321. leucopareia, 321. rogersi, 323, 311, 316, 321. swinhcei, 320, 321. leucoptera, 312. grisea, 312, 311. marginata, 318, 321. meridionalis, 318, 319, 321. nigra, 310. nilotica, 319. Hydrochiledon, 310. Hydroprogne, 332, 308, 325, 326, 395. caspia, 333. discolor, 401, 402, 403. tschegrava, 326, 332. imperator, 337. sternvAi, 333, 337, 343. tschegrava, 337. hypoleuca, Pelagodroma marina, 29. Thalassidroma, 24, 27. imitatrix, Procelsterna cerulea, 431. impavida, Diomedea, 8, 271. , Thalassarche melanophris, 267, 271, 279. imperator, Hydroprogne tschegrava, 337. , Thalasseus, 337. incerta, Procellaria, 151. , Sterna striata, 366, 368, 369. inconspicua, Sternula, 375, 378. indica, Hydrochelidon leucopareia, 321. , Viralva, 318, 319. inexpectata, Procellaria, 143, 160. infuscata. Sterna, 395. , Thalassipora, 395. injuscatus, Onychoprion fuscatus, 394. innotata. Sterna, 318, 321. inter cedens, Catharacta lonnbergi, 494, 496. intermedins, Puffinus, 104, 105. , tenuirostris, 104, 47. iredali, Puffinus chlororhynchus, 80, 82. jamesoni, Bruchigavia, 460, 462, 469, 470, 471. — — , Ghroicocephalus, 448. , Gavia, 454, 459, 460, 462. , Gelastes, 462. , Larus, 448, 453, 454, 458, 460. , Xema, 459, 462, 466. javanica, Hydrochelidon leucopareia, 321. , Sterna, 318, 320. 514 INDEX. kempi, Puffinus assimilis, 69. , Sterna sumatrana, 370, 357, 365, 372. keri, Haliplana, 402. keyteli, Prion vittatus, 210, 212, 213. kittUtzi, Gygis alba, 440, 443. knudseni, Puffinus pacificus, 84. korustes, Sterna dougalli, 364. , Sternula, 364. kuhli, Puffinus, 83, 91. Kurile Petrel, 244. Laropis, 325, 338. Larus, 444, 445. antarcticus, 491. bathyrinchus, 474, 478, 479. bulleri, 471. catarractes, 489, 490. crepidatus, 503. dominicanus, 475. frontalis, 474, 478, 479. georgii, 480, 481. gouldi, 454, 458, 460, 461. hartlaubi, 455, 460. jamesoni, 448, 453, 454, 458, 460. leucomelas, 474, 478, 479. novce-hollandice, 448, 451, 452, 455, 458, 460, 461, 462, 464, 465, 466, 468, 471, 476. — — - ethelcB, 466. gouldi, 458. gunni, 456, 462. longirostris, 468. novce-Jhollandice, 448, 462, 468. pacificus, 474, 478, 480. bathyrinchus, 474. georgii, 474, 480. pacificus, 474. parasiticus, 501, 503. ■ poiocephalus, 454. — — polo-candor, 372. pomare, 460. scopulinus, 453, 455, 460, 465, 471. major, 455, 458, 460. skua, 488, 490. {Xema) gouldii, 458. ( ) longirostris, 468. lateralis, Zosterops, 486. latirostris. Prion, 201. , Procellaria, 8, 204, 207, 208, 209. layardi, Thalassogeron, 292. , cautus, 282, 293. laysani, Puffinus pacificus, 83, 84. lawrencii, Fregetta, 44. leggei, Hydrochelidon leucopareia, 320, 321. leptorhyncha. Sterna tschegrava, 337. Lesser Crested Tern, 352. lessoni, Mstrelata, 150. , (Estrelata, 144, 153. — , Procellaria, 153, 154, 155. , Pterodroma {Mstrelata), 153. ■ — — , Puffinuria garnotii, 239. Lestris, 500. (sp.), 501. antarctica, 490. — — antarcticus, 491. ■ catarractes, 484, 491. ■ catarrhactes, 484. chilensis, 490. longicaudus, 501. — ■ — parasita, 501. parasiticus, 248, 501. pomarina, 498. pomarinus, 483, 500. richardsoni {parasiticus), 501. Leucanous, 432. leu^ocapilla. Sterna, 417. leucocapillus, Anous, 412, 417, 420, 421, 422, 423. , leucocapillus, 417. , Micranous, 412, 417. leucocephala, Mstrelata, 153. , Procellaria, 153, 156. , Pterodroma lessonii, 153, 133. , Anous, 417. leucoceps, Gama, 409, 410. leucogaster, Fregetta, 23, 31, 33, 35, 41, 42, 43, 44. , Procellaria, 34. , Thalassidroma, 34, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41. leucogastra, Fregetta, 31, 33, 34. leucogenys, Hydrochelidon, 318, 319, 321. leucomela, Nectris, 48. leucomelcena, Nectris, 48. leucomelas, Gabianus, 479. , Larus, 474, 478, 479. , Procellaria, 48. , Puffinus, 48, 47, 83, 100, 103. , Thiellus, 48. leucopareia, Hydrochelidon, 310, 316, 320, 321. — leucopareia, 321. , Sterna, 318, 319. leucoptera, Mstrelata, 171. , Cookilaria, 166, 171. , Hydrochelidon, 312. , (Estrelata, 171, 172. , Procellaria, 168, 170, 171, 172, 173. • — — , Pterodroma cookii, 171, 133, 168. , {Mstrelata), 171. — — , Sterna, 314. leucopterus, Fulmarus, 171. Iherminieri, Puffinus, 53, 68, 70, 72, 73, 411. — ^ — , Iherminieri, 69. lineatus, Oceanites, 9, 41. , Pealea, 19. longicaudus, Lestris, 501. , Stercorarius, 482, 500. \\ longipes, Procellaria, 8, 17. \ longirostris, Bruchigavia, 447, 455, 468, 469, 470, 471. , novoB-hollandice, 457, 460, 466, 468. , Larus novce-hollandice, 468, , {Xema), 468. , Pterodroma cookii, 168. 515 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. longirostris, Sterna, 344, 346. Long-legged Tem, 327. lon'nhergi, Gatharacta, 495. , antarctica, 484, 492. , lonnhergi, 484, 494, 496. luctuosa, Sterna, 394. lugens, Procellaria, 7, 159, 161. lunata. Sterna, 403. maccormichi, Gatharacta, 495. , maccormichi, 496. , Megalestris, 493. , Stercorarius, 491. macgillivrayi. Prion vittatus, 211, 212, 213. macquariensis. Heteroprion desolatus, 231. Macronectes, 178, 124, 301. gigantea, 179. giganteus, 178, 179, 187, 188, 494, 495, 503. alhus, 179, 188. forsteri, 189. — giganteus, 186. halli, 187. solanderi, 187. wilsoni, 189. macroptera, JEstrelata, 96. , (Estrelata, 134, 139. , Procellaria, 110, 134, 136, 137, 214. , Pterodroma, 96, 129, 134, 148, 173. , macroptera, 140. macrotarsa, Gelochelidon, 327. , nilotica, 327, 331, 337. , Sterna, 317, 327. macrotarsus, Thalasse.us niloticus, 327. macroura. Sterna, 360. magellani, Puffl,nuria garnotii, 239, magnirostris. Prion, 200, 201, 204, 209, 210, 211. Majaquens, 106. Majaqueus, 106, 244. — — cequinoctialis, 108, 114. - — - conspicellatus, 108. conspicillatus, 108. gouldi, 114, 134. parhinsoni. 111, 116. major, Larus scopulinus, 455, 458, 460. , Pagodroma nivea, 175. , Puffinus, 92. maoriana, Pelagodroma marina, 24. marcusi, Megalopterus minutus, 423. , Micranous, 422. marginata, Hydrochelidon, 318, 321. Marila, 404. marina, Fregata, 22. , Pelagodroma, 19, 21, 26, 36, 39, 476. , marina, 24. , Procellaria, 22, 24. , Thalassidroma, 21. mathewsi, Diomedia, culminata, 279. ^5 Thalassogeron chrysostoma, 280. mattingleyi. Heteroprion desolatus, 226, 213, 223, 224, 230, 231. rmxuriensis, Thalasseus, 354, 356. mccormicki, Diomedea epomophora., 261. media. Sterna, 352, 353, 355. Megalestris, 482, 497. antarctica, 484, 485, 493. falklandica, 496. maccormichi, 493. Megalopterus, 412. — ■ — minutus americanus, 423. — atlanticus, 423. diamesus, 423. marcusi, 423. melanogenys, 423. minutus, 417, 413, 416, 423. worcesteri, 423. plumbeus, 429. tenuirostris, 412, 424. melanops, 414, 413, 416. tenuirostris, 416. megarhynchos, Sterna, 336, 337. melanauchen. Sterna, 370, 371. melanogaster, Gymodroma, 33. , Fregetta, 33, 35, 38, 39, 42. , tropica, 33, 32, 35. , Procellaria, 34. , [Fregetla), 33. , Thalassidroma, 33, 34, 35. melanogastra, Procellaria, 33. melanogenys, Anous, 421, 422, 427. , Megalopterus minutus, 423. melanoleuca, Fregetta, 40, 42, 43. melanophris, Diomedea, 241, 242, 262, 264, 267, 269, 270, 271, 279, 288, 292. , Thalassarche, 242, 264, 265, 268. melanops, Anous, 414, 415. , tenuirostris, 414. , Ghlidonias, 310. , Micranous tenuirostris, 412. melanoptera, Sterna, 401, 403. melanopus, Procellaria, 7, 8, 136, 141, 143, 144, 145, 159. , Pterodroma, 141, 133, 147, 148. melanorhyncha. Sterna, 358, 361, 366, 367, 368. , striata, 366, 357, 369. , Sternula, 368. Melanosterna, 395, 396. anoethetus, 395. anoethetus, 402. antarctica, 402. fuligula, 402. novce-hollandios, 397, 402. recognita, 403. melanotis, Thalassites, 336, 337. melanura, Procellaria, 119, 159. , Sterna, 312, 389. melanurus, Priofinus, 119. , Puffinus, 119. meridionalis, Gelochelidon, 326. 516 INDEX meridionalis, Hydrochelidon, 318, 319, 321. , Sterna, 326, 330. metopoleucos, Sterna, 377. Micranous, 308, 412. diamesus, 422. hawaiiensis, 422. leiccocapillus, 412, 417. ■ marcusi, 422. plumbeus, 431. tenuirostris, 412, 414. melanops, 412. ■ worcesteri, 422. microrhyncha, Gygis, 432, 440, 441, 442. minor, Pagodroma nivea, 175. — ^ Procellaria nivea, 175, 176. , Puffinus, 68. , — — • Iherminieri, 70. — — , opisthomelas, 57, 58. minvM, Sterna, 376, 377, 379, 380. — — , minuta, 380. minutus, Anous, 412, 417, 420. , Megalopterus minutus, 417, 413, 416, 423. missus. Prion vittatus, 212, 203, 213, 225. mixta, Procellaria cequinoctialis. 111, 115. mosstissima, Fregetta, 31. mollis, jFstrelata, 143, 157. , Cookilaria, 157, 159. , Fulmar us, 157. , (Estrelata, 157, 158, 165. , Procellaria, 143, 144, 150, 157, 159, 172. , Pterodroma, 157, 133, 158, 165. , {ASstrelata), 157. , Rliantistes, 157, 159. MoUymawk, Australian Black-browed, 267. , Flat-billed, 277. ■ , East Australian Yellow-nosed, 281. , Shy, 289. , Western Yellow-nosed, 287. montana, (Estrelata, 141, 142, 146, 147. monte, Gygis alba, 443. munda, Nectris, 7, 8, 45, 52, 56, 57, 59, 68, 72. , Procellaria, 52, 55, 58, 72. , Puffinus assimilis, 45, 69. Ncenia, 307, 308. napoleonis, Gygis, 440. Nealbatrus, 274. nebouxi, Procelsterna cerulea, 431. Nectris, 45. brevicauda, 97, 99. brevicaudus, 99. carbonaria, 8, 45, 90, 91. ■ — — carneipes, 89. fuliginosa, 7, 8, 45, 95, 96. gama, 96, 97, 124. leucomela, 48. leucomelcena, 48. munda, 7, 8, 45, 52, 56, 57, 59, 68, 72. nugax, 8, 45, 52, 54, 59, 60, 69, 72. tenuirostris, 97. Nectrix, 45. neglecta, (Estrelata, 141, 146, 148, 151. , Pterodroma, 145, 148, 149, 158, 168. neglectus, Fulmarus, 150. nereis, Garrodia, 15. ■ , Oceanites, 9, 17, 31. - — ■ — , nereis, 15, 10, 18. Procellaria, 15, 16. , Sterna, 383, 384, 386. ■ , nereis, 383. , Sternula, 376, 383, 385. — — , nereis, 383, 374, 385, 386. , Thalassidroma, 15, 16. Nesofregetta, 31. Nestris, 45. newelli, Puffinus, 67. ■ — — , obscurus, 67. New Zealand Broad-billed Prion, 204. — Giant Petrel, 179. ■ Light-mantled Sooty Albatros, 297. White-chinned Petrel, 114. niger, Anous, 408. nigra, Hydrochelidon, 310. — — , Procellaria, 115. , Sterna, 314, 420. nigrifrons. Sterna, 358, 361, 365. nigripennis, Pelecanopus, 340, 345, 347. , Procellaria, 170, 173. , Pterodroma coolcii, 168. nilotica, Gelochelidon, 325, 326, 328, 329. ■ , nilotica, 330. , Hydrochelidon, 319. — , Sterna, 318, 319, 326 329. , nilotica, 330. nivea, Pagodroma, 173, 174, 175, 176, 177. , nivea, 177. — — , Procellaria, 174, 175, 176. , Sterna, 440, 443. Noddi, 404. Noddy, Australian, 405. — • — , — — Lesser, 414. , White-capped, 417. , Grey, 426. Nodinus, 404. Norfolk Island Petrel, 143, 144, 149, 151. Northern Silver Gull, 458. novce-hollandice, Bruchigavia, 444, 446, 456, 465. , — — novce-hollandice, 448, 456, 457, 458, 466. — , Gelastes, 448. , Larus, 448, 451, 452, 455, 458, 460, 461, 462, 464, 465, 46% 468, 471, 476. ' , novce-hollandice, 448, 462,468. , Melanosterna ancethetus, 397, 402. , Sterrw, 340, 345, 347, 397, 400. , Xema, 448, 462. novegeorgica, Pagodroma nivea, 177. novella, Sternula, 379, 380. nugax, Nectris, 8, 45, 52, 54, 59, 60, 69, 72. VOL. II. 517 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. nugax, Procellaria, 50, 70, 72. , Pu/finus, 50, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 71, 72. , Iherminieri, 72, 45, 47, 70. nuttalii, Sterna, 330. oahuensis, Onychoprion fuscatus, 394. ohscura, Procellaria, 52, 64, 65, 67, 68. obscurus, Puffinus, 51, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 61, 62, 63, 65, 66, 67, 76, 99. , obscurus, 58, 67. oceanica, Oceanites, 11. , Procellaria, 7, 8, 13, 33. , {Oceanites), 11. oceanicus, Oceanites, 9, 11, 14, 31. Oceanites, 9, 12, 13, 14, 18, 19, 31. gracilis, 9, 41. lineatus, 9, 41. nereis, 9, 17, 31. chubbi, 18. couesi, 18. nereis, 15, 10, 18. oceanica, 11. oceanicus, 9, 11, 14, 31. exasperatus, 11, 10, 13, 14. , wilsoni, 14. Oceanitis, 9. Oceanodroma, 31. Oceanus, 500. (Estrelata, 106, "129, 130. arminjoniana, 150, 151. cooM, 166. fecB, 165. fischeri, 163. fuliginoso, 134, 137. gouldi, 134, 137. leucoptera, 171, 172. lessoni, 144, 153. macroptera, 134, 139. mollis, 157, 158, 165. montana, 141, 142, 146, 147. — — neglecta, 141, 146, 148, 151. phillipii, 144, 146. scalaris, 163, 164. solanderi, 141. solandri, 141, 144, 148. Onocralus, 232. Onychoprion, 388, 308, 309, 395, 396, 403. fuliginosa, 389. - — — fuliginosus, 389, 406. fuscatus, 388. fuscatus, 394. , infuscatus, 394. oahuensis, 394. serratus, 389, 394, 398. panaya, 397. panayensis, 397. serrata, 389. serratus, 389. opisihomelas, Puffinus, 54, 57, 65, 66, 67, 74, 76. obscurus, 67. orientalis, Sternula, 379. Ossifraga, 178, 184, 185. alba, 179, 188. gigantea, 179. giganteus, 179. ossifraga, Procellaria, 184. Ossifragus, 178. Pachyptila, 199. coerulea, 195. forsteri, 204. vittata, 204. Pacific GuU, 474. pacifica, Gygis alba, 443. , Procellaria, 79, 80. , Sterna, 440. pacifwus, Gabianus, 474, 479, 480. , pad ficus, 474, 473. , Larus, 474, 478, 480. , pacifictis, 474. , Puffinus, 45, 79, 80, 82, 83, 84, 88, 96. , pad ficus, 51, 80, 83. Pagodroma, 174. confusa, 177. nivea, 173, 174, 175, 176, 177. Candida, 177. major, 175, minor, 175. nivea, 177. novegeorgica, 177. pallipes, Procellaria, 8, 123. palpebrata, Diomedea, 299, 300. , Phoebetria, 242, 294, 295, 297, 801, 302, 494, 495. ^ palpebrata, 297, 301, 303. palustris, Gelochelidon, 330. panaya, Onychoprion, 397. , Sterna, 400, 401, 402. , Thalassipora, 396. panayensis, Onychoprion, 397. , Sterna, 400, 401, 402. paradisea. Sterna, 360. parasita, Lestris, 501. parasitica, Catharacta, 501. parasiticus, Larus, 501, 503. , Lestris, 248, 501. , Stercorarius, 501, 482, 500. parkinsoni, Fulmarus, 116. , Majaqueus, 111, 116. , Procellaria, 116, 107, 113, 117. , Puffinus, 116. parvulus, Anous, 429, 431. passerina, Procellaria, 7, 24. Pealea, 9, 19, 31. lineata, 19. pelagica, Procellaria, 18, 23. Pelagodroma, 19, 14, 31, 36. fregata, 21. hypoleuca, 24, 27. — ^ — marina, 19, 21, 26, 36, 39, 476. 518 INDEX Pdagodroma marina dulcice, 21, 20, 24, 26. kowei, 26, 20. hypoleuca, 24. maoriana, 24. marina, 24. Pelanopus, 338. Pelecanoides, 232, 196, 233. berard, 234, 237. dacunhce, 237, 239. exsul, 234, 237, 238. garnoti, 237. garnotti, 232. urinatrix, 232, 233, 234, 237, 238, 239. berard, 238. coppingeri, 238, 239. ■ dacunhce, 238. ■ exsul, 238. urinatrix, 234, 238. pelecanoides, Pelecanopus, 348. ■ , Sterna, 343, 348. , bergii, 345, 348. , Thalasseus, 348. , bergii, 348, 338, 339, 347. Pelecanopus, 338. nigripennis, 340, 345, 347. • pelecanoides, 348. poliocercus, 340. torresii, 352. Pelodes, 310. peringueyi. Heteroprion desolatus, 230. persicus, Puffinus, 64. , Iherminieri, 70. Petrel, Allied, 50. ■ , Australian Yellow-webbed Storm-, 11. , Black, 116. , — ^ - bellied Storm-, 33. , toed, 142. , Blue, 195, 198. , footed, 166. , Broad-billed, 204, 208. ■ , Brown-backed, 74, 54. , banded, 228. — — , headed, 141. , Cape, 191. , Dark Grey, 94, 144. , Diving, 334. , Dusky, 52. , East Australian White-faced Storm-, 26. , Eastern Grey-faced, 134. , Wedge-tailed, 85. ^ White-headed, 153. , Flesh-footed, 89. , Frigate, 22. , Fulmar, 127. , Giant, 183. , Glacial, 122. , Grey, 119, 92, 144. , backed Storm-, 15. , Kurile, 244. — — , New Zealand Giant, 179. Petrel, New Zealand White-chinned, 114, — , Norfolk Island, 143, 144, 149, 151. ■ — — , Queensland Blaek-and -White, 72. , Short-tailed, 99. , Silver-Grey, 126. — — , Snares Brown-backed, 77. , Snowy, or Snowbird, 174. , Soft-plumaged, 157. , Solitary, 104. , Sombre, 92. — ^ — , Sooty, 99. , Spectacled, 108. , West Australian White-faced Storm-, 21. , Western Grey-faced, 139. , Wedge-taded, 78. , Westralian Allied, 71. , White-beUied Storm-, 37. ^ breasted, 144, 149, 151. ■ , fronted, 48. , winged, 171. Petrodroma, 129. phceopygia, Procellaria, 164. Phcethusa, 308. philippensis. Sterna, 411. philippina. Sterna, 411. phillipii, Fulmarus, 152. , (Estrelata, 144, 146. , Procellaria, 141, 144, 147, 149, 151. Phillips’s Fulmar, 151. Phcebastria, 241, 242, 266, 274, 294. albatrus, 243. Phoebetria, 294, 240, 241. cornicoides, 300, 301. fuliginosa, 297, 300, 301, 304. cornicoides, 300, 301, 302. Jusca, 294, 295, 301, 494. campbelli, 304, 296, 305, 495. fusca, 305, 495. palpebrata, 242, 294, 296, 297, 301, 302, 494, 495. — — antarctica, 303. — — fusca, 301, 304. huttoni, 297, 296, 302, 303. — — palpebrata, 297, 301, 303. pileata. Sterna, 400, 408. pileatus, Anous stolidus, 405, 410, 411. Pintado Bird, 191. placens. Sterna sinensis, 375. , Sternula, 375, 376, 378. ^ albifrons, 375, 374, 381, 382. Planetes, 388. Planetis, 388. plumbeigularis, Anous, 409. \\ , stolidus, 411. plumbeus, Micranous, 431. , Procelsterna, 430. poiocephalus, Larus, 454. polaris, Thalassoica, 126. poliocerca. Sterna, 340, 342, 344, 345, 349, 354. , — ^ — bergii, 345. 519 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. poliocerca, Sylochelidon, 340. poliocercus, Pelecanopm, 340. , Thalasseus, 340, 348. polo-candor, Larus, 372. pomare, Bruchigavia, 460. , Gavia, 454, 455. , Larus, 460. ponmrina, Catharacta, 498. , Lestris, 498. pomarinus, Goprotheres, 497. , Lestris, 483, 500. , Stercorarius, 482, 490, 498. pomatorhinus, Stercorarius, 498. Prcedatrix, 500. Priamphus, 199. primus, Puffinus, 165. Priocella, 125, 190, 238. antarctica, 126, 46, 125. garnottii, 126. glacialoides, 46, 126. tenuirostris, 126. Priofinus, 106. carneipes, 89. cinerea, 119. cinereus, 119, 123. melanurus, 119. Prion, 199, 93, 125, 190, 194, 217, 222, 485. ariel, 199, 200, 201, 202, 217, 218, 219, 220, 222, 224, 225, 229. australis, 200, 201, 204, 209, 210. lanksi, 199, 200, 201, 202, 212, 222, 224, 226, 228, 229. brevirostris, 200, 201, 202, 218, 219, 220, 222, 229. ariel, 217. ccerulea, 195, 201. cceruleus, 195, 200. desolatus, 197, 199, 200, 201, 202, 212, 213, 216, 222, 224, 226, 227, 228, 229, 300. dispar, 229. ■ forsteri, 194, 200, 201, 204. latirostris, 201. magnirostris, 200, 201, 204, 209, 210, 211. rossii, 200, 201, 202, 229. turtur, 168, 200, 201, 202, 217, 218, 219, 220, 222, 224, 225, 226, 229. typicus, 219. vittata, 204. vittatus, 199, 200, 201, 202, 204, 209, 210 211, 212, 213, 222, 230. gouldi, 211, 203, 212, 213, 225. ■ — — • keyteli, 210, 212, 213. macgillivrayi, 211, 212, 213. missus, 212, 203, 213, 225. salvini, 212, 213. vittatus, 204, 203, 211, 112, 213. Prion, Australian Broad-billed, 210. , Dove-, 226. , Fairy-, 217. , Thin -billed, 224. Prion, New Zealand Broad-billed, 204. Procellaria, 106, 4, 120, 130, 131. adamastor, 119. cequinoctialis, 106, 109, 110, 113, 115, 116, 117, 244. cequinoctialis, 110. brahournei, 113. conspicillata, 108, 107, 109, 110, 111, 112, 114. mixta. 111, 115. steadi, 114, 107, 112, 113. cequorea, 7, 23. affinis, 163. agilis, 7, 152. alba, 144, 149, 150, 151. antarctica, 127. ariel, 217. atlantica, 102, 136, 137. atrata, 7, 163. axillaris, 170. banksi, 229. berard, 236, 239. brevipes, 163. brevirostris, 159. ccerulea, 195, 198, 200. Candida, 175, 176. capensis, 191. chlororhynchus, 78. cinerea, 119, 106, 107, 121, 123, 124, 159. cinereus, 121. conspicillata, 108, 109, 113. cookii, 166, 167, 168, 170, 171, 173, 197. crepidata, 7, 143, 155, 159, 161, 164. cyanopedo, 52. desolata, 131, 228, 229, 230. falklandius, 239. fasciata, 228. flavirostris, 131. forsteri, 195, 198, 204, 208, 209. fregata, 7, 21, 22, 23, 38. fregatta, 22. fuliginosa, 7, 94, 96, 113, 115, 117, 134, 136. garnotti, 126. gavia, 51, 68. — gelida, 119, 121, 122, 123. gelidus, 121. gigantea, 7, 179, 181, 182, 183, 186. glacialis, 122, 127. glacialoides, 126, 128. gouldii, 134. grallaria, 34, 37, 38, 39, 40. grisea, 92, 94, 95, 96, 97, 143, 159. gularis, 161, 163, 164. hcesitata, 119, 121, 122, 159. incerta, 151. inexpectata, 143, 160. latirostris, 8, 204, 207, 208, 209. lessoni, 153, 154, 155. leucocephala, 153, 156. 520 INDEX. Procellaria leucogaster, 34. leiocomelas, 48. leucoptera, 168, 170, 171, 172, 173. longipes, 8, 17. lugens, 7, 159, 161. macroptera, 110, 134, 136, 137, 214. marina, 22, 24. melanogaster , 34. melanogastra, 33. melanopus, 7, 8, 136, 141, 143, 144, 145, 159. melanura, 119, 159. mollis, 143, 144, 150, 157, 159, 172. munda, 52, 55, 58, 72. nereis, 15, 16. nigra, 115. nigripennis, 170, 173. nivea, 174, 175, 176. minor, 175, 176. nugax, 50, 70, 72. ohscura, 52, 64, 65, 67, 68. oceanica, 7, 8, 13, 33. ossifraga, 184. pacifica, 79, 80. pallipes, 8, 123. — — parlcinsoni, 116, 107, 113, 117. passerina, 7, 24. pelagica, 18, 23. phoeopygia, 164. phillipii, 141, 144, 147, 149, 151. puffinus, 165. punctata, 191. saltatrix, 8, 16. sandaliata, 7, 149, 150, 151, 159. sandwichensis, 164. similis, 195, 198. smithi, 126. solandri, 114, 143, 159. sordida, 1, 162. sphenura, 78. tenuirostris, 126. torquata, 163. tridactyla, 234, 236. tristis, 92, 94, 159. tropica, 34. turtur, 7, 217, 218, 219, 228, 229, 230. unicolor, 159. urinatrix, 234, 236. vagabunda, 7, 8, 155. velificans, 7, 161. velox, 7, 8, 166, 167, 168, 169, 170, 219, 225. vittata, 198, 204, 206, 208, 209. vittatus, 198. wilsoni, 14. {Fregetta) melanogaster, 33. {Oceanites) oceanica, 11. {Pelagodroma) fregata, 21. (— ) grallaria, 37. Procellisterna, 425. Procellosterna, 425. Procelsterna, 425, 308, 428. alhivitta, 426, 429, 431. coerulea, 430. cerulea, 425. cerulea, 431. cinerea, 426, 431. imitatrix, 431. nebouxi, 431, — teretirostris, 431. cinerea, 426, 430, 431. plumbeus, 430. saxatilis, 430, 431. tereticollis, 431. profuga, Diomedea, 7, 272, 285. Pseudoprion, 215, 194, 201, 202, 216, 218, 219, 222. ariel, 217. turtur, 215, 217, 227. brevirostris, 220. crassirostris, 221, 215. eatoni, 220. huttoni, 220, 215, 216. solanderi, 220. turtur, 217, 220, 221. Pterodroma, 129, 46, 49, 72, 93, 106, 130, 131, 132, 144, 161, 174, 194. atlantica, 134. brevipes, 168. cookii, 129, 168. axillaris, 168. cookii, 166, 133, 168. defilippiana, 168. leucoptera, 171, 133, 168. — longirostris, 168. nigripennis, 168. feoe, 165. gouldii, 134. gularis, 168. hasitata, 129. lessonii leucocepJiala, 153, 133. macroptera, 96, 129, 134, 148, 173, albani, 139, 133, 140, gouldi, 134, 114, 133, 139, 140, 145, 146. macroptera, 140. melanopus, 141, 133, 147, 148. mollis, 157, 133, 158, 165. neglecta, 145, 148, 149, 158, 168. solandri, 141, 145, 146, 147, 148, 158. {Mstrelata) cookii, 166. ( ) leucoptera, 171. >\ ( ) lessoni, 153. \\ ( ) mollis, 157. {Halobcena) ccerulea, 195. Puffinuria, 232, 233, 238. garnotii, 237, 238, 239. garnotii, 239. lessoni, 239. magellani, 239. 521 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. Puf[inufia urinatrix, 234. Puffinus, 45, 46, 49, 106, 120, 125, 129, 130, 233. — — cequinoctialis, 117. — — afflnis, 50. anglorum, 54, 55, 100, 165. assimilis, 50, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 61, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73. assimilis, 50, 47, 69, 76. ■ haroli, 69. elegans, 69. gavia, 69. kempi, 69. ■ — munda, 45, 69. tunneyi, 71, 47, 50, 69, auduhoni, 55, 56, 57, 58, 61, 70. auricularis, 65, 66. australis, 50, 69. hailloni, 58, 68. haroli, 58, 68. — — hrevicaudus, 29, 86, 87, 99, 100, 104, 105. hulleri, 83, 84. carneipes, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 97, 102, 103, 244. — carhonarius, 45, 90. carneipes, 89, 47, 83. Jiakodate, 90, 83. hullianus, 90, 123. ■ chlororhynchus, 78, 80, 82, 85, 87, 97. iredali, 80, 82. cinereus, 96, 97, 119, 165. couesi, 67. cuneatus, 82, 83. dichrous, 55, 56, 57, 58, 68. • elegans, 55, 57, 58, 68. floridanus, 65, 70. • fuliginosus, 97. cMlensis, 97. gavia, 51, 53, 57, 73, 74, 76. • gavius, 74. ■ godmani, 59, 69. gracilirostris, 69. • — — gravis, 45, 83, 97. griseus, 45, 80, 83, 86, 87, 92, 93, 104, 123, 124. cMlensis, 96. ■ — griseus, 92, 47, 83, 96. stricklandi, 96. — ■ — intermedins, 104, 105. kuhli, 83, 91. leucomelas, 48, 47, 83, 100, 103. Iherminieri, 53, 68, 70, 72, 73, 411. ■ hailloni, 70. ■ hecki, 70. hoydi, 70. dichrous, 70. Iherminieri, 69. minor, 70. nugax, 72, 45, 47, 70. persicus, 70. subalaris, 70. Puffinus, major, 92. melanurus, 119. minor, 68. newelli, 67. nugax, 50, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 71, 72. hailloni, 54, 57. ohscurus, 51, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 61, 62, 63, 65, 66, 67, 76, 99. ■ — assimilis, 50, 58. atlanticus, 59, 69. auduhoni, 58. hailloni, 58, 59. newelli, 67. ohscurus, 58, 67. opisthomelas, 67. subalaris, 58. opisthomelas, 54, 57, 65, 66, 67, 74, 76. minor, 57, 58. optatus, 57, 70. pacificus, 45, 79, 80, 82, 83, 84, 88, 96. alleni, 83, 84. ■ chlororhynchus, 78, 47, 81, 83, 88, 90. cuneatus, 84. hamiltoni, 82, 84. knudseni, 84. — — laysani, 83, 84. ^ pacificus, 51, 80, 83. royanus, 85, 47, 78, 83, 88. — ■ — parkinsoni, 116. ■ persicus, 64. primus, 165. — ^ — puffinus, 45. reinholdi, 73. huttoni, 77, 47. — ‘ — reinholdi, 74, 47, 77. ■ sericeus, 154, 155. • sphenurus, 78, 80, 81, 82,® 85, 86, 87, 88, 91. ■ stricklandi, 97. subalaris, 58, 69. tenehrosus, 56, 57, 58, 61, 65, 68, 70. tenuirostris, 87, 88, 99, 100, 102, 103, 105. — ^ — ■ — ■ — hrevicaudus, 99, 47, 83,|88, 101, 103. intermedins, 104, 47. tenuirostris, 83. ■ tristis, 92, 97. yelkouan, 54. • yelkouanus, 54. (Nectris) hrevicaudus, 99. ( ) carneipes, 89: puffinus, Procellaria, 165. , Puffinus, 45. pullus, Anous, 410, 411. punctata, Procellaria, 191. pusilla. Sterna, 377, 379. , Sternula alhifrons, 381. pypoleuca, Pelagodroma, 24, 27. , marina, 24. Quebranta-huessos, 181. \ 522 INDEX. Queensland Black-and-White Petrel, 72, Querquedula, 404. raussaui, Anous, 410. rectirostris, Sterna, 344, 345. , Thalasseus, 347, 351. recognita, Melanpsterna ancethetus, 403. regia, Diomedoea, 258, 259, 260. , Diomedea, 251, 254, 261, 262, 263. reinholdi, Puffinus, 73. , reinholdi, 74, 47, 77. Rhantistes, 129, 131. cookii, 166. mollis, 157, 159. velox, 171. Rhipornis, 45. richardsoni, Lestris, 501. richmondi, Thalassarche melanophris, 272, ridgwayi, Anous stolidus, 410, 411. risoria, Sterna, 330. rogersi, Hydrochelidon leucopareia, 323, 311, 316, 321. rossii. Prion, 200, 201, 202, 229. rothschildi, Diomedea exulans, 246, 242, 243, 245, 251, 253, 254, 257, 258, 260, 261, 262. rousseaui, Anous, 409, 410. , stolidus, 411. royana, Gygis alba, 433, 443. royanus, Pujfinus pacificus, 85, 47, 78, 83, 88. saltatrix, Procellaria, 8, 16. salvini. Prion, 204, 203, 211, 212, 213. , Thalassogeron, 292, 293. , cautus, 282, 293. sandaliata, Procellaria, 7, 149, 150, 151, 159. sandaliatus, Fulmarus, 150. sandvicensis, Thalasseus, 326, 338. sandwichensis, Pterodroma, 164. saundersi. Sterna, 376, 377, 378, 379, 380. , Sternula albifrons, 380. saxatilis, Procelsterna , 430, 431. scalaris, CEstrelata, 163, 164. schillingii. Sterna, 336, 337. scopulinus, Bruchigavia novce-hollandicB, 457, 465. , Larus, 453, 455, 460, 465, 471. Seena, 308. segethi Fregetta, 40, 41, 42. , grallaria, 41, 44. , Thalassidroma, 40. semi-alba. Sterna, 439. senex. Sterna, 410. sericeus, Puffinus, 154, 155. serrata, Haliplana, 389. , Onychoprion, 389. , Sterna 389. , fuscata, 390. , Sterna {Onychoprion), 389. serratus, Onychoprion, 389. , serratus, 389, 394, 398. Short-tailed Petrel, 99. Shy Molly mawk, 289. Siberian Pomarine Skua, 489. Silver-Grey Petrel, 126. Gull, 448. similis, Procellaria, 195, 198. , Sterna, 318, 321. sinensis. Sterna, 376, 377, 379. , Sternula, 375, 376, 378. , albifrons, 380. Skua, Arctic, 501. , Austrahan, 484. , Siberian Pomarine, 489. skua, Catharacta, 482, 483, 490, 493. -, skua, 496. , Larus, 488, 490. smithi, Procellaria, 126. Snares Brown-backed Petrel, 77. Snowbird or Snowy Petrel, 174. Snowy Albatros, 255. Petrel or Snowbird, 174. Soft-plumaged Petrel, 157. solanderi, Macronectes giganteus, 189. , (Estrelata, 141. , Pseudoprion turtur, 220. solandri, ASstrelata, 141. , Fulmarus, 141. , CEstrelata, 141, 144, 148. , Procellaria, 141, 143, 159. , Pterodroma, 141, 145, 146, 147, 148, 158. Sohtary Petrel, 104. somalensis. Sterna, 394. Sombre Petrel, 92. Sooty Albatros, 298. Petrel, 99. sordida, Procellaria, 7, 162. Southern Silver Gull, 466. spadicea, Diomedea, 250, 251. Spectacled Petrel, 108. sphenura, Procellaria, 78. sphenurus, Puffinus, 78, 80, 81, 82, 85, 86, 87, 88, 91. , Thiellus, 78. steadi, Procellaria cequinoctialis, 114, 107, 112 113. Stercorarius, 500, 489, 497, 502. antarcticus, 484, 491. catarrhactes, 484, 490, 491. crepidatus, 501, 503. longicaudus, 482, 500. A maccormicki, 491. \ parasiticus, 501, 482, 500. pomarinus, 482, 490, 498. pomatorhinus, 498. Sterna, 356, 306, 307, 308, 309, 388, 395, 403. cenothetus, 399. affinis, 354, 355. alba, 439, 441. 523 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. Sterna, ancestheta, 397, 399. ancesthetica, 399. ■ anmtheta, 399. ■ — — anoethetvs, 399, 400, 401. — ancethetus, 397. anasthcBtus, 399. anglica, 317, 326, 327, 329, 330, 338. anosthcBta, 399. • anostheta, 399. antarctica, 401. hengalensis, 354. bergii, 340, 342, 344, 345, 348, 349. bergii, 345. • boreotis, 345, 346. cristata, 340. gwendolence, 350. ■ pelecanoides, 345, 348. poliocerca, 345. velox, 345. bethunei, 368. Candida, 439, 441, 442. cantiaca, 325, 326, 338. caspia, 307, 308, 325, 326, 333, 334, 335, 337, 343, 346. caspt/Otdes, 334, 343, 345* cerulea, 428. cinerea, 426. cristata, 343, 346. ■ delamotta, 318, 319, 321. • dougalli, 325, 356, 357, 358, 360, 361, 372, 389. arideensis, 364. bangsi, 364. gracilis, 358, 357, 361, 363, 365. korustes, 364. frontalis, 358, 361, 362, 366, 367, 368, 369. fuliginosa, 389, 393, 401, 402. fuligula, 402. fuscata, 389, 393. ■ crissalis, 394. serrata, 390. gouldii, 379, 394. gracilis, 323, 358, 360, 361, 362, 363, 364. grisea>, 312, 313. guttata, 394. hirundo, 309, 356. ■ hybrida, 318, 319, 321. infuscata, 395. • innotata, 318, 321. javanica, 318, 320. leucocapilla, 417. leucopareia, 318, 319. leucoptera, 314. longirostris, 344, 346. • luctuosa, 394. lunata, 403. macrotarsa, 317, 327. macroura, 360. media, 352, 353, 355, megarhynchos, 336, 337. Sterna, melanauchen, 370, 371. rmlanoptera, 401, 403. melanorhyncJia, 358, 361, 366, 367, 368. — — melanura, 372, 389. meridionalis, 326, 330. metopoleucos, 377. minuta, 376, 377, 379, 380. minuta, 380. nereis, 383, 384, 386. horni, 386. nereis, 383. nigra, 314, 420. nigrifrons, 358, 361, 365. nilotica, 318, 319, 326, 329. nilotica, 330. nivea, 440, 443. nov(B-}iollandioe, 340, 345, 347, 397, 400. nuttalii, 330. paxifica, 440. panaya, 400, 401, 402. panayensis, 400, 401, 402. • paradisea, 360. pelecanoides, 343, 348. philippensis, 411. philippina, 411. pileata, 400, 408. poliocerca, 340, 342, 344, 345, 349, 354. • pusilla, 377, 379. rectirostris, 344, 345. risoria, 330. saundersi, 376, 377, 378, 379, 380. schillingii, 336, 337. semi-alba, 439. senex, 410. serrata, 389. similis, 318, 321. ■ sinensis, 376, 377, 379. placens, 375. somalensis, 394. stolida, 400, 408, 420. striata, 365, 366, 367, 368. bethunei, 369. christopheri, 358, 361. incerta, 366, 368, 369. melanorhyncha, 366, 357, 369. striata, 368, 369. sumatrana, 371, 378. kempi, 370, 357, 365, 372. / sumatrana, 372. • surinamensis, 310. tenuirostris, 415. tereticollis, 428. teretirostris, 428, 430. torresii, 352. ■ — — tschegrava, 308, 325, 335, 336. leptorhyncha, 337. ■ unicolor, 408, 409. velox, 338, 344, 366, 367, 369. zimmermanni, 355. {Onychoprion) serrata, 389. 524 INDEX / Sternula, 373, 308, 369, 395. • albifrons, 373. — — albifrons, 380. placens, 375, 374, 381, 382. pusilla, 381. saundersi, 380. sinensis, 380. — — tormenti, 382, 381. inconspicvAX, 375, 378. korustes, 364. — — melanorhyneha, 368. nereis, 376, 383, 385. exsul, 385. horni, 386, 374, 383, 385. nereis, 383, 374, 385, 386. novella, 379, 380. orientalis, 379. placens, 375, 376, 378. sinensis, 375, 376, 378. Stolida, 404. cinerea, 429, 430, 431. stolida. Sterna, 400, 408, 420. stolidus, Anous, 391, 404, 405, 410, 411, 412, 415. , stolidus, 410. Storm-Petrel, Australian Yellow-webbed, 11, — — - , Black-bellied, 33. , East Australian WMte-faced, 26. — — , Grey-backed, 15. , West Australian White-faced, 21. — , White-beUied, 37. strenua, Hydroprogne tschegrava, 333, 337, 343. , Sylochelidon, 333. strenuus, Sylochelidon, 333, 336. , Thalasseus tschegrava, 333. striata. Sterna, 365, 366, 367, 368. , striata, 368, 369. Striated Tern, 368. stricklandi, Puffinus, 97. • , griseus, 96. suhalaris, Puffinus, 58, 69. , Iherminieri, 70. — ■ — , — — obscurus, 58. Sula cyanops, 439. sumatrana. Sterna, 371, 378. , sumatrana, 372. superciliosus, Anous, 409, 410. surinamensis. Sterna, 310. swinhoei, Hydrochelidon leucopareia, 320, 321. Sylochelidon, 325, 326, 332. balthica, 336, 337. caspia, 333. poliocerca, 340. strenua, 333. strenuus, 333, 336. Tasmanian Silver Gull, 462. tenebrosus, Puffinus, 56, 57, 58, 61, 65, 68, 70. tenuirostris, Anous, 414, 422. , Fulmarus, 126. , Micranous, 412, 414. tenuirostris, Nectris, 97. , Priocella, 126. , Procellaria, 126. — — Puffinus, 87, 88, 99, 100, 102, 103, 105. , tenuirostris, 83. — — , Sterna, 415. ,' Thalassoeca, 126, 127. , Thalassoica, 126. tephrodes, Anous, 429, 431. tereticollis, Procelsterna, 431. , Sterna, 428. teretirostris, Procelsterna cerulea, 431. , Sterna, 428. Tern, Australian Black-naped, 370. , Brown-winged, 397. , Caspian, 333. , Roseate, 358. — , White, 433. — , -fronted, 366. , Bass Strait, 340. , East Australian Whiskered, 316. , Eastern White-winged, 312. , Egyptian, 329. , Lesser Crested, 352. , Long-legged, 327. , Striated, 326. , Torres Strait, 348. , West Australian Whiskered, 823. , Westralian Roseate, 350. Ternlet, Eastern White-faced, 383. , -shafted, 375. , Western White-faced, 386. , ^ — shafted, 382. Thalasscea, 325, 356, 365. Thalassarche, 264, 241, 242, 243, 244, 266, 273, 275, 294, 295. culminata, 264. culminatus, 265. melanophris, 242, 264, 265, 268. belcheri, 271. — impavida, 267, 271, 279, richmondi, 272. Thalassea, 356. Thalasseus, 338, 308, 325, 326, 332, 365, 395. anglica, 325. bengalensis, 352. — arabicus, 355. bengalensis, 354. torresii, 352, 339. zimmermanni, 355. bergii, 351, 354. hakeri, 346. i\ bergii 346, 347. boreotis, 347. cristatus, 347, 351. edwardsi, 347. gwendolenm, 350, 339, 347, 351. ■ pelecanoides, 348, 338, 339, 347. poliocercus, 340, 339, 347, 348, 35L rectirostris, 347, 351. VOL. II. 525 THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. Thalasseus bergii velox, 346, 347. — — cantiam, 325. caspia, 325. — — cristatus, 348. — — imperator, 337. maxuriensis, 354, 355. niloticus macrotarsus, 327. — — pelecanoides, 348. poliocercus, 340, 348. sandvicensis, 326, 338. torresii, 352, 354. tschegrava strenuus, 333. — ^ — velox, 338. Thalassia, 356. Thalassiarche, 241, 264. culminata, 277. TJialassidroma, fregetta, 37. grallaria, 37. hypoleuca, 24, 27. - — leucogaster, 34, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41. marina, 21. melanogaster, 33, 34, 35. nereis, 15, 16. segeihi, 40. ■ tropica, 34, 35, 41. — — wilsoni, 11. Thalassipora, 388, 395, 396. • sp., 396. ■ injuscata, 395. ■ panaya, 396. Thalassites melanotis, 336, 337. Thalassoeca glacialina, 127. glacialoides, 126. ■ tenuirostris, 126, 127. {Priocella) glacialoides, 127. Thalassogeron, 273, 241, 242, 243, 264, 266, 274, 275, 278, 295. ■ hulleri, 278, 282. carteri, 284, 287, 288. cauta cauta, 289. cautus, 275, 289, 292, 293. cautus, 289, 274, 276, 282, 293. layardi, 282, 293. salvini, 282, 293. chlororJiyncJios, 271, 285. hassi, 281, 274, 276, 282. carteri, 287, 276. chlororliynchus, 281, 284, 287, 288. chrysostoma, 242, 278, 285, 286. chrysostoma, 280. • culminata, 280. culminatus, 277, 273, 274, 276. — harterti, 280. • mathewsi, 280. culminatus, 265, 271, 275, 277, 285. — ^ — desolationis, 285, eximius, 284, 285. layardi, 292. salvini, 292, 293. Thalassoica, 125, 190, 238. Thalassoica antarctica, 46, 190. ■ glacialoides, 126, polaris, 126. tenuirostris, 126. Theillus, 45. Thiellas, 45. Thiellus, 45. ■ chlororhynchus, 78. — ■ — levxomelas, 48. sphenurus, 78, Thyellas, 45. Thyello, 45. Thyellodroma, 45. Thyellus, 45. tormenti, Sternula alhifrons, 382, 381. torquata, Procellaria, 163. torresii, Pelecanopus, 352. , Sterna, 352. , Thalasseus, 352, 354. , hengalensis, 352, 339. Torres Strait Tern, 348. Tribonyx ventralis, 318. tridactyla, Procellaria, 234, 236. tristis, Procellaria, 92, 94, 159. , Puffinus, 92, 97. tropica, Fregetta, 31, 35, 42, 44. ■ , tropica, 35. , Procellaria, 34. , Thalassidroma, 34, 35, 41. tschegrava, Hydroprogne, 326, 332. • , tschegrava, 337. , Sterna, 308, 325, 335, 336. tubulata, Fregetta, 42. tunneyi, Puffinus assimilis, 71, 47, 50, 69. turtur. Prion, 168, 200, 201, 202, 217, 218, 219, 220, 222, 224, 225, 226, 229. , Procellaria, 7, 217, 218, 219, 228, 229, 230. ■ , Pseudoprion, 215, 217, 227. • , turtur, 217, 220, 221. typica, Halobcena, 201, 217, 219. typicus. Prion turtur, 219. typus, Adamastor, 119, 124. unicolor, Anous stolidus, 411. , Procellaria, 159. , Sterna, 408, 409. urbica, Chelidon, 12. urinatrix, Haladroma, 234. , Pelecanoides, 232, 233, 234, 237, 238, 239. , urinatrix, 234, 238. , Procellaria, 234, 236. , Puffinuria, 234. vagabunda, Procellaria, 7, 8, 155. velificans, Procellaria, 7, 161. velox, CooMlaria, 166, 171. TPailfVYiftvotJi 171 ’ Procellaria, 7, 8, 166, 167, 168, 169, 170, 219, 225. 526 INDEX. vdox, Bhantistes, 171. , Sterna, 338, 344, 366, 367, 369. • , bergii, 345. , Thalasseus, 338. , hergii, 346, 347. ventralis, Tribonyx, 318. Viralva, 310. indica, 318, 319. vittata, Pachyptila, 204. , Prion, 204. , Procellaria, 198, 204, 206, 208, 209. vittatus. Prion, 199, 200, 201, 202, 204, 209, 210, 211, 212, 213, 222, 230. , vittatus, 204, 203, 211, 212, 213. , Procellaria, 198. West Australian Whiskered Tern, 323. White-faced Storm-Petrel, 21, Western Grey-faced Petrel, 139, Pacific Gull, 480. Silver Gull, 468. Wedge-tailed Petrel, 78. White-faced Ternlet, 386. shafted Ternlet, 382. Yellow-nosed MoUymawk, 287. Westralian Allied Petrel, 71. Crested Tern, 350. White-bellied Storm-Petrel, 37. -breasted Petrel, 144, 149, 151. -fronted Petrel, 48. -winged Petrel, 171. wilsoni, Gaiharacta, maccormichi, 495, 496. , Macronectes giganteus, 187. , Oceanites oceanicus, 14. , Procellaria, 14. , Thalassidrorm, 11. worcesteri, Megalopterus minutus, 423. , Micranous, 422. Xema, 338, 444. jamesonii,^ 459, 462, 466. novce-hollandice, 448, 462. yelkouan, Puffinus, 54. Yellow-billed Albatros, 278. -nosed Albatros, 282. Zalias, 45. chlororhynchus, 78. Zaprium, 194, 219. zimmermanni, Sterna, 355. , Thalasseus bengalensis, 355. Zosterops lateralis, 486. 627 SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION LIBRARIES III 1 III 3 90 00 ■ 571 2250