150 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF 



ciea of sE-trdata, closely allied to mollis but permanently differing from it by 

 those characters laid down by Dr. Schlegel, and of which the specimen in the 

 Museum of the Pays-Bas is an example, then the synonyms adduced at the 

 head of this article are most properly to be referred to this species ; but other- 

 wise they must be considered as appertaining to mollis. 



yEstrelata mollis (Gould) Coues. 



> PrdceUaria melanopus,* Gin. S. N. i. p. 562. Lath. Syn. iii. p. 409, No. 12. 

 Vieill. Nouv. Diet. xxvi. 1S17, p. 420. ? Puffinus melanopus Steph. 

 Zool. xiii. p. 231. 

 Procellaria inexpectata, Forster, Descr. Anim. ed Licht. 1844, p. 204, No. 177. 

 Not JEstrelata inexpectata of Bp. Consp. which rather appertains to the 

 " grisea Kuhl " of this paper. 

 Procellaria mollis, Gould, Ann. et Mag. N. H. 1S44, xiii. p. 363. Id. Birds 

 Aust. vii. pi. 50. Cassin U. S. Ex. Exped. Oruith. 1858, 410. Schle- 

 gel, Mon. Proc. Mus. Pays-Bas, 1863, p. 11. And of later authors gene- 

 rally. 

 Cookilaria mollis. Bonaparte, C. A. 1855, ii. p. 190. 

 Rhantistes mollis, Bonaparte, Com|/tes Rendus, xiii. 1856, p. 768. 

 :' Procellaria gularis,] Peale, Zool. U. S. Expl. Exped. 1848, p. 299. 

 '.'Procellaria Phillipii, G. R. Gray, Ibis, 1862, iv. p. 246. 

 ? P. crepidata ; P sandaliata, Solander, according to 3p. 

 Habitat. South Pacific and Antarctic Oceans. 



Form.% Bill as long or slightly less than the tarsus, nearly equal to the 

 middle toe without its claw ; compressed, a little higher than broad at the 

 base. In the details of its shape it does- not differ from the typical species of 

 JEstrelata. The proportions of tarsus and toes are also as in other species of 

 the genus. The tail is only moderately rounded, instead of being decidedly 

 cuneate with some projection of the median rectrices, as in jE. haisitata ; its 

 length is contained in that of the wing from the carpal joint slightly more 

 than twice. The folded wings reach considerably beyond the tail. The spe- 

 cies in size and general contour of the body approaches Daption capensis. 



I do not notice that the plumage is softer, fuller, or more mollipilose than 

 iu some other species of the genus. 



Color. There is a transocular black fascia, the greater part of. which lies 

 below the eye. The clear ashy gray of the upper parts extends over the ver- 

 tex, becoming more or less mixed with white on the front and cheeks, accord- 

 ing to age. Most of the feathers of the back have slightly paler margins. The 

 primaries are nearly concolor in all their extent ; (compare description of No. 

 15,706 Smithsonian Collection, infra ;) being only a little duller or more fuli- 

 ginous on their inner webs. The under surface of the wing is chiefly dusky 

 brownish ; but there is an illy-defined and interrupted area of whitish, par- 

 ticularly towards the bases of the primaries. The upper tail coverts and tail 

 are chiefly concolor with the back ; but some of the outer rectrices are marbled 

 with white. 



In the majority of specimens the color of the back extends on the sides of 

 the breast for a considerable distance; sometimes quite across the middle: 

 hut in very adult birds most of the breast is pure white. The color is pro- 

 duced by a clouding of the tips only of the feathers, their basal portions be- 



* The following is Gmeliri's diagnosis: "13 pollices longa. Vertex, cauda rotundata, et alae 

 totse obscure 1 nigrse; dorsum ex atro paulisper caaesceos ; membranu digitos connectens parte sui 

 ulterior*!, digitorumque articuli, nigri. 



\ I eale, as above. "Above cinereous brown; tail and breast plumbeous; throat, under wing 

 c<>verts and under tail coverts white. Primaries and spurious quills nearly black with brown 

 shafts; tail light beneath : two outer feathers mottled with white, * * whole under plumage 

 white at the ro ts; bill blue-black. Length 13; extent 34; wing from carpal joint 10|; bill one 

 inch; tarsi 1-20; outer toe 1-60 ; tail 3"40." 



J Description from typical examples, received from Mr. Gould, in the Philadelphia Academy. 



[May, 



