NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 121 



The following resume of the points under discussion is given for conve- 

 nience of reference : 



Proc. cinerea, Gm., Lath., Vie-ill. (1817) ; (nee auct. Europ. quae P. Kuhlii, 

 Boie ; nee auct. Anier. quae P. major, Faber) = Puffinus cinereus, Lawrence, 

 1S5S = Adamastor typus, Bp., 1856 = Proc. adamastor, Schlegel, 1803 = 

 Adamastoi cinereus, Coues, 1864. 



Proc. fkesitata, Forst., 1774 = Puff, hcesitata, Lawrence, 1853 = P. hoesitata, 

 Gould (sed non P. hcesitata, Kuhl, 1823, nee Temni. PL Color, quae species 

 Astrelata ) = P. cinereus, Gm. 



Dr. Lichtenstein, in his edition (1844) of Forster's Descriptiones Anima- 

 lium, says that the leucocephala of Forster (which is also the alba of Linn., 

 Gm., Lath.) " vix nisi Estate videtur differre a hcesitata Forster." It is well 

 known that the present species when young has the cinereous of the head 

 much lighter than that of the adults ; and Prof. Lichtenstein's surmise may 

 therefore be correct. As, however, there are several points of form, etc., in 

 which it seems to differ from hcesitata, and especially as Bonaparte has con- 

 sidered it a valid species of Astrelata, I shall follow the latter authority until 

 more definite data may be found upon the subject. 



Adamastor gelidus Coues ex Gmel. 



Procellaria gelida, Gmelin, Syst. Nat., i. pars 2, 1788, p. 564. Latham, 

 Index Ornith., ii. 1790, p. 822. Vieillot, Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat., 

 xxv. 1817, p. 419. (Haud dubie, opinor.) 

 Procellaria jlavirostris, Gould, Ann. et Mag. N. H, 1844, lma ser. xiii. 

 p. 365. Adamastor Jlavirostris, Bp. Consp. Av., 1856, ii. p. 188. 



Habitat. Antarctic Ocean. Cape of Good Hope. 



Sj). char. " Feathers of the head and all the upper surface brown, with 

 paler edges, fading into white on the tips of the upper tail coverts ; wings 

 and tail deep blackish brown ; all the under surface pure white ; the feathers 

 of the under surfaces of the shoulders with a streak of brown down the 

 centre ; bill yellow, passing into dark horn color at the tip ; tarsi and feet 

 fleshy white. 



"Length 19 inches ; bill 2| ; wing 15 ; tail 6^ ; tarsi 2| ; middle toe and 

 claw 3^.'' [Gould.] 



This is an exceedingly well marked species, liable to be confounded with 

 no other with which I am acquainted. That it is a species of Adamastor, 

 and entirely congeneric with A. cinereus, there can be, I think, no doubt. 

 The general coloration and the proportions as indicated by the measurements, 

 plainly evince this to be the case. Moreover, Mr. Gould himself remarks 

 that " this bird so nearly approaches in form the members of the genus Puf- 

 finus, that it is almost a question whether it should not be included in that 

 genus." A bird which could be placed by so accurate an ornithologist as 

 Mr. Gould in the genus Procellaria (/. e. among the Fulmareae), and which 

 yet exhibits such an affinity with the Puffineas, cannot but belong to the genus 

 Adamastor. 



Discussion of synonymy. I think there can be no reasonable doubt that the 

 old P. gelida of Gmelin, Latham and Vieillot is really the present species. 

 The habitat and the dimensions given by these authors is the same as that 

 assigned to Jlavirostris by Mr. Gould ; and their diagnoses are pertinent in 

 almost every particular. The expression " pedibus caeruleis" is indeed 

 quite inadmissible ; but a misinterpretation of the color of the feet of birds 

 of this family is extremely likely to occur when only dried skins are exa- 

 mined. Still I would hardly venture to supersede Gould's Jlavirostris by 

 Guielin'-- or Latham's gelida, were it not for the fuller and more perfect de- 

 scription of the species given by Vieillot in the work above quoted. An 

 examination of his description will show that it differs in no single conse- 



1864.] 



