120 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



discovered a nesting colony at Preservation Inlet, and, according to Buller, the 

 species has also been found on the Auckland Islands. 



During our cruise across the north Pacific Ocean, when 200 miles 

 or more from the nearest land and long before we reached the 

 vicinity of the Aleutian chain, we frequently saw day after day a 

 number of large light colored petrels, which we were firmly con- 

 vinced were of this species, for which we had been cautioned to be 

 on the lookout. They did not, as a rule, come very near the ship, 

 but, on June 2 and 3, 1911, in rough and stormy weather, they 

 were fairly common and several times came within gunshot range, 

 near enough for us to identify them as Pterodroma. Mr. Beck and 

 I tried to persuade the captain to lower a boat and let us try to 

 collect some, but perhaps he was wise in refusing to do so for the 

 sea was too rough for a small boat; we might have shot some from 

 the ship but we could not have secured them. I should not have 

 felt so confident of the correctness of our identification, except for 

 an incident which followed. We subsequently saw a few specimens 

 of apparently the same species in the vicinity of the Aleutian Islands, 

 and on June 17, 1911, Mr. RoUo H. Beck and I settled to our own 

 satisfaction the identity of the Pterodroma we had been seeing. We 

 were out near the entrance to Kiska Harbor in a small boat collecting 

 auklets; the sea was smooth but there was a dense fog and birds of 

 various kinds were very tame ; I saw a large bird, dimly outlined in 

 the fog, flying by Mr. Beck's end of the boat and told him to shoot it ; 

 we were both surprised on picking it up to see that it was evidently 

 a Peale petrel. If I had realized what it was I might have kept 

 still and shot it myself, in which case it would now be in the 

 United States National Museum collection or my own, instead of 

 Dr. Leonard C. Sanford's, where it is at present. 



DISTRIBUTION. 



Breeding range. — New Zealand seas. Known to breed only at 

 Preservation Inlet, New Zealand. 



Range. — Widely extended over the Pacific Ocean, from the Ant- 

 arctic regions to the Aleutian Islands (Kiska Island) and Alaska 

 (Kodiak Island and Sitka). 



Casual record. — Accidental in New York (Mount Morris, April, 

 1880). 



Egg dates. — Preservation Inlet : Five records, December 24 to 

 January 7. 



BULWERIA BULWERI (Jardine and Selby). 

 BULWER PETREL. 



HABITS. 



This large dusky petrel enjoys a wide distribution in both hemi- 

 spheres, for it ranges over the north temperate zones of the Atlantic 



