18S6.] PKOCEEUINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 95 



ON iESTRELATA SANDWICHENSIS Ridgw. 

 Sty UOISEICT KIDCiWAV. 



In " Water Birds of Nortli Anicrica," vol. ii, p. 395, I referred, with 

 much doubt, to ^Ufitrelata hcvsitata (KuLl), a Petrel from the Sandwich 

 Ishiuds (No. G1259, U. S. Nat. Mus. ; V. Knudsen, coll.), wliich appeared 

 to agree better in its characters with that species than with any other, 

 but whose characters differed iu so many respects from those ascribed 

 to ^. Juvsitata that I was led to suggest its probable specific distinct- 

 ness, and propose for it the name yj&\ mndwichenHls. 



Through the kindness of Mr. George N. Lawrence I have been able 

 to make a direct comparison between this specimen and the type of that 

 gentleman's '■'Proccllaria mcruUonalis^'''' generally conceded to be the 

 same as P. Iia'sitata Kuhl, and have found them to be very distinct 

 from one another, as the following comparative diagnoses will serve to 

 show : 



^. hccsitafa. White of the neck almost meeting behind (sometimes 

 completely confluent) ; upper tail-coverts and basal half, or more, of tail 

 white; middle rectrices broad and rounded at tips. Culmen, 1.20; 

 depth of bill through base, .60; through angle, .52; through middle 

 portion, .40: tarsus, 1.38; middle toe, 1.80; wing, 11.50: tail, 5.25, grad- 

 uated for 2.00. Hah. Atlantic Ocean. 



^. sandwichensis.* White of neck confined to the anterior half (or 

 less); upper tail-coverts duskj' for exposed portion, but abru|)tly white 

 beneath the surface; extreme base only of tail white; middle rectrices 

 narrow, almost acuminate at tips. Culmen, 1.22 ; depth of bill at base, 

 .57 ; through angle, .45 ; through middle portion, .40 ; tarsus, 1.35 ; mid- 

 dle toe, 1.55; wing, 11.70; tail, 5.80, graduated for 2.30. Hab. Pacific 

 Ocean (vicinity of Sandwich Islands). 



Additional diffefences which hold good, so far as comparison with the 

 type of '■'• Frocellaria mcridlonalis^^ is concerned, are the following : The 

 entire forehead is white, quite abruptly delined against the dusky of the 

 crown, which reaches no further forward than on a line with the ante- 

 rior angle of the eye. (In ^^ P.mencUonalis^' the forehead is spotted 

 with dusky medially quite to the base of the bill.) The bill is wholly 

 deep black (in ^^ meridionali.s^^ the terminal half has a decidedly horn- 

 whitish or glaucous cast). The sides are sparsely marked with rather 

 broad, irregular, or zigzag bars of slate color (immaculate white in 

 ^^ meridional Lh^'). 



There are so many i)oints of discrexjancj' between the Procellaria me- 

 ridionalis of Lawrence and P. hwsitafa Kuhl, as described and figured 



* (Esirelata sandwichensis UlPC.W., iu Water B. N. Am. ii. 1884; 395 (iu text). 



95 



