niRDS — PKOCELLARINAE — PUFFINUS MAJOR. 833 



Upper plumage Mack, umler surface white ; bill brownish black ; tail black, rounded ; 

 legs aud feet dull orauge ; the hind part of tibia, the outer toe and part of the next, 

 dark brown; webs pale l^- anglorttm. 



Upper plumage black, lower parts white ; bill pale blue black at tip ; tail black, short 

 and rounded ; tarsi and toes ou the outside bluish black, on the inside and webs pale 

 yellowish flesh color -P. obscurus. 



Upper plumage lead colored gray, below white ; bill yellowish, with the culmen and 

 groove on the under mandible black ; tail brownish black, graduated ; tarsi and feet 

 yellow, having the hind part of tarsi and outer toes brown. Type of Priofinus, Homb. 

 et Jacq P- cinereus. 



Ardenna, Reich. 



PUFFINUS MAJOR, (Faber.) 



The Greater Shearwater. 



Procellaria piijjinus, Linn. Sj-st. Nat I, 176C, 213. 

 Procellaria major, Faber, Prod. Isl. Orn. 182i2,56. 

 Puffmus major, Ron. Cona. Avium. 1855, 203. 



Puffinxa cinereus, Bon. Syn. 1828, No. 311.— Nutt. Man. II, 1834, 334.— Acd. Orn. Biog. Ill, 1835, 555.— Ib. 

 Birds Am. VII, 1844, 212 ; pi. cccclvi. 



Sp. Ch. — Mnlt. Head above, cheeks, occiput, a narrow line on the nape and upper part of back, brownish ash, paler on the 

 hind neck ; feathers of the back with lighter margins ; lower part of back dark brown ; upper tail coverts of the same color, 

 terminating broadly with grayish white ; primaries and tail brownish black, the former white on the basal part of the inner 

 webs ; secondaries and tertiaries dark brown, the secondaries white on their inner webs nearly to the end ; wing coverts ashy 

 brown with lighter margins ; under plumage pure white, the neck nearly encircled witli white ; sides of the neck anterior to 

 the bend of the wings marked with waving lines of pale ash ; some distinct spots on the side of the breast and sides of the body 

 at the junction of the tail brownish aah ; lower tail coverts dark ash, with light gray edgings ; bill yellowish green, the tipg 

 brownish black ; iris brown ; tarsi and feet livid yellow, with the outer toe and the hind part of the tarsus brownish ; claws 

 yellowish. Length about 20 inches; wing, 13j ; tail, 5 ; bill, 2j ; tarsus, 2^ ; middle toe and nail, 23. 



Ilab. — Atlantic ocean. Florida coast to the Gulf of St. Lawrence. 



This species has been described by most ornithological writers as the P. cinereus of Gmelin. 

 It is quite abundant off our northern coast, and may be known from P. anglorum by its 

 larger size and the light brown color of its upper plumage. 



List of specimens. 



Aagnst 23, 1838. 



105 b 



