BIRDS — PROCELLAHINAE — PUFFINUS CINEEEUS. 835 



PUFFINUS OBSCURUS, Latham. 



The Dusky Shearwater. 



ProcfHorio obscura, Gm. Syst. Nat. I, 1788, S.W. 



Puffinua obscurvs. Lath. Iiid. Orn. II, 1790, 828.— Bonap. Syn. 1828, No. 313.— Ib. Consp. II, ISiJG, 204.— Ndtt. 

 Man. II, 1835,337.— Add. Orn. ISiog. Ill, 1835, G20.— Id. Birds Am. VII, 1814,210; pi. cccclviii. 

 " Puffinus I'herminitri, Lesson." 



Sp. Ch. — Upper part of head, back, and wings, black ; tail black ; under plumage white ; bill light blue, lilack at the end ; 

 iris bluish black : outside of tarsus and toes bluish black, inside and webs pale yellowish flesh color ; claws black. Length, II 

 inches ; wing, ~l ; bill, 1^^ ; tarsu.f, IJ. 



Hab, — Southern coast of the United States ; Gulf of Mexico. 



Specimen in Museum of Lyceum of Natural History, New York. 



In color it much resembles P. anglorum, but its very small size will distinguish it from that 

 and the other American species. 



Adamastor, Bonap. 

 PUFFINUS CINEREUS, Gmelin. 



The Cinereous Petrel. 



Procellaria dnerea, Gm. Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 563. 



Procellaria melaniira, Bonn. Encyc. Meth. 



Procellaria hccsitata, Forst. Descr. An. Licht. 1844. 



" Procellatui httsitata, Kuhl." Gould B. of Aust. pi. xlvii. 



Puffinus hasitttia, Lawr. Ann. Lye. Nat. Hist. N. Y. VI, 1853, 5. 



Mamaslor typus, Bon. Cons. Av. II, 1855, 187. 



Sp. Cii. — Sides of the head and entire upper plumage plumbeous gray, rather darker on the head ; wing coverts dark bluish 

 ash, (in my specimen margined with umber brown ;) primaries grayish black on the outer webs and ends of the inner ; rest of 

 the inner webs light brownish ash, becoming whitish at the base ; secondaries and tertiaries brownish ash ; inner lining of wings 

 and axillary fcatliers ashy brown ; tail brownish black ; throat and sides of the neck pale cinereous ; under plumage white ; 

 lower tail coverts ashy brown ; upper mandible black along the ridge, the sides and hooked end yellowish white ; under 

 mandible dusky yellow, with the lateral grooves black ; tarsi and feet yellow, with the exception of the hind part of the tarsi 

 and outer toes, which are brown ; claws yellow with dusky tips ; a short and strong spur in place of the hind toe. Rather more 

 robust in form than the other species of Puffinus ; bill also stronger, tail rounded, the two central feathers a litUe projeclino-. 



Length of skin, 19 inches ; wing, 13J ; bill, 2i ; tail, 5 ; tarsus, 2j ; outer toe and claw, 3. 



Hab. — Pacific ocean, off the California coast. 



When I described this species in the Annals Lye. Nat. Hist., referred to above, I was at a 

 loss for its true specific name, and do not feel fully assured that I am right in now affixing to it 

 Gmelin's name of cinereus. 



Mr. Gould states that it is very similar to cinereus, and Mr. Newton (Zoologist, 1852) 

 considers Mr. Gould's hcesitata to be Gmelin's species. Bonaparte has made it the typo of a 

 new genus, viz : Adamastor, and in Cons. Avium names it A. typus. In the same work, under 

 Fuffinus kuhlii, Boie," he says that Proc. cinerea, Gm., is certainly the same as his Adam, 

 typus; if such be the fact, Gmelin's name must be restored; and if it does not belong in 



