LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 101 



DISTRIBUTION. 



Breeding range. — Warmer portions of Pacific and Indian Oceans. 

 In the western Indian Ocean (Seyclielle and Mascarene Islands) ; 

 in Australian seas (Lord Howe, Norfolk, Kermadec and Surprise 

 Islands, etc.) ; in the North Pacific Ocean (Bonin, Volcano, Marshall, 

 Marcus, Laysan, and Hawaiian Islands) ; and off the west coast of 

 Mexico, in the Revillagigedo Islands (San Benedicto Island). Some 

 of these have been split into subspecies of doubtful standing. Breed- 

 ing; grounds protected in Hawaiian Islands reservation. 



Range. — Does not extend far beyond the vicinity of the breed- 

 ing range, but includes a wide belt across the Central Pacific and 

 Indian Oceans from Central America to Asia, Australia, and Africa. 



Egg dates. — Islands in Australian seas: Six records, November 

 20 to December 12. Bonin Islands : Five records, June 8 to August. 

 San Benedicto Island: Two records. May 31 and July 26. Ha- 

 waiian Islands : One record, July 15. 



THYELLODROMA BULLERI (Salvin). 

 NEW ZEALAND SHEARWATER. 



HABITS. 



This little known species is one of the rarest of the shearwaters. 

 In 1907 Godman (1907) wrote that only "six examples are now 

 known, viz., the type in the British Museum, two in the Rothschild 

 Museum, one in the Buller Collection (now in the Carnegie Museum 

 at Pittsburgh, U. S. A.), one in the Colonial Museum at Wellington, 

 and one recorded by Mr. L. M. Loomis (1900). 



Mr. A. W. Anthony (1898) saw a bird off the coast of Lower 

 California, which he thought might be this species, but he did not 

 secure it. To Mr. Leverett M. Loomis (1900) belongs the honor 

 of definitely adding this species to the North American list by ac- 

 tually taking a specimen ; he describes the event as follows : 



On the 6th of November, about six miles west of Point Pinos, two white- 

 breasted sliearwaters dashed up to the boat — one a pink-footed, the other a 

 slender bird without conspicuous mottling on the sides of the head. The first 

 glance revealed that the bird was a stranger. It was only a few yards away 

 and I had to wait a moment for it to pass astern and get within proper range. A 

 successful shot bi'ought it down in perfect condition for a specimen. Dis- 

 section proved that it was a female, perhaps a young one, for the ova were 

 indistinct as in a bird that had never bred. 



Upon consulting the literature it was found that the specimen agreed with 

 the descriptions of Buller's shearwater, and was the fourth one known to 

 science. The bird had been secured in a region far remote from the supposed 

 habitat of the species, the types and third specimen having come from New 

 Zealand seas. It may confidently be expected that persistent observation off 

 Monterey will add to the list of pelagic wanderers from austral regions. 

 83969—22 8 



