The Petrels. 



2 19 



THE LEVANTINE 



SHEARWATER. 



{Puffinus 



yelkoununs.) 



The Levantine Shearwater. 



This south- 

 ern repre- 

 sentative of 

 our Man .\ 

 Shea rwa t e r 

 differs in being sHghtly browner, 

 and in having the lower tlanks 

 dusky-brown, as well as the under 

 tail coverts. '1 he tarsus seems 

 to be a little longer than in P. 

 puffinus, and the middle toe is 

 1-95 inch in length instead of I'S 

 inch. 

 The home of this species is in the Mediterranean and Black Seas, but it 

 occasionall}- vvanders northward, as is shown by two specimens in the British 

 Museum, one from Plymouth and the other from Torbaj'. Nothing has been 

 recorded of its habits and nesting, but these are doubtless similar to those of our 

 own Man.x Shearwater. 



This is a smaller species than the Man.\ vShearwater, from 

 which it is distinguished b}' its pure white axillaries, and the 

 length of the wing, which does not exceed eight inches. A 

 specimen of this species, which is found in the tropical and 

 sub-tropical seas of the whole world, has been captured in England, near Bungay 

 in Suffolk, in the Spring of 185S. Another specimen, said to have been procured in 

 Devonshire, is in the British Museum. The single white ti;^g is laid in the hole of a 

 rock, and the nesting habitat of the species appears to be in the West Indian Islands. 

 A specimen of a small Shearwater was obtained off" Valentia 

 Harbour, in Ireland, in May, 1853, and has always been referred 



to P uff't II It s 



THE DUSKY 

 SHEARWATER. 

 (Puffinus obscurus.) 



THE ALLIED 



SHEARWATER. 



[Puffinus assimilis.) 



()l)scH r II s. Re- 

 cently, however, Mr. Howard 

 Saunders re-examined the bird in 

 question, and it turned out to belong 

 to P. nssiniilis, a species veiy similar 

 to P. obscurus, but smaller, and dis- 

 tinguished by the white shading to 

 the inner webs of the primaries, the 

 white under tail-coverts, and the 

 more decided white line on each side 

 of the neck. As the species breeds 

 in the Canaries, Madeira, and the 



The Allied Shearwater. 



