352 Letters, Announcements, ^c. 



Hill compressed^ uiuch higher than broad, black. Legs and 

 feet black. Upper parts of body with wings and tail sooty- 

 black, some of the wing-coverts with brownish tips ; under parts 

 dark brown. Forehead, cheeks, and chin silvery-grey, shading 

 off gradually into the black ; the grey does not reach to the eye. 

 Tail moderately long, cuneate; wings, when folded, reaching 

 about half an inch beyond the tip. 



Length 16"75 inches; wing from carpal joint 13*5; tail 5, 

 graduation 1*4; bill from gape 1*6, chord of culmen 1*2 ; height 

 at base '7, width •6; tarsus 1'6; middle toe and claw 2*6, 

 outer do. 2*5, inner do. 2"15. 



New-Zealand seas. Common. 



Obs. — On the back of the head of this specimen there are a 

 few hair-like feathers with white tips projecting beyond the 

 others. These may perhaps be down remaining from the young 

 bird. 



We have a species of Puffinus here which I have always put 

 down as P. assimilis, but which I now see, from a study of Dr. 

 Coues's papers on the Procellariida *, cannot be that species, 

 being much too large. It is evidently very close to P. obscurus, 

 and perhaps identical with it. Length 13*25 inches, bill from 

 gape 1*75, wing from carpal joint 8-25, tarsus 1*5. It is ex- 

 ceedingly numerous here, as is also Pelecanoides urinatrix. 



I would make some remarks on Dr. Coues's " Review" of the 

 Procellarmhe : — 



Fregetta melanogastra is not confined to the tropical parts of 

 the Pacific. It is found in the Atlantic, and extends down to 

 43° S. I have only seen it between 35° S. and 43° S. 



Ossifraga gigantea. I can scarcely believe that the lower 

 parts and neck of the adult are white ; the brown birds, like Mr. 

 Gould's figure (B. Austral, vii. pi. 45), are common ; those with 

 white in them rare. I have never yet seen one with white 

 below. 



^strelata luesitata. I saw two birds on April 21st, 1866, in 

 long. 15° 3' E. and lat. 35° 37' S., which I have no doubt were 

 of this species, the colours being so well marked. 



The Acclimatization Society here has a pair of Cassowaries 

 * [Cf. Ibis, 1867, p. 131.— Ed.] 



