Vol. XX 

 1920 



] AlexandI'K, .liis/i'u/i(Vi Studies of I' ithiuares. 21 



(tKNTS ProCi'llariii. 

 Tlic' birds of this .^cuus liax-c l)crii ,i;riu'rally known under the 

 name of Mnjaqui'iis, a yrnus created by Reichenbach m 1852, 

 with ProccUaria u'c/iiiiioctuilis, Linn., as type. This specic^s had, 

 however, in 1840 been desij^niated by (iray as the type of the 

 genus ProccUayia, so tliat Majaqiieiis is an absolute synonym. 



Sul)-genus Proc ell aria . 

 [Proccllaria (vquinoctialis (Linn.) White-chinned Petrel, Black 

 Fulmar, or Cape-Hen. 

 A specimen in the British Museum, supposed to have come 

 from Tasmania, is stated by Mathews to belong to the New 

 Zealand form of this species, which he has named P. ce. sleadi 

 (7, p. 114). There is, however, no authenticity to the record 

 [Emu, xviii., p. 84), and the species must be removed from the 

 list.] 



Pyoccllaria conspicillata ((iould). Spectacled Petrel or Black 

 Fulmar. 



Gould states that he observed this bird about St. Paul and 

 Amsterdam Islands, and thence to Tasmania. Subsequent writers 

 have generally not distinguished this species from P. (cquiunctialis, 

 but Iredale has shown its claim to specific distinction [Austral 

 Avian Record, ii., p. 21). There are several specimens in the 

 British Museum labelled " Australia," but none of them has 

 authentic data, and Mathews considers the species should be 

 removed from the list of Australian birds {Enm, xviii., p. 84). I 

 think, however, that Gould's definite statement is sufh,cient ground 

 for admitting that it occurs in Australian seas as now defined, 

 as the bird is quite unmistakable. 



ProccUciria parki)isoiii (Gray). Black Petrel or Parkinson Black 

 Fulmar. 



A specimen obtained near Sydney Heads in May, 1875, recorded 

 by Masters {Proc. Linn. Sac. N.S.W., 1878, p. 21), is the only 

 example of this species at present known from Australia. 



On two voyages across the Bight I have seen what I believe to 

 have been examples of this species. On the first occasion I only 

 saw two [Emit, xvii., p. 41), but on 23rd and 24th March, iqiq, 

 small black Petrels were the most plentiful birds about the R.M.S. 

 Karmala in the western part of the Bight, and, though I watched 

 them for hours through field-glasses, I could see no sign of any 

 white colour on the head. Macgillivray records seeing black 

 Petrels rather further to the southward on 20th, 21st, 22nd, and 

 23rd June, iqiq {Emu, xix., p. 174). 



Sub-genus Priofinus. 

 Procellaria cinerea (Gmelin). Grey or Brown Petrel or Shearwater. 

 Gould states that he obtained specimens of this species on his 

 voyage from Hobart to Sydney (i, p. 447), but Mathews states 

 that no skins collected by Gould on this occasion can be traced 

 {Emu, xviii., p. 84). Giglioli observed it in Bass Strait during the 



