26 ALY^XAy-DKR, Neiv Records for Soiith-Wesfern Australia. [,^f'T,i,. 



Australia has been preserved: — "Mr. Gilbert states that he saw 

 it flying about Rottnest Island, on the western coast. The latter 

 observation would seem to apply to the bird at present called 

 Th. c. carteri, Rothschild, and known by the unique specimen 

 only. Whether the adult of Th. c. carteri will differ from the 

 adult of Th. c. bassi is at present unknown, but the probability 

 is in the affirmative." The specimen before me is an immature 

 male in full adult plumage, and it agrees with the description of 

 Thalassogeron chlororhynchns bassi (Mathews), except that there 

 are no patches of grey on the side of the breast. There is a slight 

 streak in front of the eye. The question then arises whether this 

 is the adult form of Dioniedea carteri (Rothschild). That species 

 was characterized chiefly by the bill being entirely black, but Mr. 

 Mathews has shown, I think, that young birds may attain the 

 adult plumage and continue to retain the immature colouration 

 of the bill. Other points noted by Rothschild are that the face 

 and sides of the head are white, without the grey tinge of T. 

 chlororhynchns, but it appears that T. c. bassi (Mathews) is similar 

 in this respect. 



From my observations, I should suppose that the black-billed 

 bird is much commoner on the west coast in winter than the 

 yellow-nosed form. I had considerable opportunity for observing 

 them when on the Federal trawler Endeavour in May and June, 

 1912, between Fremantle and Geraldton, and I never saw a 

 yellow-nosed specimen. Whenever the trawl was brought to the 

 surface the Mollymawks assembled and greedily devoured the 

 small fish which escaped from the net. It would be very inter- 

 esting to know whether a similar preponderance of black-billed 

 forms is met with in Eastern Australian waters. If not, it would 

 point to the conclusion that Dioniedea carteri is a distinct species. 

 The bill in the present specimen agrees precisely with that of 

 T. c. bassi in colouration, and the feet and legs are flesh-coloured, 

 with traces of blue-grey on the legs and toes. There is a second 

 specimen in the collection which came to the Museum from the 

 Perth Zoological Gardens, to which it was presented by the 

 captain of a ship. It agrees with the specimen described in every 

 feature, except that there are brownish streaks on the breast and 

 that the yellow portion of the bill is decidedly greenish. It is also 

 a young male, and it seems very probable that it also was obtained 

 on the west coast. 



Heteroprion desolatus (Gmelin). AustraUan Dove-Prion. 



A female specimen of this bird is in the collection. It was 

 picked up on the North Beach, the nearest point to Perth on the 

 coast, in May, 1912, by Master Jack Brown. Under the name 

 of Prion banksi (Gould), the range of this species is given in the 

 " Check-Hst " as " Seas of S. Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, 

 S. and W. Austraha, Tasmania." Mr. Mathews, in his " Birds 

 of Australia," gives the range of Heteroprion desolatus mattingleyi 

 as " Australian seas," but he remarks that " it appears almost 



