"^"vm^] ALEXANDER, AustraUau Sea Birds. 265 



further west in the Indian Ocean. It is very similar in general 

 coloration to the Mediterranean Shearwater {Puffinus kuhli), 

 but can be distinguished by its dusky under wing-coverts and 

 under tail-coverts. The birds .seen in the Indian Ocean were 

 solitary individuals with a flight much like that of the Cape Hen, 

 and some of them followed the ship for hours, often coming 

 close to the stern. '^ In the South Atlantic I twice saw great flocks 

 of these birds — on March 30th, 1920, not far from the South 

 African coast, and on May 5th, 1921, off the coast of Rio Grande 

 do Sul, Brazil. These flocks had presumably collected to feed 

 on shoals of fish, and their behaviour was very different from 

 that of the solitary birds previously mentioned. They were fly- 

 ing low over the water, sometimes rising up and circling round 

 and at intervals shooting down diagonally and plunging beneath 

 the surface. On the second occasion many were also seen rest- 

 ing on the water. 



Pterodroma macroptera. Great-winged Petrel. — When travel- 

 ling west across the Indian Ocean in March, 1920, these birds 

 were only met with two days before reaching Durban ; but, on 

 the return journey in June and July, 1921, they were seen al- 

 most every day between 48 deg. E. and 101 deg. E., generally 

 solitary birds or two or three together. 



Pterodroma lessoni. White-headed Petrel. — Small numbers 

 of the.se birds were seen every day but one between 73 deg. E. 

 and 101 deg. E. on the same journey. The latter position is 

 within our limits. 



Pterodroma mollis. Soft-i)lumaged Petrel. I made the ac- 

 quaintance of this species in the South Atlantic on May 25th, 

 1921, in 30 deg. S., 24 deg. W. ; thence to Capetown they were 

 seen nearly every day. After leaving the Cape, we soon met 

 with them again, and they were among the most numerous of 

 the birds about the ship right across the Indian Ocean, several 

 being seen on the morning of July 6th — the date on which Rott- 

 nest was sighted at noon. They were extremely abundant in 

 48 deg. E. and 53 deg. E. on June 22nd and 23rd. The white 

 forehead, dark patches on the side of the neck, and dark band 

 from the wings across the middle of the slaty-grey back readily 

 distinguish the bird if a good view is obtained. 



On my arrival in Perth I was most interested to be told by 

 Mr. Glauert that he had captured a specimen with a broken wing 

 on the beach at Cottesloe on March 29th, 1920. He states that 

 it was an immature female, and that the stomach contamed the 

 eye of a cephalopod and beaks of the .same. The previous speci- 

 men captured at Cottesloe was then still in England, where I 

 had taken it to confirm my identification of the species and to 

 show it to Messrs. Mathews and Iredale. Judging from memory, 

 Mr. Glauert's bird is a good deal lighter blue-grey in general 

 coloration. Since then I have read with satisfaction Ferguson's 



