20 PROCELLARIID^. 



the Maories, who hold them over their mouths in order to 

 swallow the oily matter which is disgorged. The old birds 

 roost on shore, and are very noisy during the night. The 

 food of this species is probably of the same nature as that 

 of its congeners. 



In the bird from which the upper figure on p. 12 was taken, 

 the bill is dark brown, the base of the under mandible lighter 

 brown ; irides dark brown ; head and neck all round, and 

 the back, dark clove-brown ; scapulars and tertials the same, 

 but with lighter-coloured margins ; upper wing-coverts, 

 primaries, and tail-feathers blackish-brown ; under wing- 

 coverts, breast and belly greyish hair-brown, each feather 

 much darker in colour on the margin than over the centre ; 

 legs brown on the outer surface, but pale wood-brown on the 

 inner ; toes and their membranes yellowish-brown. The 

 whole length of the bird is seventeen inches and one-quarter ; 

 wing, from the anterior bend, twelve inches and three- 

 quarters ; whole length of the bill one inch and three- 

 quarters ; of the tubular portion half an inch ; of the tarsus 

 two inches ; of the middle toe, including the claw, two inches 

 and five-eighths. Like other Petrels, this species exhibits 

 considerable variation in size ; in Mr. Nelson's bird the 

 whole length is eighteen inches ; the wing from the carpal 

 joint thirteen and a quarter inches ; bill two inches ; tarsus 

 two and a half inches. 



