204 HHITISH BIRDS. [vol. ix 



it I thought it nnist l)e some form of Puffinvs kuhlii. and 

 therefore sulmiitted it to Mr. Witherby for examination with 

 the result that it has proved to l)e an example of Puffinus 

 kuhlii honalis. J. B. XrcHOLS. 



The })ird recorded above by Mr. J. B. >«'icliols has been 

 carefully examined by Dr. Hartert and myself and we find 

 that it is undoubtedly the same as the form of Puffinus kuhlii 

 inhabiting the Canary Islands, Salvages, Madeira and Azores. 

 As compared to the Mediterranean Great Shearwater (Pu/finus 

 kuhlii kuhlii) this bird has a much larger and more robust 

 bill, and the white on the inner A\'ebs of the outer primaries 

 does not extend beyond the luider wing-coverts as in 

 P. k. kuhlii, though this latter character is not c[uite invariable. 



The North Atlantic form has, since 1905, when Dr. Hartert 

 called attention to its differences, been called P. k. favirostris 

 Gould, but Mr. D: A. Bannerman has recently pointed out 

 {Bull B.O.C., XXXV., pp. 118-121) that Gould's type was 

 obtained south of the Cape of Good Hope and he found 

 that birds from Kerguelen-land, which he considered typical 

 fuvirostris, differed from the North Atlantic bird in the 

 size and shape of the bill and length of wing. So far as the 

 character of the bill is concerned, we think Mr. Banneiinan 

 is right, as in the few specimens of typical P. k. flarirostris 

 available it is distinctly more decurved along the culmen 

 and more slender than in the North Atlantic form, which 

 always has a very robust bill with the ridge of the culmen 

 comparatively straight. The wing measurements, however, 

 do not appear to differ much. As has been ]iointed out by 

 Mr. Bannerman, and ]ireviously by Dr. Hartert. it is 

 important in this Shearwater to compare males with males 

 and females with females, as the males are larger, especially 

 in the l)ill. 



Mr. Bannerman named the bird breeding in the North 

 Atlantic Islands Puffinus kuhlii fortunalus, but in Dr. Hartert's 

 opinion it cannot be differentiated from the Great Shearwater 

 which occurs off the coast of Eastern North America from 

 August to November, but M'hose breeding-]ilace is not knoAvn. 

 This bird Mas named Pufjiu,us honnlis by Cory, in 1881. I 

 have very carefully compared all the specimens in the British 

 Museum collection and in my opiin'on Dr. Hartert's contention 

 is perfectly justified, as the American birtls appear to be 

 exactly similar to those breeding in the Canary Islands, 

 Madeira and Azores. There can be little doubt that they 

 (or some of them) migrate to American shores as winter 

 visitors. The name, therefore, of the form breeding in the 



