ward from Sebastian Yiscaino Bay and were 

 within sight of the San Benitos Islands, 

 where this shearwater nests, scores came 

 close to the ship on Dec. 15. 



This is a "fluttering" shearwater, an apt 

 vernacular name originating in New Zealand 

 from where the topotypical race was described. 

 Other subspecies inhabit the Mediterranean 

 Sea. 



Puff inus puffinus auricularis . Townsend'6 

 shearwater. Distinguishable from the 

 preceding species chiefly by its style of 

 flight, rather than by the blacker shade of 

 its dorsal surface, this shearwater was seen, 

 in company with wedgetailed shearwaters, 

 near 09*1*6' N, 93°30' W, on Dec. 6. 



Townsend's shearwater is a weakly ma r ked 

 race of the European Manx shearwater. The 

 specific distribution is cosmopolitan. 



lerminieri subalaris . Galapagos 

 shearwater. One of the surprises of the 

 cruise was the abundance and wide 

 distribution at sea of the Galapagos race 

 of Audubon's shearwater. As a species, 



srniinieri has world-wide tropical range. 

 The subspecifics character of subalaris 

 are strongly marked, notably in the 

 corneous nature of the nasal tubes. 

 Identification was confirmed by the 

 capture of an adult male with greatly en- 

 larged gonads at 11*13 • N, 90*55' W, on 

 Nov. 17. The position is south of the 

 Guatemala-Salvador boundary, nearly 150 

 miles from land. 



This was the only Procellari-form bird that 

 showed curiosity, or what might be called 

 a "playful" interest, in the vessel. On 

 many occasions single birds or groups 

 performed swift and repetitious flight 

 maneuvers around the craft. The Nov. 17 

 example was one of the two that flew close 

 to the bulwarks of Strang- r many times at 

 dizzying speed, enabling me to make several 

 not too successful photographs. 



Thereafter we saw these small shearwaters 

 on many dates along our course. They were 

 abundant off the coast of western Panama on 

 Nov. 2U-25. During the night of Nov. 30, 



when we were bound outward through the Gulf 

 of Panama toward Cape Mala, hundreds of them 

 fluttered about within range of the ship's 

 lights, and after dawn of Dec. 1 seven of the 

 birds in a compact group flew up from astern 

 many times, swept to within arm's reach of the 

 rail, and then swung off widely to drop astern 

 and come up again. 



We last saw this species near Cocos Island, 

 and in waters toward the NW, Dec. 1-6. The 

 northernmost records were in the neighborhood 

 of 11* N. Although the Galapagos Islands are 

 still the only known breeding grounds, it is 

 quite possible that this shearwater may prove 

 to be also a resident of Cocos Island. 



Dr. Bell Shimada and other members of the 

 scientific group on Stranger informed me that 

 on an earlier cruise of the M/v Spencer F. Baird 

 in these same waters during late November or 

 early December large numbers of shearwaters, 

 which they believed to be this form, had 

 descended on the decks, sung in pairs, and even 

 copulated. The men had to toss the birds into 

 the air to get rid of them. The identification 

 is almost assuredly correct because no other 

 shearwater of the area would be at the peak of 

 its reproductive cycle at this season. Other 

 instances are known in which petrels in a 

 breeding state have adopted ships as convenient 

 "islands". 



Puffinus pacif icus chlororhynchus . Wedge- 

 tailed shearwater. Or. the American side of the 

 Pacific this petrel nests only at the 

 Revillagigedo Islands. It ranges southward 

 through the warm ocean waters to the Pacific 

 coast of Colombia, where I collected specimens 

 on the Askoy Expedition. 



Aboard the Stranger the following was observed 

 on three dates: a flock on the morning of 

 Nov. 17, near 11°N, 90°55' W; many, all of the 

 white-breasted phase, on Dec. 6, at 09°^' N, 

 93°30' Wj and birds of both dark and light- 

 breasted plumage phases on Dec . 16, off northern 

 Baja California (surface water circa 20°C). 

 Now and then wedge-tails crossed the bow of the 

 ship at close range, but never when collecting 

 proved possible. 



Oceacodroma tethys kelsalli . Galapagos storm 

 petrel. Seen frequently throughout the cruise 

 and represented by six specimens in the 



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