118 PROCEEDINGS OP THE ACADEMY OP 



Majaqueus aequinoctiali-;, Reicli ex Linn. 



Procellaria aequinoctialis, Linn., S.N., ed. vi. (1758), Id. ed. xii., i., 1766, 

 p. 213. Gmel. S. N. i., p. 564. Lath. Ind. Orn. ii., 1790, p. 821, et 

 auctorum. P. acquinoxialis, Vieillot, Nouv. Diet, d' H. N., 1817, 

 XXV., p. 422. Prinjinus aegu'noctialis, Hombr., et Jacquin. Mnjaqueus 

 aeqiiin'ctialis, Reich, Svst. Av., pi. 20, fig. 340, 341. Bonaparte, Consp. 

 Avium, ii. 1856, p. 200. 

 Puffinus capitis Bntue-spei, Brisson, Ornith. vi. 1760, p. 137. Procellaria 

 nigra, Forster, Descr. Auim, ed. Licht. 1844, p. 26. " Procellaria fu- 

 liginosa, Solander. " 

 Habitat. — "In oceano Australi extra tropicum, (nunquam visa ad lineam 

 aequinoctialem, unde patet, in ipsum nomen ' aequinoctialis ' non quadrare.'" 

 (Fokstek). 



It is unnecessary to give any description of this long and well known 

 species. 



The white spots on the throat and cheeks appear to vary much with age. 

 In the perfectly adult bird the triangular gular spot is alone left ; that on the 

 cheeks, which is connected with it in immature birds, having disappeared. Very 

 young birds have the under parts almost wholly whitish, which afterwards 

 deepens into fuliginous. 



The present is one of the three species of Procellaridfe, (pelagica, aequinoc- 

 tialis, rnpnisis), known to Linuttus in 1758, and given in the sixth edition of 

 his Systema Natur*. Tlie name aequinoctialis apjiears, according to the obser- 

 vations of most naturalists, to be geographically erroneous ; and probably on 

 this account it was changed to nigra by Forster in 1772. But as it is impos- 

 sible to say exactly what are the limits of a Procellaridian's wanderings, it 

 would be hardly warrantable, I think, to change Linnaeus' appellation. 

 There are no points of synonymy which require discussion here. 



Majaqueus c'OKSPiciLLATus, Bp. ex Gould. 



Procellaria conspiciUata, Gould, Ann. et Mag. N. H., 1844, Ima. series 

 xiii., p. 362. Id. Birds Austr. vii. pi. 46. Schlegel, Mon. Proc. Mus. 

 Pays-Bas, 1883, p. 20. Majaqueus conspicillatus, Bouap. Consp. Av. 

 iL, 1S56, p. 200. 

 Procellaria larvata, Lesson. 



Habitat. — Australian Seas. 



This species, despite the peculiar markings of the head, which usually 

 characterize it, is, nevertheless, exceedingly closely allied to the preceding. 

 Examination of the large series in the Philadelphia Academy collection shows 

 the markings to be very variable as to their extent, and that they are some- 

 times hardly traceable at all. (Consult on this point Dr. Schlegel's mono- 

 graph, where the point is fully elucidated. ) In the majority of specimens 

 the submental white patch is more or less perfectly connected with a broad 

 white stripe, which, y^assing from the feathers on the side of the lower man- 

 dible, runs backwards on the side of the head, below the eye, curving up- 

 wards on the occiput, so as nearly to meet its fellow of the opposite side. In 

 addition to this, a bioad somewhat crescentic patch occupies the anterior por- 

 tion of the vertex, and descends on the cheeks in front of the eyes nearly or 

 quite to the commissure of the bill, leaving the features of the extreme 

 front black. The colors in every other respect are those of aequiiwctialis. 



More constant and reliable, though not so conspicuous, diagnostic features 

 ar(i to be found in other characters. The b rd is larger than aeqiiinociialis ; 

 its bill is a little longer and considerably more robust, and has the unguis of 

 both mandibles bluish, black instead of bright yidlow. The sides of the man- 

 dibles are also usually much darker in color. The wings and tail, on an aver- 

 age, exceed those of aequinoctialis by an inch or so, but the variation with 

 individuals of both species amounts to more than this. A corresponding 

 relative difference exists in the average length of the tarsus and toes. 



[April, 



