NATURAL SCIENCES OP PHlLADELrHIA. 121 



The following resume of the points under discussion is given for conve- 

 nience of reference : 



Pivc. ciiierra, Gm., Lath., Vieill. (1817) ; (nee auct. Europ. qu?3 P. Ktihlil, 

 Boie ; nee auct. Amer. quae P. major, Faber) = Piiffinas cinereus, Lawrence, 

 1S5S == Adamastor ti/pus, Bp., 1S5U =-- Proc. adamastor, Schlegel, 1863 = 

 Aiiainastor cinerciis, Coues, 1864. 



Proc. hd'nitata, Forst., 1774= Puff, hcpi^itata, Lawrence, 1853 = P. hcesiiata, 

 Gould (sed non P. /uvsitata, Kuhl, 1823, ne.c Temm. PL Color, qute species 

 AslrclaUi) ;= P. cinercus, Gm. 



Dr. Lichtenstein, in his edition (1844) of Forster's Descriptiones Anima- 

 lium, says that the hucocephala of Forster (which is also the alia of Linn., 

 Gm., Lath.) " vix uisi jetate videtiir difl'erre a hcssitntu Forster." It is well 

 known that the present species when young has the cinereous of tlie head 

 much li<;hter than that of the adults ; and Prof. Lichtenstein's surmise may 

 therefore be correct. As, however, there are several points of form, etc., in 

 which it seems to differ from hcEsitata, and especially as Bonaparte has con- 

 sidered it a valid species of Astrdata, I shall follow the latter authority until 

 more definite data may be found upon the subject. 



Adamastor gelidus Coues ex Gmel. 



Proccllaria qelida, Gmelin, Syst. Nat., i. pars 2, 1788, p. 564. Latham, 

 Index Ornith., ii. 1790, p. 822. Vieillot, Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat., 

 XXV. 1817, p. 419. (Hand dubie, opinor.) 

 Procellaria Jiuvuostris, Gould, Ann. et Mag. N. H, 1844, Ima ser. xiii. 

 p. 365. Adamastor Jlavirosiris,'iip. Consp. Av., 1856, ii. p. 188. 



Hnhitat. — Antarctic Ocean. Cape of Good Hope. 



Sp. char. — " Feathers of the heail and all the upper surface brown, with 

 paler edges, fading 'into white on the tips of the u^jper tail coverts ; wings 

 and tail deep blackish brown ; all the under surface pure white ; trie feathers 

 of the under surfaces of the shoulders with a streak o'' brown down the 

 centre ; bill yellow, passing into dark horn color at the tip ; tarsi and feet 

 fleshy white. 



"Length 19 inches ; bill 2;| ; wing 15 ; tail 6J ; tarsi 23 ; middle toe and 

 claw 3|." — [Gould.] 



This is an exceedingly well marked species, liable to be confounded with 

 no other with which I am acquainted. That it is a species of Adamastor, 

 and entirely congeneric with A. cinercus, there can be, I think, no doubt. 

 The general coloration and the proportions as indicated by the measvrrements, 

 plainly evince this to be the case. Moreover, Mr. Gould himself remarks 

 that " this bird so nearly approaches in form the members of the genus Puf- 

 Jiiius, that it is almost a question whether it should not be included in that 

 genus." A bird which could be placed by so accurate an ornithologi-t as 

 Mr. Gould in the genus Procellaria («. e. among the FulmareEe), and which 

 yet exhibits such an affinity with the Puffinese, cannot but belong to the genus 

 Adamastor. 



Discussion of synonymy. — I think there can be no reasonable doubt that the 

 old P. ijdida of Gmelin, La,tham and Vieillot is really the present species. 

 The habitat and the dimensions given by these authors is the same as that 

 assigned iojiavirostris by Mr. Gould ; and their diagnoses are pertinent in 

 almost every particular. The expression " pedibus cteruleis" is indeed 

 quite inadmissible ; but a misinterpretation of the color of the feet of birds 

 of this family is extremely likely to occur when only dried skins are exa- 

 mined. Still I would hardly venture to supersede Gould's flaoirostris by 

 Gmelin's or Latham's ijelida, were it not for tl>e fuller and more perfect de- 

 scription of the species given by Vieillot in the work above quoted. An 

 examination of his description will show that it differs in no single conse- 



1864.] 



