150 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OP 



cies of ^strelata, closely allied to mollis but permanently differing from it by 

 those characters laid down by Dr. Schlegel, and of which the specimen in the 

 Museum of the Pays-Bas is an example, then the synonyms adduced at the 

 head of this article are most properly to be referred to this species ; but other- 

 wise they must be considered as appertaining to mollis. 



^STRELATA MOLLIS (Gould) CoUeS. 



? Procellaria melmwpus* Gm. S. N. i. p. 562. Lath. Syn. iii. p. 409, No. 12. 

 Vieill. Nouv. Diet. xxvi. 1817, p. 420. .^ Fnffinus melanopus Steph. 

 Zool. xiii. p. 231. 

 Procellaria inexpectata, Forster, Descr. Anim. ed Licht, 1844, p. 204, No. 177. 

 Not ^Estrelata inexpectata of Bp. Consp. which rather appertains to the 

 " f/risea Kuhl " of this paper. 

 Procellaria moHis, Gould, Ann. et Mag. N. H. 1844, xiii. p. 363. Id. Birds 

 Aust. vii. pi. 50. Cassin U. S. Ex. Exped. Ornith. 1858, 410. Schle- 

 gel, Mon. Proc. Mus. Pays-Bas, 1863, p. 11. — And of later authors gene- 

 rally. 

 Cookilaria mollis, Bonaparte, C. A. 1855, ii. p. 190. 

 Rhaniistes mollis, Bonaparte, Comptes Rendns, xiii. 1856, p. 768. 

 1^ Procellaria giilaris,] Peale, Zool. U. S. Expl. Exped. 1848, p. 299. 

 1 Procellaria Phillipii, G. R. Gray, Ibis, 1862, iv. p. 246. 

 ? P. crepidata ; P sundaliata, Solander, according to Bp. 

 Habitat. — South Pacific and Antarctic Oceans. 



Form.X Bill as long or slightly less than the tarsus, nearly equal to the 

 middle toe without its claw ; comjDressed, a little higher than broad at the 

 base. In the details of its shape it does not differ from tlie typical species of 

 ^■Estrf'Jata. The proportions of tarsus and toes are also as in otlier species of 

 the genus. The tail is only moderately rounded, instead of being decidedly 

 cuneate with some projection of the median rectrices, as in ^J'J. hu'sitata ; its 

 length is contained in that of the wing from the carpal joint slightly more 

 than twice. Tlie folded wings reach considerably beyond the tail. The spe- 

 cies in size and general contour of the body approaches Daj)tion capensis. 



I do not notice that the plumage is softer, fuller, or more mollipilose than 

 in some other species of the genus. 



Color. There is a transocular black fascia, the greater part of which lies 

 below the eye. The clear ashy gray of tho upper parts extends over the ver- 

 tex, becoming more or less mixed with white on the front and cheeks, accord- 

 ing to age. Most of the feathers of the back have slightly paler margins. The 

 primaries are nearly concolor in all their extent ; (compare description of No. 

 15,706 Smithsonian Collection, infra ;) being only a little duller or more fuli- 

 ginous on their inner webs. The under surface of the wing is cliielly dusky 

 brownish ; but there is an illy-defined and interrupted area of whitish, par- 

 ticularly towards the bases of the primaries. The iipper tail coverts and tail 

 are chiefly concolor with the back ; but some of the outer rectrices are marbled 

 with white. 



In the majority of specimens the color of the back extends on the sides of 

 the breast for a considerable distance; sometimes quite across the middle; 

 but in very adult birds most of the breast is pure wliite. The color is pro- 

 duced by a clouding of the tips only of the feathers, their basal portions be- 



* Tli« fuUowing is GniHlin's iliagiio.sis : "13 poUices longa. Vertex, Cauda rotundata, et alse 

 totiE obscurS nigi-ie; dor.snm ex atro paulisper caQesceus ; lueiiibrana digitos connectons ftxtta eui 

 ulteriorly digitoruiuiiue tirticuli, nigri. 



^ 1 eaU, as; above. '-Above ciiifrei»ns brown; tail and breast plnmbeous; throat, under wing 

 coverts aud under tail ccivcrts wbitc. Primaries and spiirinus quill.s nearly black with bmwn 

 pbafts ; tail light beneatli : two outer feathers mottled with white, * * whole under phimage 

 Vfhite at the ro tH ; bill blue-black. Length 13 ; extent 34; wing from carpal joint lO.i; bill one 

 inch; tar.si ]-2(); ouier too 1-60 ; tail 3-40." 



X Description from typical examples, received from Mr. Gould, in the Philadelphia Academy. 



[May, 



