NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 155 



throat, breast, abdomen, crissum and nnder wing coverts white. Forster's 

 editor, Dr. Liclitenstein, merely says of it, ''inter P. allxr. Lath, varietates 

 latens." Mr. G. R. Gray recognizes it in the works above cited as a valid 

 species. An accurate definition of its characters, and an exact exposition of 

 its relationships, together with its synonyms, if it have any, are greatly to he 

 desired. 



Tbe bird is apparently some small species of ^Fstrdaia. All the points of 

 coloration given, especially those of ihe under wing coverts, are quite con- 

 sistent with the characters of yE. Cookii. But the dimensions as stated are 

 quite at variance with those presented by Cookii, those of the bill and feet 

 being much too large, while that of the tail is too small ; these dimensions 

 being rather those of a small Piiffintix, In view of these discrepancies, I pre- 

 fer to coincide with Mr. Gray's high authority in holding it, for the present 

 at least, as distinct ; especially as its reference to any described species 

 would be entirely upon supposition. 



^STRELATA DESOLATA (Gm.) BoU. 



Procellaria desolata, GmeKn, Syst. Nat. i. pars. ii. 1788, p. 562, No. 14. 

 Latham, Sjn. iii. part ii. 1785, p. 409, No. 14. Latham, Ind. Orn., 

 1790, ii. p. 825, No. . Kuhl, Mon. Proc. Beit. Zool , 1820, p. 143, 

 No. 13, lig. 7. Schlegel, Mon. Proc. Mus. Pays-Bas, 1863, p. 13 ; 

 and of authors generally. 

 Dnption desolatuin, Steph. Shaw's Gen. Zool. siii. 1825, p. 244. 

 j.E:iirdata desolata, Bonaparte, Consp. Av. ii. p. 189. Excl. var. roslrata. — Id. 



Comptes Rend. xlii. 1850, p. 768. 

 Procellaria /as data, Bonnasrti', (Gray, Cat. Bds. Pacif. Islands, 1859, p. 56>. 

 Habitat. — Island of Desolation. New Hebrides ; Kamtschatka, (Schlegel). 

 " Pr. ex virescente cinerea, subtus alba, remigibus caudaque rotundata 

 obscuris, hac apice fusoa. * * Rostrum nigrum apice flavicans ; tempora 

 ocularumque area alba. Summitas alarum fere nigra ; pedes fusci ; mem- 

 braua digitos connectens fiava ; ungues nigri ; alls expausis fascia obscura 

 per omne corpus ab apice ad apicem." [G'mc7/«.] 



" Teintes du plumage et des pieds absolument comme celles de la Procellaria 

 leiicoplera, mais d'une taille beaucoup moins forte, et les peunes caudales 

 comme les plumes sous-caudales dune teinte foncee jusqu'a leur base. 

 Aile 7 pouces 10 lignes ; pointe de I'aile 2 pouces 11 lignes. Queue : pennes 

 mitoyennes 3 pouces 5 lines ; pennes externes 2 pouces 8 lignes. Bee : 

 longeur 11 lignes; hauteur 3 lignes; largeur 4 lignes. Longueur du tube 

 nasal a-peu-pres de 2 lignes. Tarse 12 lignes. Doigt du mileau 12 lignes." 

 (Srid-gel.) 



This is a species with which I am itnacquainted through autopsy. It is 

 the smallest known component of the genus, being less than the little Coo^di. 

 I have copied Gmelin's original indication of the species ; and Dr. Schlegel's 

 measurements of a typical example, from the Temminckian collection ; the 

 individual upon which Dr. Kuhl, in l>-20, based his description. Both 

 Gmelin and Latham speak of some portion of the bill as being yellow ; which 

 was probably an accidental feature in one specimen ; for, as is well known, 

 all the yEstre/atas have black bills. 



This species is so small, and otherwise so well characterized, that it stands 

 in the enviable position of having hardly a synonym, although described in 

 the eighteenth century. I have not met with, or seen anywhere cited, a 

 single synonj-m, except that of Bonnjerte, above given. 



.^STKELATA MACROPTEKA (Smith) CoUeS. 



Procellaria macroptera, Smith, 111. S. Af. Zool. Bds., pi. 52. Gould, Ann. Mag. 

 N. H., 1844, xiii. p. 362. Gould, Introd, Bds. Aust., p. 116, No. 591. 

 Ossifraga macroptera, Reichenbaeh, Syst. Av. t. 21, fig. 786. 



1866.1 



