NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 177 



culmen C-50 to 7-50;) its great breadth and strength ; width and concavity of 

 the culmen; huge, strong unguis; peculiar convolutions of the naiicorn ;* 

 the outline of the i'eii\hiir.<, jxirticularli/ on the side of the under mandible ; and 

 the uniform, very light yellowish color. These points will always separate 

 from hraclnjura specimens of every variety of size and color. 



The D. spadicca of Gmelin and Latham is now universally conceded to be 

 based upon the young of this species. Latham's spadicca var. B.. however, I 

 consider to be the young hrachyura^ for reasons stated elsewhere. 



Mons. R. P. Lesson, holding that sjmdicea is distinct from exidans, commi's 

 the curious error of citing in support of his views a note sent him by Dr. 

 Garnot, which refers to I'hwbelria fuliginosa.-\ 



Diomedea adusti Tsch. seems hardly dilferent from this species, to which it is 

 unhesitatingly referred by Dr. Schlegel. 



Diomedea brachyura Temm. 



Diomedea spadicca, var. B., Lath. Gen. Hist. Birds , 1824, vol. x. p. 52, No. 2, 



var. B. ; (cites PI. Enl. 963). 

 Diomedea brachyura, Temminck, PI. color. No. 554, adult, (cites PI. Enlum. 

 963, as young.) Schlegel, Fn. Japon. pi. 6(3. (Young.) Gould B. 

 Aust. vii. pi. 39, and of authors generally : excluding " brachyura juv." 

 of Oassin and Lawrence, which is nigripes Audubon. 

 Diomedea epomophora, Lesson, Man. Orn. ii. 1828, p. 351. — Id. Traite d'Ornith., 

 1831, p. 009. Tschudi, Cab. Journ. f. Ornith., 1856, p. 156. Bp. C. A.\ 

 1855, ii. p. 185, [haud dubie] 

 " Diomedea chinensis, Temminck." 



Habitat. — Pacific Ocean at large. Abundant in the China Seas, and on the 

 west coast of North America to a quite high latitude. 



As is the case with oiher species, this one is readily diagnosticable by its 

 bill alone. This is of the same fundamental character as that of exulans ; but 

 it is smaller, weaker, more compressed, with a vastly less concave culmen, less 

 elevated, robust, and more attenuated and decurved unguis ; and there is a 

 very marked difference in the outline of the feathers around its base. 



Tbe frontal feathers embrace the bill in a nearly straight line as far as the 

 lateral sulcus; forming almost no concavity on the culmen. Along the base 

 of the latericorn, they run slightly obliquely backwards to the commissure. 

 On the sides of the lower mandible they extend but slightly further than on 

 the upper, having a scarcely convex outline. 



The bill is stout, being especially wide at its base, which is large and heavy. 

 Anterior to the nostrils, the culminicorn is compressed, and sometimes obso- 

 letely carinated; posterior to them, it very rapidly flattens and widens, and 

 extends so far downwards on either side that tiiere is allowed no projection of 

 the post ro-superior corner of the latericorn. The latter, with the exception 

 of this feature, and of a straighter commissural edge, is much as in exulans. 



The dertrum is comparatively small : hardly rises above the level of the 

 culmen; and is by no means so convex and hooked at the tip as in exulans. 

 The myxa is longer, narrower and more attenuated. 



The straightness of the commissure as compared with that of exulans; and 

 the different outline of the feathers on the side of the lower mandible, are the 

 main points wherein the outline of the ramiconis of the two species differ. 



The nostrils are as in exulans, but smaller. The variations in plumage of 



* Kxisting, but to a less extent, in some other species. 



t lipsson, iMan., 1828, ii. p 300. — 'Cette efpece" — spadicea — "a ete regariiee comme le jeune 

 &ge dn exulans ; mais nous ne pavtageons pas cette opinion. A ce sujet nous imprimerons tex- 

 tiiellenient ime note, que nous a remise M. le Uocteur Garnot * * il s'exprime ainsi * * « 

 autour des yeux qui s&ut brun clair on voit un petite cercle de plumes blanches intenompu par 

 une tache noir h Tangle interne de I'oeil; le bee est noir ; la mandibule infSrieure presente gur ses 

 faces deux lignes blanches membrane uses," etc., from which expressions it is palpable that a 

 specimen ot fuiiginoso. furnished the subject of the note. 



1866.] 12 



