PROCELLARIIDM. 27 



off fresh herrings. This is, I think, the only specimen that has reached this country 

 alive. I sent the following short notice of the event to the ' Times,' which appeared 

 June 8th, 1885:— 



AN ACQUISITION TO THE ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS. 



Sir, — I received a letter the other day from Mr. A. H. Jamrach, the well-known naturalist dealer, 

 saying he had deposited a live Albatross in the Zoological Gardens. On receipt of this startling news 

 I hastened off at once to inspect. 



I think, however, I am right in saying that the bii'd is not an Albatross (Diomedea), but the 

 Giant Petrel {Ossifraga gujantea), well known at sea, but unquestionably a rara avis in these climes, 

 indeed quite as much so as the true Albatross. In size and extent of wing they are about the same 

 as the smaller species of Diomedea, but in no way approach the great Wandering Albatross (Diomedea 

 exulans), with its enormous spread of eleven feet from tip to tip. Their flight is much the same, but 

 this Petrel has more of the land-bird flap about it, by which it can be recognised at a great distance. 



This new arrival appears fairly well, and fed heartily oif some fresh herrings ; but I cannot 

 help thinking it would thrive far better in the fine open aviary opposite its present cage, and there 

 would be no fear of its escaping from such an enclosure. They are often kept for days together on 

 board ship, and are quite unable to fly, unless taken up and launched into mid-air off the rail. 



I am your obedient servant, 

 Blackwall Yard. JOS. F. GEEEN. 



The word "Ossifrage" (Heb, peres, y^u^,, fjnjps) occurs twice in Holy Scripture, as a bird 

 that may not be eaten : in Lev. xi. 13, and in the parallel passage in Deut. xiv. 12 ; but 

 it is not probable that this particular bird was meant. In the new version the word is 

 omitted altogether. 



■'o^ 



Great Grey Petrel (Adamastor cinerea). — This bird (well known at sea as the Ca]je Dove) 

 is sometimes called the Capped Petrel. It is a combination of Procellaria and Puffinus, and is 

 one of the Southern Seas representatives of the well-known Shearwater family. On my sending 

 up a specimen that I had caught off the Cape to one of the very greatest and most obliging of 

 our ornithological authorities, he defined it as a true Puffinus and a very rare species {Puffinus 

 (jelidus). This was perplexing, as I have caught any number of them at sea ; so I took the bird 

 up to Mr. Salvin, the great Petrel authority, and he at once classed it as above. It is very 

 common off' both the Capes, and is easily caught with a roach-hook (or, better still, a small trio 

 hook off a spinning bait) on a light line. From measurements in my book I find the beak is 

 two inches long; wing from anterior bend, twelve inches and a half; length of body, fifteen 

 inches. It is thus summed up by Gould in his ' Birds of Austraha ': — " Little or no difference 

 is observable in the sexes, but the female is rather smaller than the male ; neither did 

 I observe any of the individuals that surrounded the ship to be of a darker colour. In all 

 probability the young attain their normal colouring at the first moult. I quite agree with 



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