73° WILSONS PETREL. 



appear to have occurred in Cumberland, the latest of these in 

 1 88 1. As yet there is no record of this species in Scotland; 

 and as regards Ireland, all that can be said is that a specimen was 

 presented to Thompson in August 1840 by Glennon of Dublin, 

 who believed it to have been obtained in that country. 



In France, two examples are said to have been taken in the Gulf 

 of Gascony in December 1854, and one from Gue'tary near Biarritz 

 (December 3rd 1872) is in the collection of Dr. Marmottan at Paris. 

 Stragglers have occurred on the coast of Provence, and I possess a 

 female captured off Malaga on August 7th 1873 ; while Dr. Salvadori 

 has identified a specimen — in the University Museum of Cagliari — 

 said to have been obtained off Sardinia. Mr. Godman found this 

 Petrel common in summer about the Azores, and it has been pro- 

 cured in many localities on the west coast of Africa down to the 

 Cape of Good Hope ; four examples were obtained by the ' Chal- 

 lenger' Expedition, off the Antarctic ice barrier on February 14th 

 1874; the Rev. A. E. Eaton, naturalist to the Transit-of-Venus 

 Expedition, found it breeding on Kerguelen Island ; and it appears 

 to extend over the South Atlantic to Australia and New Zealand, as 

 well as across the South Pacific to Chili and Peru. In the North 

 Atlantic it is common along the American coasts, visiting the West 

 Indies and Mexico. 



Nine eggs brought from Kerguelen by Mr. Eaton and described 

 by me (Phil. Trans, clxvii. p. 164) are of a dull white colour, with 

 minute purplish-red spots which usually form a zone at the broader 

 end : average measurements i"3 by "9 in. They were laid in January 

 and February, in crevices and holes among shattered rocks or large 

 boulders. The birds arrived at their nesting-places in the latter part 

 of the previous November, but comparatively little was seen of 

 them by day, though towards evening they used to fly over the 

 water like swallows, or follow the course of the valleys far away 

 into the country. In food and general habits this resembles other 

 small species ; in its anatomy, however, both Garrod and Forbes 

 considered that it differed so widely from the majority of the 

 Petrels as to be entitled to rank in a separate family — Oceauitidce. 



This bird is sooty-black above and below, with greyish-white 

 edges to the wing-coverts and inner secondaries, white upper tail- 

 coverts and thigh-patches, and a little white at the base of the 

 outer tail-feathers ; the bill, legs and toes are black, and the webs of 

 the latter zxe ye/Iow at their bases. Total length 7*5 in., wing 6 in., 

 tarsus I "4 in. 



