560 PUFFINIDAG 
AVERAGE MEASUREMENTS. 
TOTAL LENGTH ... ae eee OP sae 
WING me rtd Ba SEPT Ne 
BEAK wee 4f a § Bi ee 
TARSO-METATARSUS sok ol oe 
Eae hOex Assoc. 
Allied Species and Representative Forms.—P. obscurus, 
widely distributed over the Tropical and Sub-tropical Seas, 
is more sooty-black on the back and wings than P. assimilis, 
and has the under tail-coverts blackish-brown edged with 
white, while the shorter central tail-feathers are white; 
its near ally, P. persicus, which inhabits the Persian Gulf, 
is browner on the back and wings, and possesses a longer 
and a thicker beak. 
CAPPED PETREL. Wstrelata hesitata (Kuhl). 
Colowred Figures.— Dresser, ‘ Birds of Europe,’ vol. viii, pl. 618; 
Lilford, ‘Coloured Figures,’ vol. vi, pl. 64. 
The Capped Petrel, which has been recorded chiefly 
from the West Indies, has on one occasion been obtained 
on British soil. The specimen was captured alive by a boy 
on a heath at Southacre near Swaffham in Norfolk, in 
March or April, 1850. ‘‘ Although exhausted, it had strength 
enough remaining to bite the hand of its captor, who there- 
upon killed it’ (Saunders). It came into the possession of 
the late Mr. Newcome, of Hockwold Hall, near Brandon, 
who skinned and mounted it (Newton, ‘ Zoologist,’ 1852, 
p. 3691). 
DESCRIPTIVE CHARACTERS. 
PLUMAGE. Adult male nuptial.—Top and back of head, 
blackish-brown ; hind-neck, white ; cheeks, greyish ; back, 
scapulars, and wings, dark brown; upper tail-coverts, white ; 
tail-feathers, whitish, broadly banded terminally with brown, 
except the central ones which are dark brown throughout ; 
forehead, chin, throat, sides and front of neck, breast, 
abdomen, and under tail-coverts, white. 
