bulwer's petrel. 515 



dead, as it admitted of being mounted as a good cabinet 

 specimen. It is now in the possession of Colonel Dalton, 

 who doubtless regards it as one of the greatest treasures in 

 British Ornithology. In fact, with the exception of one or 

 two foreign examples, we do not recollect that we have ob- 

 served it among the numerous collections we have had oppor- 

 tunities of examining. As it is stated to be an inhabitant of 

 Madeira and the adjacent islands, we may infer that the seas 

 bounding the western shores of Africa constitute its true 

 habitat."" 



The figure of the bird here given is taken from Mr. 

 Gould's plate, and represents, therefore, the only British 

 example of this species at present known ; but a specimen of 

 this bird in the collection of the Zoological Society enables 

 me to give the following description and measurements : — 



The bill is black ; the irides nearly so ; the whole of the 

 plumage almost uniform sooty black, rather paler on the 

 edges of the great wing-coverts ; tail rounded ; legs and toes 

 dark reddish-brown, the interdigital membranes dark brown. 



The whole length, from the point of the beak to the end 

 of the tail, ten inches and a half ; the wing, from the anterior 

 bend to the end of the longest quill-feather, eight inches ; 

 the bill is three-quarters of an inch in length from the base ; 

 the tarsus, and the middle toe, including the claw, each one 

 inch and one-sixteenth. 



There is reason to believe that this Petrel has been dis- 

 tinguished by the specific name columhina^ in a History of 

 the Canary Islands. 



2 L 2 



