NATATORES. 469 



Genus DAPTION, Stephens. 



A genus established for the reception of the Procellaria ca- 

 pp.nsis of Linnaeus, a species abounding in all the temperate 

 latitudes of the southern seas. 



Sp. 640. DAPTION CAPENSIS. 



Cape Petrel. 



Procellaria capensis, Linn. Syst. Nat., torn. i. p, 213. 



Procellaria ncevia, Briss. Orn., torn. vi. p. 146. 



Le Petrel tachete, ou le Damier, Buff. Hist, des Ois., torn. ix. pi. 304, 



pi. 21. 

 White- and Black-spotted Petrel, Edw. Glean., pi. 90. 

 Pintado Petrel, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. vi. p. 401. 

 Daption capensis, Steph. Cont. of Shawns Gen. Zool., vol. xiii. p. 241, 



pi. 28. 

 Cape Pigeon and Cape Petrel of Voyagers. 



Daption capensis, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vii. pi. 53. 



This species of Petrel is well known to every person who 

 has visited the southern hemisphere ; for it is equally common 

 in the Atlantic and Pacific, and is nowhere more numerous 

 than off the south coast of Tasmania; it may, in fact, be said 

 to inhabit the temperate latitudes of all the seas above-men- 

 tioned, and to be without exception the most familiar species 

 of Petrel the voyager meets with. Prom the circumstance of 

 individuals which have been caught, marked and again set at 

 liberty, having been found to follow vessels for hundreds of 

 miles for the sake of the offal thrown overboard, no doubt 

 exists in my mind that it constantly circumnavigates the 

 globe. During my passage from Hobart Town to Sydney 

 and from Sydney to Cape Horn, on my return to England, it 

 was a constant attendant on the ship. It is frequently seen 

 close to the vessel, and if fed with any oily substance, it may 

 during a calm be attracted to within three yards of the ship's 

 side. When other resources of amusement fail, the cap- 



