NATATORES. 479 



maries and tail black ; upper and lateral portions of the under 

 tail-coverts white ; irides dark brown ; bill and feet black ; 

 webs yellow for three parts of their length from the base. 



Genus FREGETTA, Bonaparte. 



The members of this genus are distinguished by their large 

 size, long legs, and parti-coloured plumage. Two species 

 frequent the seas surrounding Australia. 



Sp. 647. FREGETTA MELANOGASTER, Gould. 



Black-bellied Storm-Petrel. 



Procellaria fregata, Forst. Draw. 13? and 14. 



grallaria, Licht. Verz. der Doubl. Mus. Berl., p. 83. 



oceanica, Bonap., 1827, Zool. Journ., vol. iii. p. 89. 



Thalassidroma melanogaster, Gould in Ann. and Mag. of Nat. Hist., 



vol. xiii. p. 367. 

 Fregetta melanogastra, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., torn. ii. p. 198, Fre- 



getta, sp. 4. 



Thalassidroma melanogaster, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., 

 vol. viL pi. 62. 



My acquaintance with this species commenced on the 

 12th of August 1839, when off Cape Lagulhas on my voyage 

 to Australia, and from that date it was almost daily observed 

 dming our transit across the South Indian Ocean until we 

 arrived at Tasmania on the 19th of September; its numbers 

 gradually increasing from the neighbourhood of the islands of 

 St. Paul and Amsterdam to the termination of the voyage. 

 In March 1840, during my passage home, I again met with it 

 in great abundance between the eastern coast of Australia 

 and New Zealand. 



When viewed from the ship, it is at once distinguished 

 from all the other Petrels by the broad black mark which 

 passes down the centre of the abdomen, and offers a strong 

 contrast to the snowy whiteness of the flanks. 



