fd 
GREY-BACKED STORM-PETREL. 17 
the sides of the rump; under tail-coverts whitish at the base, sooty-black at the 
tips; bill black; iris dark brown; feet black; middle of webs yellow. ‘Total 
length 176 mm. ; culmen (exp.) 13, wing 156, tail 72, tarsus 35. 
Adult female—Similar to the adult male. é : ; 
Immature —According to Murphy, recognisable by conspicuous white edgings 
on the feathers of the belly, and by a whitish spot on the lores. In addition they 
have weaker bills, with a less pronounced unguis, shorter wings and tails and smaller 
claws on the toes. 
Nestling.—Covered with greyish-black down. 
Nest.—A chamber at the end of a tunnel, lined with feathers. ; 
Egg.—Clutch, one; dull white, sometimes sparingly dotted with reddish 
spots; sometimes these spots form a ring round the larger end; axis 33 mm., 
diameter 23. 
Breeding-season.—January. (Cape Adare.) 
Distribution and forms.—Breeding round the Antarctic Circle, but wandering 
northwards, as above, in Australian waters ; as far north as the Persian Gulf in the 
Indian Ocean, and in the North Atlantic Ocean common in Nova Scotia and northern 
coasts of the United States. Two forms have been differentiated ; O. 0. oceanicus 
Kuhl, South Atlantic Ocean, breeding at South Georgia and common in the North 
Atlantic Ocean in winter ; and O. o. exasperatus Mathews, on account of larger size 
in all measurements. 
Genus GARRODIA. 
Garrodia Forbes, Coll. Sci. Papers Garrod., p. 521 (footnote), (pref. June 24th) 1881. Type 
(by original designation): Thalassidroma nereis Gould. 
Small Storm-Petrels with small hooked bills, long wings, long rounded tail and 
Jong legs and feet. The bill is similar to that of the preceding genus, but the unguis 
is stronger and more powerfully hooked. The wing has the same formula, but the 
feathers are broader. The tail is slightly rounded, the feathers broad, the under 
tail-coverts reaching to the tips; the tail is more than half the length of the wing. 
The legs are long, with the tibia exposed for about half the length of the metatarsus, 
which is less than half the length of the tail. The tarsus is markedly scutellate in 
front and reticulate on the sides and behind. The toes are long and fuily webbed, 
the webs however more deeply incised than in the preceding. The hind-toe is 
scarcely recognisable while the outer is longer than the middle which exceeds the 
inner toe ; the claws are elongate, that of the middle toe the longest and that of the 
outer toe the least. 
Coloration : head dark, back grey, throat and upper-breast dark, rest of under 
parts white. 
10. Garrodia nereis.—GREY-BACKED STORM-PETREL. 
Gould, Vol. VIL., pl. 64 (pt. xx.), Sept. Ist, 1845. Mathews, Vol. II., pt. 1, pl. 69, May 30th, 
1912. 
Thalassidroma nereis Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc. (Lond.), 1840, p. 178, July 1841: Bass Straits, 
Australia. 
Procellaria saltatrix Mathews, Birds Austr., Vol. II., pt. 1, p. 16, May 30th, 1912 (ex Solander 
MS8.): off Kaikoura, New Zealand. 
Procellaria longipes, Mathews, ¢b., p. 17 (ex Solander MS.): off Kaikoura, New Zealand. 
DisTriButions.—Bass Straits, Australia (breeding ?). 
Aduli male——Head and neck all round, upper back, lesser wing-coverts, bastard- 
wing, and primary-coverts sooty-brown with a grey tinge; greater wing-coverts 
and scapulars dark grey, more or less edged with white; primary and secondary 
Cc 
