42 A MANUAL OF THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
the axillaries and under wing-coverts. Bill blue; iris black; feet all blue. Total 
length 275 mm.; culmen (exp.) 26, width of bill 12, wing 189, tail 95, tarsus 32. 
Adult female—Similar to the adult male. 
Immature.—-As adult in coloration but with a much weaker, narrower bill, 
which is paler, and the wings and feet are smaller. 
Nestling.—Covered with slaty-grey down. 
Nest.—In a burrow, about two feet long. 
Egg—Clutch, one; white; 43-45 mm. by 33. 
Breeding-season.—October to December. 
Distribution and forms—Round the Sub-antarctic Circle. Many subspecies. 
will be later differentiated, six at present being defined on bill characters alone, thus : 
H. d. desolatus (Gmelin) from Kerguelen Island; H. d. banksi (Smith) from Cape 
Seas, with a broader bill, breeding place unknown, probably in the Antarctic as 
P. rossi Bonaparte, from Antarctic seas, is at present inseparable ; H. d. peringueyt 
Mathews, from the Pondoland coast, South Africa, with a narrower bill, like the 
typical race, but longer, breeding place unknown ; H. d. mattingleyi Mathews, from 
East Australian seas, with the narrowest bill in the species; H. d. macquariensis 
Mathews, from Macquarie Island, New Zealand, broader bill than former and near 
the typical race; and H. d. alter Mathews from the Auckland Islands, with a broader 
bill again, very near that of H. d. banksi. While these differences are apparent to 
the eye it is very difficult to give measurements showing the details clearly. 
A series from Cottesloe Beach, West Australia, show two skins with bills 27 by 
12 mm., thus agreeing with H. d. mattingleyi, the Eastern form, and many others with 
broader bills, an immature bill measuring 29 by 13.5 and many adults, male and 
female, averaging the bill 29 by 15 mm. which seem to indicate a distinct western 
form which may be called H. d. alexanderi subsp. nov. 
Genus PSEUDOPRION. 
Pseudoprion Coues, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad., 1866, p. 164, May. Type (by original 
designation): Procellaria turtur Kuhl. 
Fulmariprion Mathews, Birds Austr., Vol. II., pt. 2, p. 215, July 31st, 1912. Type (by 
original designation): Pseudoprion turtur crassirostris Mathews. 
A very distinct Prionitic genus, agreeing with the other Prionitic genera in 
general, but with a noticeably different style of bill. 
The nail is strong and almost half the length of the chord of the culmen, while 
there is very little space between it and the nasal tube. The under mandible is 
strong, and the strong rami diverge at an acute angle enclosing a triangular fully- 
feathered interramal space. The whole bill recalls that of Fudmarus. 
33. Pseudoprion turtur.—FAIRY PRION. 
Gould, Vol. VII., pl. 54 (pt. xv1.), Sept. Ist, 1844. Mathews, Vol. II., pt. 2, pl. 93, July 
3ist, 1912. 
Procellaria turtur Kuhl, Beitr. Vergl. Zool. Anat., p. 143, (pref. April 9th) 1820: Bass Straits. 
Procellaria velox ‘‘ Banks,’’? Kuhl, 7b. In synonymy. 
Halobena typica Bonaparte, Consp. Gen. Av., Vol. II., p. 194, (Oct.) 1857: Bass Straits 
(Waigiou Island is an error). 
Prion ariel Gould, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., Vol. XIII., p. 366, May Ist, 1844: Nom. nud. 
Prion ariel Schlegel, Mus. Pays-Bas, Vol. VI., Procell., p. 18, July 1863: Bass Straits. 
Pseudoprion turtur nova Mathews, Austral Av. Rec., Vol. III., pt. 3, p. 55, April 7th, 1916: 
Sydney, New South Wales. 
DIsTRIBUTION.—Eastern and Southern Australian Seas. 
Adult.—Smaller in general measurements than members of the genera Prion 
and Heteroprion, paler in colour with the head unicolour with the back and rump, 
