382 BIKDS OF TUNISIA 



PUFFINUS KUHLI (Boie). 

 MEDITEEEANEAN SHEARWATER. 



Procellaria kuhlii, Boie, Isis, 1835, p. 257. 



PufBnus kuhlii, Bonap. Consp. Avium, ii, p. 202 (1856) ; Koenig, J. f. 0. 



18H8, p. 291. 

 Puffinus kuhli, Salvin, Cat. Birds Brit. Miis. xxv, p. 375 ; Koenig, 



J. f. 0. 1893, p. 101 ; Whitaker, Ibis, 1895, p. 106. 

 Puffinus cinereus, Malherbe, Faune Orn. de I'Alg. p. 35 (1855) ; Loche, 



Expl. Sci. Alg. Ois. ii, p. 174 (1867). 



Description. — Adult male, winter, from Goletta, North Tunisia. 



Upper plumage ashy-brown, becoming darker on the upper wing-coverts, 

 scapulars and secondaries, and blackish on the primaries and tail ; cheeks 

 and sides of the neck grey ; under parts white. 



Iris dark hazel ; bill pale dull yellow, blackish at the tip ; feet pinkish- 

 lake or livid colour. 



Total length 19 inches, wing 13-75, culmen 2-50, tarsus 2. 



Adult female similar to the male. 



The Mediterranean Shearwater is resident and abundant on the 

 Tunisian coast, as it probably is on all the Mediterranean shores 

 of North-west Africa. According to Blanc the species is to be 

 met with both in the north and south of the Regency, and breeds on 

 most of the rocky islands off the coast. 



The range of P. huldi appears to be confined to the Mediterranean, 

 and the Atlantic Ocean from the Massachussetts coast to the Azores, 

 Madeira and the Canaries. It seems to occur also on Kerguelen 

 Island. 



The species is oceanic, and, except during the breeding-season, 

 is generally to be met with out at sea. Its flight is powerful and very 

 rapid, and the bird is usually to be seen gliding swiftly over the 

 surface of the water. It also swims with ease. It is chiefly nocturnal 

 in its habits, and gregarious, being generally found in small parties. 

 It feeds on small fish, crustaceans and any animal matter w'hich it 

 may find floating on the water, as also, apparently, on the Inula crith- 

 moides, one of the few plants which grow on rocky islands. The bird 

 does not stand confinement well and I have never succeeded in keeping 

 one alive for more than a few weeks, and generally for not more than 

 a few days. 



