PROCELLARIID.E — THE PETRELS — (ESTRELATA. 



395 



the feathers may be disturbed. There is likewise no exposed white on the upper tail-coverts or 

 base of the tail ; the former are, however, very abruptly white beneath the surface, but the latter is 

 white only at the extreme base ; and the outer rectrices have a considerable amount of white on 

 their inner webs. The lower parts are almost entirely white, there being merely a few plumbeous 

 irregular bars on the flanks. The measurements are as fol- 

 lows : Wing, 11.80 inches (less than the average of (K lursi- 

 tata as given by Dr. Coues) ; tail, 5.75, its graduation, 2.40 ; 

 culmen, 1.22 ; depth of bill at base, .55 ; tarsus, 1.40 ; 



middle toe (without claw), 1.55. In view of the differ- r,HA \A 



ences of coloration, much more graduated tail, and smaller 

 dimensions — and especially in view of its different habi- 

 tat, no specimens of <E. hcesitata having to our knowledge 

 been reported from any part of the Pacific Ocean — the 

 specimen in question may be really distinct. Should such 

 prove to be the case, the name CE. sandwichensis is pro- 

 posed as a suitable designation. 1 



Hardly anything is known of the history, hab- 

 its, and distribution of this rare species. Its claim 

 to be counted into our fauna rests only on accident, 

 and nothing has been ascertained in regard to either 

 the places or the periods of its reproductive season. 

 It is a great wanderer, or more probably, under 

 the influences of continued storms, is occasionally 

 driven to regions quite remote from its natural 



habitat. Its usual abode is said by Degland and Gerbe to be the Indian Ocean ; and 

 its occurrence in Europe and elsewhere is considered by them as only occasional 

 and accidental. 



The museum of Boulogne-sur-Mer possesses a specimen procured in that neighbor- 

 hood ; and it has been elsewhere observed on the coasts of France and England. 

 Yarrell records an instance where one was taken on a heath at Southacre, Norfolk, by 

 a boy. It was alive when captured, and greatly exhausted, but had strength enough 

 to bite violently the hand of its captor, who thereupon killed it. This occurred in 

 the spring of 1850. The specimen is in the private collection of Mr. Newcome, of 

 Hockwold Hall, Brandon. A specimen of this bird from the Indian Ocean is in the 

 Museum at Leyden. Yarrell states that one has also been taken in Australia; and 

 one obtained in the South Seas was in Mr. Bullock's museum. A specimen brought 

 from Hayti by John Hearne is now in the British Museum. 



Mr. George N. Lawrence, in Vol. IV. " Bacific Railroad Reports," cites this species 

 under the name of the " Tropical Fulmar," and mentions its distribution on our coast 

 as extending from New York southward to Florida, referring to two specimens, one 

 taken off the coast of Florida, the other on that of New York. The first of these was 

 given to Mr. Lawrence by Dr. C. H. Stillwell, of Brooklyn, N. Y., who had obtained 

 it in Florida in the winter of 1846. It had been wounded, and was floating in the salt 

 lagoon, opposite Indian River Inlet, on the east coast of Florida, two hundred and 

 forty miles from St. John River. The other specimen had been shot in the bay at 

 Quoque, Long Island, after a severe storm, in July, 1850. No other specimens are 

 on record. 



1 In pattern of coloration, this specimen agrees exactly with an example of CE. Cooki, but has the 

 back, scapulars, rump, and tail decidedly less ashy. 



