Rev. A. C. Smith on the Birds of Portugal. 459 



^-193. fTHALASsiDROMA PELAGiCA (Linn.). Storoi-Petrel. 

 " Alma de mestre." 



Both species are considered rare in Portugal — the former 

 moi'e especially ; and yet, if there be truth in the popular tale of 

 the love of storms which these birds evince, unquestionably the 

 proximity to Portugal of the tempest-tossed Bay of Biscay should 

 attract the whole race of such boisterous spirits to its shores. 

 Lastly, I would add that Puffinus major, Fab., the Greater 

 Shearwater, and Puffinus aiiglorum, Boie, the Manx Shearwater, 

 are said to be well known in Portugal. 



In the above list I have enumerated 193 species as ideiitified 

 by myself, either in the flesh, or in the Portuguese collections 

 at Lisbon and Coimbra. I have also made mention of 57 others 

 as confidently asserted to be well known in Portugal by those on 

 whose accuracy I could rely. This will make a total of 250. 

 I am well aware that the catalogue is most imperfect ; indeed, as 

 I have already said, it only lays claim to be an outline, the de- 

 tails of which I trust will be shortly filled in by some more com- 

 petent observer. 



I have but one remark to make in conclusion ; and that is in 

 reference to the extremely dark hue which almost universally 

 seems to characterize the birds of Portugal. This peculiarity 

 struck me on my first arrival in the country, and its existence 

 was confirmed with every day's further observation, while the 

 remarks given above of Mr. Tristram on the skins I submitted 

 to him amply confirm my own previous impression. Whether 

 such deepening of colour arises from the intense heat of Por- 

 tugal, and, like the inhabitants of that sultry clime, they are 

 simply sunburnt and bronzed, or whatever be the cause, I must 

 leave it to others to determine; enough for me to call attention 

 to the fact. 



And, as a last word, let me heartily recommend, not only to 

 my brother ornithologists, but to tourists generally, a trip to 

 that extreme south-western corner of Europe, now so accessible 

 both by sea and land, and which offers so many and so various 

 attractions — a warm and dry climate to the health-seeker, un- 

 rivalled ecclesiastical and conventual remains of a unique cha- 



N. S. — VOL. IV. 2 I 



