THE WHALE BTTUX 107 



lose its blue colour, and appear to be pale brown, easily misleading one at first into 

 the belief that two different petrels of the same size compose the flock. 



Between New Zealand and the ice of Ross Sea they were abundant in December, 

 and flew by night as well as by day, but we lost them on entering the pack. 



On our return journey in February, 1904, we met them again in 71 S. 173 E., 

 and kept them onward from that date to New Zealand, picking them up again in the 

 South Pacific, and retaining them in our company, though not in large numbers, till 

 we sighted South America. We did not see any in the Straits of Magellan, but again 

 met them in the South Atlantic, and finally saw the last on July 30th in 30 S., 30 W. 



On Shoe Island, one of the Auckland Islands, we found the ground covered with the 

 bones of Prion banksi, and honeycombed with the burrows of some petrel. We could 

 not satisfy ourselves as to which species they belonged, for the nesting season was over. 

 The arch enemy of this bird is evidently the Quail Hawk, Nesierax aucklandicus, but 

 probably numbers fall victims to the rapacious Megalestris antarctica, so abundantly 

 common in that locality. 



PELECANOIDES URINATRIX. 



The Diving Petrel. 



Procellaria urinatrix, Gmel., Syst. Nat. i. (1788), p. 560. 



Pelecanoides urinatrif, Lacep., Mem. 1'Inst. iii. (1801), p. 517 ; Salvin, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxv. (1896), 

 p. 437, ibiqite citata. 



PELECANOIDES EXSUL. 



Pelecanoides exsul, Salvin, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxv. (1896), p. 438, ibique citata. 



IN mid-ocean one may see a small petrel, quite alone, flying fast and straight close over 

 the wave-tops, until suddenly, like a stone, it disappears into the water. If the sea is 

 particularly calm, it may be seen that its wings flap rapidly for three or four strokes, 

 then follows a quick short sail, the bird seldom rising more than a foot or two 

 from the surface of the water. Its flight seems to be hurried and in a straight 



o O 



line, coming to an abrupt termination as the bird dips. It is not easy to 

 observe at sea, but its flight is so peculiar that it cannot well be mistaken for any 

 other form of petrel. 



We saw it first in the middle of September, about 30 S. in the South Atlantic, 

 and now and again in the Southern Indian Ocean, to 122 E. long., and as far South 

 as 5 1. A species of Pelecanoides was also seen in the Magellan Straits in July. 



The recognised range of Pelecanoides exsul is over the Southern Indian Ocean from 

 the Crozets to Kerguelen Island. It has been recorded from New Zealand and 

 the Auckland Islands. It is possible that the bird we observed in the Magellan Straits 

 was P. urinatrix, which is known to range over the Cape Horn Seas to the Falkland 

 Islands, as well as the Australian and New Zealand Seas. The two species are, so far 



VOL. II. 



