CINEREOUS SHEARWATER. 253 



jjostrils basal, placed on the culmen, with two 

 distinct openings in front ; wings long, accu- 

 minated, first quill longest ; tarsi laterally com- 

 pressed, feet of middle size, hallux, a straight 

 nail or claw. 



Types. P. cinereus, anglorum, &c. Cosmopo- 

 lite. 



Note. Habits maritime ; breed chiefly in holes 

 or burrows ; nocturnal. 



THE CINEREOUS SHEARWATER, PUFFINUS CINE- 

 REUS, Selly. Puffinus cinereus, Selby, Jen., Eyt., 

 Yarr. Puffin majeur, Temm. This rare British 

 species seems to have been observed both by Mr. 

 Strickland and Mr. Selby, without either being 

 aware of the specimens procured by his friend. Mr. 

 Selby procured his upon the Northumbrian coast ; 

 Mr. Strickland on that of Yorkshire. Mr. Strick- 

 land afterwards met with a second specimen, and 

 Mr. Yarrell records one or two more ; Mr Thomp- 

 son has noticed it in Ireland ; but, in addition to 

 these instances, from the information Mr. Yarrell 

 has quoted from D. W. Mitchell, Esq. of Penzance, 

 this bird must be at times extremely abundant in 

 Mount's Bay. " They appear some autumns off Looe 

 and Polperro in thousands. M. Temminck refers 

 Mr. Gould's figures, taken from Mr. Strickland's 

 Birds, to the P. major of Faber. It appears to 

 be a northern bird, at the same time there are spe- 

 cimens in the British Museum from South Africa.* 

 * YarrelL 



