Aves. 1 59 



PRION, Lacep. 

 Prion banski.^ 



Prion banksi, Gould, Ann. and Mag. N. H., XIII., p. 36G (1844); id., Handb. 

 B. Austr., IF., p. 474 (1865); Gigl., Faun. Vert. Oceano, p. 44 (1870); Salvin, 

 P. Z. S., 1878, p. 739 (Marion Island and at sea near Crozets) ; Buller, B. N. 

 Zeal., 2nd ed., II., p. 211 (1888); Salvin, Cat. B. Brit. Mus., XXV., p. 434 

 (1896). 



Nos. 28, 29, E. <J ad. [Cape Seas], 42° 23' S.L., 20^ 32' E.L., 

 Oct. 24th, 1898. 



Only one specimen of Prion was in the collection, and this is 

 undoubtedly P. lanksi. 



Mutton Bird, Borchgrevink, First on Antarctic Cont., pp 52,54(1901); Hanson, 

 antea, pp. 83, 86, 92. 



P.S. — The "Mutton Bird" of Australia is Puffinus tenuirostris 

 (Temm.), which is Puffinus hrevicaudus of Gould's ' Handbook ' (II., 

 p. 549). No specimen was procured by the 'Southern Cross' expedition, 

 so that I can only conjecture that this is the species intended by Mr. 

 Borchgrevink and Mr. Hanson in their notes. It was noticed at sea 

 on nearing Tasmania {antea, p. 83), and on several occasions on the 

 voyage from Hobart to the pack-ice. Some were even noticed in the 

 ice-pack itself from the 6th to the 10th of January {antea, p. 86), 

 and many were seen in the open sea on the return of the ship, after 

 its long imprisonment, on the 7th of February (p. 92). On the 13th 

 of February, Mr. Hanson also speaks of a ' Grey Petrel,' which was 

 again seen off Victoria Land on the 16th of the same month (p. 93). 



^ Whether it was this species which is recorded as Prion vittatus by- 

 Mr. Hanson and Mr. Borchgrevink, I have no means of judging, as specimens do not 

 seem to have been obtained. The former {antea, p, 82) noticed a species of Prion 

 round the ship from November 13th to 18th on the voyage to Tasmania, and when 

 approaching the last-named island. On leaving Hobart it seems to have been again 

 noticed, and Mr. Hanson states that, on nearing the ice-pack, " Prion vittatus " 

 appeared, after the ' Southern Cross ' had passed the 60th degree of south latitude 

 {antea, p. 82). He says that it was the only species which followed them in 

 among the ice, the others having left before they sighted it. On the 23rd of 

 January, 1899, Mr. Hanson states {antea, p. 90) that he obtained a specimen of 

 Prion vittatus, the first he had seen that year, when the ship was in the ice-pack, 

 but the skin of this bird, which would have been so interesting for the identification 

 of the species, was not in the collection brought to the Museum. A species of 

 Prion was again noticed when the open water was reached after the ' Southern 

 Cross' came out of the ice-pack, before entering it for the second time {antea,ix 93). 

 Mr. Borchgrevink's first notice of " Prion vittatus " is on the 20th of December, 

 1898, and again on the 21st. After leaving Tasmania (p. 53) on the 29th, " Prion 

 vittatus " appeared in far greater quantities than he had ever seen them before 

 (p. 54). On the 30th he mentions the species again among other kinds of Petrels, 

 as recorded also by Mr. Hanson {antea, p. 83). He further says that it followed 

 the ship for some distance into the pack, but it left long before the latter came to 

 the dense pack. 



