554 RARE BRITISH BIRDS 



[431 mm.]. The upper parts, including the wings and tail, are of a dark sooty brown, the 

 under parts lighter ; under wing-coverts greyish white ; bill horn-colour, [w. P. P. and T. w.] 



2. Distribution. Only at present known to breed in the Australian and New Zealand seas, 

 where it has been found nesting on the New Zealand coasts (islands of Kapiti, Karewa, the 

 Kurima rocks, the Kaimanawa range, the hills near Wellington, Whale Island, the S.E. coast of 

 Otago and Stewart's Island), also on the Chatham Islands and the Snares group. Its migrations 

 are extensive, and it ranges in the Pacific to the Chile coast, California, and the Kuriles, while 

 in the Atlantic it is found along the American coasts as far as Labrador and Cape Farewell, and 

 on the east side from the Cape of Good Hope to the coasts of Portugal, France, the British Isles, 

 the Faeroes, and probably Iceland. [F. c. K. J.] 



LEVANTINE-SHEARWATER [Pu/inus puffinus yelkouan (Acerbi). French, puffin 

 yelkouan ; German, sudlicher TaucUer-Sturmvogel ; Italian, berta minore], 



1. Description. Distinguished from the former species by its smaller size (wing under 

 10 inches), and by having the axillaries smoky grey. The sexes are alike in coloration, and 

 there is no seasonal plumage. Length about 15 in. [381 mm.]. General colour above, 

 including the wings, dark brownish black ; sides of the head, neck, sides, flanks, and under tail- 

 coverts smoky grey ; bill dark horn-colour ; legs and toes flesh-coloured, [w. p. p. and T. w.] 



2. Distribution. This form breeds in the Mediterranean, where it has been recorded as nest- 

 ing on islets near Corsica, Sardinia, S. France, the Italian coasts, Dalmatia, Malta, the Sporades and 

 Cyclades, Crete, Lemnos, Bosporus, etc. Twenty-seven are recorded as having been obtained off 

 the coasts of Great Britain, and Buturlin states that it is found on the Black and Caspian Seas, 

 while either this race or the Manx form breeds in the Atlantic isles. [F. c. R. J.] 



LITTLE DUSKY-SHEARWATER [Puffinus obscurus (Gmelin) ; Puffinus assimilis Gould. 

 Madeiran-shearwater. German, Afri/canischer kleiner Sturmtaucher]. 



1. Description. Distinguished by its small size (wing under 7 inches). Length 11 in. 

 [279 mm.]. Top of the head, neck, back, rump, and upper tail-coverts dark blackish brown ; 

 cheeks white, streaked with blac3^ ; remainder of the under surface, including the under wing- 

 coverts and axillaries, white ; iris dark brownish black ; bill dull slate-grey ; tarsus, inner sides 

 of outer toe, two inner toes and their webs bright lavender ; webs livid ; back of tarsus, soles, 

 and nails black, [w. p. p. and T. w.] 



2. Distribution. The form of this widely distributed species which occurs in the British 

 Isles as a casual is P. obscurus godmani Allen, which breeds in the Atlantic isles and the 

 Cape Verde group. In the Cape Verde Archipelago it nests on the Rombos Isles ; also on Porto 

 Santo (Madeira), probably on the Azores, and on the Salvages and the Canaries. It is replaced 

 by other allied forms in the western North Atlantic (United States coast and islands of Bahamas 

 and Bermudas), the Mascarene Isles, the Australian and New Zealand seas, the Galapagos Isles, 

 and the Central Pacific. As a casual it has occurred seven times in the British Isles, and also 

 on the Italian coast and in Sardinia. [F. c. R. J.] 



SCHLEGEL'S PETREL [Pterodroma neglecta (Schlegel)]. 



1. Description. Differs from P. hcesitata, the next species, in having the inner webs of the 

 primaries white. The sexes are alike in size and coloration. Length 15| in. [393 mm.]. 

 General colour of the upper surface dark brown, with the bases of the feathers white and the 

 edges indistinctly marked with lighter brown ; under surface of the body white ; breast marked 

 with dirty grey; under tail-coverts smoke-brown; primary flight-feathers blackish brown, 

 whitish at the base of the inner web, and with the shafts ivory-white for the greater part of 



