THE GREEN-BILLED SHEARWATER. 439 



The Cape Petrel, or Cape Pigeon as it is called by sailors, was obtained 

 by Mr. Hume in the straits between Ceylon and the mainland. 



It is found in all the seas of the southern hemisphere, wandering not 

 unfrequcntly to the north of the equator, and it is certain to be found in 

 the vicinity of the Burmese coast at times. 



This well-known Petrel has wonderful powers of flight, following ships 

 for days together and apparently seldom resting. Common as it is, little 

 or nothing seems to be known of its breeding-haunts. 



Genus PUFFINUS, Eriss. 



778. PUFFINUS CHLORORHYNCHUS. 



THE GREEN-BILLED SHEARWATER. 



Puffinus chlororhynchus, Lesson t Traite, p. 613; Newton, Ibis, 1861, p. 181, 1867, 



p. 359 ; Legge, Birds Ceylon, p. 1054. Puffinus ?, Legge, 8. F. iii. p. 374 ; 



Hume, S. F. viii. p. 115. 



Description. The whole plumage sooty brown, darkest on the wings 

 and tail, paler beneath, tinged with glaucous on the chin and throat. 



Iris dusky ; bill dusky greenish ; legs and feet fleshy white. (Legge.) 



Length about 15 inches, tail 5*3, wing 10'9, tarsus 1*8, bill from gape 

 2; the tail is wedge-shaped, the outside feathers falling short of the tip 

 of the tail by 2 inches. 



The Green- billed Shearwater has been met with on the coast of Ceylon, 

 and a roaming bird of this kind must necessarily sometimes occur in the 

 Bay of Bengal and on the Burmese coast. 



It inhabits the whole Indian Ocean, breeding in the Mauritius and 

 neighbouring islands, where it deposits its single egg under stones and in 

 burrows. It possesses great powers of flight, skimming along the surface 

 of the waves and picking up putrid fish and oily refuse. 



Another species of Shearwater, considerably smaller than the present, 

 and with the whole lower plumage white, was discovered by Mr. Hume in 

 the northern part of the Indian Ocean, and named P. persicus. 



Mr. Hume observed between Preparis and the Cocos in the Bay of 

 Bengal a Prion, but was unable to obtain and identify it. The Petrels 

 of this genus may be known by their blue-and-white plumage. 



