GREY-BACKED STORM-PETREL. 17 



the sides of the rump ; under tail-coverts whitish at the base, sooty-black at the 

 tips ; bill black ; iris dark brown ; feet black ; middle of webs yellow. Total 

 length 176 mm. ; culmen (exp.) 13, wing 156, tail 72, tarsus 35. 



Adult female. Similar to the adult male. 



Immature. According to Murphy, recognisable by conspicuous white edgings 

 on the feathers of the belly, and by a whitish spot on the lores. In addition they 

 have weaker bills, with a less pronounced unguis, shorter wings and tails and smaller 

 claws on the toes. 



Nestling. Covered with greyish-black down. 



Nest. A chamber at the end of a tunnel, lined with feathers. 



Egg. Clutch, one ; dull white, sometimes sparingly dotted with reddish 

 spots ; sometimes these spots form a ring round the larger end ; axis 33 mm., 

 diameter 23. 



Breeding-season. January. (Cape Adare.) 



Distribution and forms. Breeding round the Antarctic Circle, but wandering 

 northwards, as above, in Australian waters ; as far north as the Persian Gulf in the 

 Indian Ocean, and in the North Atlantic Ocean common in Nova Scotia and northern 

 coasts of the United States. Two forms have been differentiated : 0. o. oceanicus 

 Kuhl, South Atlantic Ocean, breeding at South Georgia and common in the North 

 Atlantic Ocean in winter ; and 0. o. exasperatus Mathews, on account of larger size 

 in all measurements. 



Genus GARRODIA. 



Garrodia Forbes, Coll. Sci. Papers Garrod., p. 521 (footnote), (pref. June 24th) 1881. Type 

 (by original designation) : Thalassidroma nereis Gould. 



Small Storm-Petrels with small hooked bills, long wings, long rounded tail and 

 long legs and feet. The bill is similar to that of the preceding genus, but the unguis 

 is stronger and more powerfully hooked. The wing has the same formula, but the 

 feathers are broader. The tail is slightly rounded, the feathers broad, the under 

 tail -co verts reaching to the tips ; the tail is more than half the length of the wing. 

 The legs are long, with the tibia exposed for about half the length of the metatarsus, 

 which is less than half the length of the tail. The tarsus is markedly scutellate in 

 front and reticulate on the sides and behind. The toes are long and fully webbed, 

 the webs however more deeply incised than in the preceding. The hind-toe is 

 scarcely recognisable while the outer is longer than the middle which exceeds the 

 inner toe ; the claws are elongate, that of the middle toe the longest and that of the 

 outer toe the least. 



Coloration : head dark, back grey, throat and upper-breast dark, rest of under 

 parts white. 



10. Garrodia nereis. GREY-BACKED STORM-PETREL. 



Gould, Vol. VII., pi. 64 (pt. xx.), Sept. 1st, 1845. Mathews, Vol. II., pt. 1, pi. 69, May 30th, 

 1912. 



Thalassidroma nereis Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc. (Lond.), 1840, p. 178, July 1841 : Bass Straits, 



Australia. 



Procellaria saltatrix Mathews, Birds Austr., Vol. II., pt. 1, p. 16, May 30th, 1912 (ex Solander 



MS.) : off Kaikoura, New Zealand. 



Procellaria longipes, Mathews, ib., p. 17 (ex Solander MS.) : off Kaikoura, New Zealand. 



DISTRIBUTIONS. Bass Straits, Australia (breeding ?). 



Adult male. Head and neck all round, upper back, lesser wing-coverts, bastard- 

 wing, and primary -coverts sooty-brown with a grey tinge ; greater wing-coverts 

 and scapulars dark grey, more or less edged with white ; primary and secondary 



c 



