28 A MANUAL OF THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 



Neonectri* tenuiroatris hulli Mathews, Bull. Brit. Orn. Club, Vol. XXXVI., p. 82, May 25th, 



1916 : Barrier Reef, Queensland. 



DISTRIBUTION. Eastern and Southern Australian Seas. 



Adult male. Upper-surface sooty-black, including the head, entire back, 

 wings, and tail, with pale margins to some of the feathers ; primary-quills pale 

 brown on the inner webs ; secondaries inclining to hoary -grey, the whole of the 

 under-surface sooty-brown, somewhat paler on the throat, and darker on the under 

 tail-coverts ; under wing-coverts sooty-brown, becoming ash -brown on the greater 

 series ; bill dark slate, tarsus slate, eyes brown. Total length 390 ; culmen (exp.) 

 32, wing 280, tail 82, tarsus 52 mm. 



Adult female. Similar to the adult male. 



Immature. Coloration similar ; bill dark horn colour, tip light horn ; iris 

 dark brown ; legs and feet slate and flesh in usual pattern. 



Nestling. Covered with brown down, paler on the under-surface. 



Nest. At the end of a burrow, which is sometimes 4 feet long. 



Egg. Clutch, one ; pure white, minutely pitted ; axis 67-71 mm., diameter 

 45-46. 



Breeding-season. The end of November and December. 



Incubation-period. Eight weeks. 



Distribution and forms. Australian and Japanese seas as far as yet known, 

 but one specimen examined from Persian Gulf. Five subspecies named, but 

 probably only two valid, as N. t. tenuirostris (Temm. and Laug.) from Japanese seas, 

 and N. t. brevicaudus (Gould) from East Australian seas with a differently coloured 

 bill, dark slate, the former having a horn bill ; and the inner wing coloration, sooty 

 instead of ashy. The other named forms, given in the synonymy above, require 

 confirmation by study of large series. 



Genus HEMIPUFFINUS. 



Hemipuffinus Iredale, Austral Av. Rec., Vol. II., pt. 1, p. 20, Aug. 2nd, 1913. Type (by 

 monotypy) : Puffinus carneipes Gould. 



Large Puffinine Petrels with long, stout bill, long wings, medium tail and large 

 legs and feet. 



The bill is long, strongly hooked, with somewhat prominent r asal tubes, the 

 laterals basally expanded. The nostrils are separated by a thick septum, and have 

 their openings semi-vertical. The under mandible has the rami strong and little 

 divergent, the unguis powerful. The wings are long with the first primary longest, 

 and the secondaries comparatively long. The tail is weakly wedge shaped, about 

 one-third the length of the wing and twice the length of the tarsus ; the under tail- 

 coverts reach to its end. The legs are long, the tarsus laterally compressed and 

 covered with reticulate scales. The toes are very long, the outer longest, but little 

 exceeding the middle toe which is longer than the inner which is a little shorter 

 than the tarsus. The anterior toes are fully webbed with long narrow acute claws. 

 The hind -toe is minute. 



Coloration wholly dark. 



19. Hemipuffinus carneipes. FLESHY-FOOTED SHEARWATER. 



Gould, Vol. VII., pi. 57 (pt. xxxv.), Dec. 1st, 1848. Mathews. Vol. II., pt. 1, pi. 76, May 30th, 

 1912. 



Puflinus carneipes Gould, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., Vol. XIII., p. 365, May 1st, 1844 : near 

 Cape Leeuwin, West Australia. 



DISTRIBUTION. West and South Australian Seas. 



Adult male. General colour above sooty-black, somewhat darker on the head ; 

 -the feathers of the back, scapulars, and wings with pale brown margins ; quills 



