42 A MANUAL OF THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 



the axillaries and under wing-coverts. Bill blue; iris black; feet all blue. Total 

 length 275 mm. ; culmen (exp.) 26, width of bill 12, wing 189, tail 95, tarsus 32. 



Adult female. Similar to the adult male. 



Immature. As adult in coloration but with a much weaker, narrower bill, 

 which is paler, and the wings and feet are smaller. 



Nestling. Covered with slaty-grey down. 



Nest. In a burrow, about two feet long. 



Egg. Clutch, one ; white ; 43-45 mm. by 33. 



Breeding-season. October to December. 



Distribution and forms. Round the Sub-antarctic Circle. Many subspecies 

 will be later differentiated, six at present being defined on bill characters alone, thus : 

 H. d. desolatus (Gmelin) from Kerguelen Island ; H. d. banksi (Smith) from Cape 

 Seas, with a broader bill, breeding place unknown, probably in the Antarctic as 

 P. rossi Bonaparte, from Antarctic seas, is at present inseparable ; H. d. peringueyi 

 Mathews, from the Pondoland coast, South Africa, with a narrower bill, like the 

 typical race, but longer, breeding place unknown ; H. d. maitinghyi Mathews, from 

 East Australian seas, with the narrowest bill in the species ; H. d. macquariensis 

 Mathews, from Macquarie Island, New Zealand, broader bill than former and near 

 the typical race ; and H. d. alter Mathews from the Auckland Islands, with a broader 

 bill again, very near that of H. d. banksi. While these differences are apparent to 

 the eye it is very difficult to give measurements showing the details clearly. 



A series from Cottesloe Beach, West Australia, show two skins with bills 27 by 

 12 mm., thus agreeing with H. d. mattingleyi, the Eastern form, and many others with 

 broader bills, an immature bill measuring 29 by 13.5 and many adults, male and 

 female, averaging the bill 29 by 15 mm. which seem to indicate a distinct western 

 form which may be called H. d. alexanderi subep. nov. 



Genus PSEUDOPRION. 



Pseudoprion Coues, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad., 1866, p. 164, May. Type (by original 

 designation) : Procellaria turtttr Kuhl. 



Fulmariprion Mathews, Birds Austr., Vol. II., pt. 2, p. 215, July 31st, 1912. Type (by 

 original designation) : Pseudoprion turtur crassirostris Mathews. 



A very distinct Prionitic genus, agreeing with the other Prionitic genera in 

 general, but with a noticeably different style of bill. 



The nail is strong and almost half the length of the chord of the culmen, while 

 there is very little space between it and the nasal tube. The under mandible is 

 strong, and the strong rami diverge at an acute angle enclosing a triangular fully- 

 feathered interramal space. The whole bill recalls that of FiUmarus. 



33. Pseudoprion turtur. FAIRY PRION. 



Gould, Vol. VII., pi. 54 (pt. xvi.), Sept. 1st, 1844. Mathews, Vol. II., pt. 2, pi. 93, July 

 31st, 1912. 



Procellaria turtur Kuhl, Beitr. Vergl. Zool. Anat., p. 143, (pref. April 9th) 1820 : Bass Straits. 



Procellaria velox " Banks," Kuhl, ib. In synonymy. 



Halobcena typica Bonaparte, Consp. Gen. Av., Vol. II., p. 194, (Oct.) 1857 : Bass Straits 



(Waigiou Island is an error). 



Prion ariel Gould, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., Vol. XIII., p. 366, May 1st, 1844 : Norn. nud. 



Prion ariel Schlegel, Mus. Pays-Bas, Vol. VI., Procell., p. 18, July 1863 : Bass Straits. 



Pseudoprion turtur nova Mathews, Austral Av. Rec., Vol. III., pt. 3, p. 55, April 7th, 1916 : 



Sydney, New South Wales. 



DISTRIBUTION. Eastern and Southern Australian Seas. 



Adult. Smaller in general measurements than members of the genera Prion 

 and Heteroprion, paler in colour with the head unicolour with the back and rump, 



