50 A MANUAL OF THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 



more slender and more strongly hooked bill, and much darker coloration. We find 

 that Solander's name of D. antarctica had been cited as a synonym of the typical 

 form and is therefore untenable for a subspecies, so we rename the South Georgian 

 form P. p. murphyi name new. 



Genus THALASSARCHE. 



Thalassarche Reichenbach, Nat. Syst. Vogel, p. v., 1852 (71853). Type (by original designa- 

 tion) : Diomedea melanophris Temminck. 

 Thalassogeron Ridgway (in Baird, Brewer and Ridgway's Water Birds of North America, 



Vol. II.). Mem.Mus. Comp.Zool. Harvard, Vol. XIII. , pp. 345,357, (Introd. March 31st) 1884. 



Type (by original designation) : Diomedea culminata Gould. 



Nealbatrus Mathews, Birds Austr., Vol. II., pt. 3, p. 274, Sept. 20th, 1912. Type (by 



Medium Albatrosses of white coloration with dark wings, long bills, long wings, 

 long tails and very strong legs and feet with no hind -toe. 



The bill differs from the preceding in the formation of the base of the culminicorn 

 and the absence of groove in lower mandible, at the base of which there is a short 

 bar suggesting reduction of groove. The forms above named differ in minor details 

 and as the connecting links are existent are here amalgamated again. They are 

 all of the same size and coloration, but the last named has a much more delicate 

 bill than the two preceding it, in it a sulcus filled with loose skin separates the base 

 of the culminicorn from the frontal feathers, and also from the latericorns posterior 

 to the nostrils. In Thalassogeron the basal sulcus is reduced though the lateral 

 sulci are still very pronounced ; as the width varies in the subspecies we find the 

 distinctions decreasing ; and in " D. butteri " it is difficult to decide whether it 

 should be considered a degraded relation of Thalassogeron or a true Thalassarche, 

 which has no sulci, either at the base or sides. 



The wing is long as usual with numerous secondaries, the first primary 

 longest. 



The tail is long and rounded, about two-fifths of the wing's length. 



The legs are very stout, covered with reticulate scaling ; the tarsus less than 

 three-fourths the length of the middle toe, which is equal to the culmen. The 

 anterior toes are very long, the outer longest, and fully webbed. There is no hind- 

 toe, but under the skin a rudiment has been found. 



Coloration white with black wings and back. 



38. Thalassarche melanophrys. BLACK-BROWED MOLLYMAWK. 



[Diomedea melanophris Temminck et Laugier, Planch. Color. d'Ois. (? 77 e ) 76 livr. (Vol. IV.), 

 pi. 456, 1828, April 23rd (? March) : Cape of Good Hope. Extra-limital.] 



Gould, Vol. VII., pi. 43 (pt. xiv.), March 1st, 1844. Mathews, Vol. II., pt. 3, pi. 96, Sept. 

 20th, 1912. 



Thalassarche melanophris impavida Mathews, Birds Austr., Vol. II., pt. 3, p. 267, Sept. 

 20th, 1912, ex Solander MS. : Tasmania. 



DISTRIBUTION. Southern Australian Seas. 



Adult male. General appearance of the upper -parts dark brown and white ; 

 scapulars, wings and tail dark brown ; rump and upper tail-coverts white, back 

 slaty-black ; quills black, with white shafts towards the base, inner webs whitish at 

 the base ; secondaries blackish, inner webs white at the basal portion ; feathers of 

 the olecranal patch blackish, becoming white at the base ; humeral feathers white, 

 shaded with giey ; tail-feathers blackish, with conspicuous white shafts ; lores, 

 and a streak through and behind the eye black, more intense in front of the eye ; 

 head and neck all round, throat and entire uuder-surface white ; axillaries and under 



