362 Mr. J. Gould on the Procellaridffi, 



dark chocolate colour^ and has the bill and legs more slender than 

 D. hracliyura ; the label attached to it was inscribed " Diomedea 

 brachyura, BufF. — 963 V It had been sent to the Berlin Museum 

 by M. Brandt of St. Petersburg, and had been collected by Kit- 

 litz on the western coast of America. 



Prucellaria (/igantea, Gmcl. (Large Black Petrel). — Very com- 

 mon between the 35th and 55th degrees of S. lat., particularly at 

 the Cape of Good Hope, VanDiemcn's Land and Cape Horn. It 

 is the largest member of the genus. 



Procellar'ia aquinoctialis, Linn. (White-throated Black Petrel). 

 — From what I have observed of this species, it would appear to be 

 more abundant off the Cape of Good Hope than elsewhere ; it is 

 also to be met with, but more sparingly, off the coasts of Australia, 

 and in all probability, like most of the other members of the ge- 

 nus, it makes a circuit of the globe. 



I have some specimens in my possession of a petrel which I 

 observed to be very abundant in the Atlantic and Pacific, and 

 which have a broad stripe of white crossing the forehead, passing- 

 down before and beneath the eye, and then turning upwards 

 nearly meeting at the occi})ut, the bill short and compact, and 

 the middle toe and interdigital membranes quite black : in con- 

 sequence of these differences, I had intended to characterize these 

 birds as distinct from P. (equinoctialis under the name of P. con- 

 spicillata from the white markings of the head ; but upon recon- 

 sideration, I think it best to refrain from so doing until I have 

 had further opportunities for observation and of examining other 

 specimens ; in the event of their proving to be distinct, the name 

 I have proposed may not be deemed inappropriate. 



Procellaria Atlantica (Black Petrel), n. sp. — Male : the whole 

 of the plumage deep chocolate-black ; bill and feet jet-black. 



Total length 15^ inches ; bill If; wing 11^; tail, cuneiform, 5 ; 

 tarsi 2| ; middle toe and nail 2§. 



This is one of the commonest species inhabiting the Atlantic, 

 and no ship passes between our shores and theCapc of Good Hope 

 without encountering it ; it is a species respecting which very con- 

 siderable confusion exists in the writings of nearly all the older 

 authors. It is the P. faliginosa of Forster's Drawings, no. 93 B, 

 and the P.fuliginosa of Lichtenstein^s edition of Forster's MSS. 

 p. 23, which term cannot be retained, as it had already been 

 applied by Latham to a very different bird from Otaheite; it 

 is the P. grisea of Kuhl but not of Linnpeus, who has applied the 

 term to another sjjccies, consequently grisea cannot be retained 

 for it ; and hence I have been induced to give it a new appellation, 

 and thereby prevent misapprehension for the future. 



Procellaria maa'optera, Smith ? (Gray-faced Black Petrel). — I 

 think that a bird I killed in the seas off Van Piemen's Land, 



