156 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



water appeared in enormous numbers off Point Judith, R. I., Buzzard's 

 bay and Vine}'ard sound, Mass., feeding on the herring which occurred 

 there in unusual abundance [see Baird, Auk, 4:71]. The following are om* 

 New York records: 



Gardiners bay, L. I. Sept.-Oct. 1886. (Worthington). Chadbourne, Auk, 5: 203 



Amagansett, L. I. About Oct. 18, 1887, Butcher, Auk, 5: 175 



Ram island shoals, L. I. Oct. 20, 1887. c? ? Butcher Collection 



Little Gull Island. Aug. 6 -16,1888. (2). Butcher, Auk, 6: 128 



Montauk, L. I. Nov. 29, 1889. (i). (Scott). Butcher, L. I. Notes 



Off Fire island inlet, L. I. Oct. 4, 1902. (2). Braislin, Auk, 21: 287 



It is an uncommon siommer visitant off Long Island but its breeding 

 grounds, probably in the southern seas, are unknown. By the early writers 

 it was confused with the Greater shearwater, but, as far as I know, 

 no specimens have been found in the Giraud and Lawrence collections. 

 According to Baird these shearwaters, as observed off the coast of Cape 

 Cod, in 1886, occurred in flocks of from fifty to two or three hundred and 

 were "generally found resting quietly on the water and feeding while 

 swimming, on the herrings that were so abundant in the vicinity. They 

 were very tame." According to Dutcher the specimens seen in Gardiners 

 bay were associated with the jaegers and like them were engaged in the 

 occupation of robbing the terns. He did not see them alight on the water. 



PuflSnus gravis (O'Reilly) 

 Greater Shearwater 



Procellaria gravis O'Reilly. Voyage to Greenland. 1818. p. 140, pi. 12, 



fig. I 

 Puffinuscinereus BeKay. Zool. N. Y. 1844. pt 2, p. 287, fig. 297, 298 

 Puffinus major A. O. U. Check List. Ed. 2. 1895. No. 89 



gra'vis, Lat., hea\^, great 



Description. Upper parts fuscous, the feathers edged with ashy; 

 white below, with brownish patches on the flanks; under tail coverts ashy 

 gray; bill blackish. 



Length 18-20 inches; extent 42-45; wing 13; tail 5.75, graduated for 

 one inch; bill 2; depth of bill .65; tarsus 2.4; middle toe and claw 2.9. 



