854 PUFFINUS 



Is said to spend the day out at sea and the night in its nest 

 hole. Its flight is direct and very swift, and its food consists of 

 small shrimps, crustaceans, and molluscs. Immense numbers 

 breed on the islands in Bass's Straits, nesting in holes burrowed 

 in the ground, depositing late in November each a single white 

 egg, which measures about 2'75 by T88. 



1175. CAHOW. 

 PUFFINUS OBSCURUS. 



PuffinuB obscurus (Gmel.), Syst. Nat. i. p. 559 (1788) ; Gould, B. of E. v. 

 pi. 444 ; Audub. B. N. Am. pi. 299 ; Dresser, ix. p. 403, pi. 720 ; 

 Salvin, Cat. B. Br. Mus. xxv. p. 382 ; Lilford, vi. p. 141, pi. 61 ; 

 P. auduboni, Finsch, P.Z.S. 1872, p. Ill ; Kidgway, p. 60 ; P. tene- 

 brosus, Natt. fide Pelz. Ibis, 1873, p. 47 ; Ridgway, p. 60. 



Oahow, in Bermuda. 



Ad. (Bermudas). Upper parts slaty black ; under parts white extend- 

 ing to the eye ; feathers on the sides of the head and neck mottled ; under 

 wing-coverts white ; axillaries white slightly marked with slaty black at 

 the tip ; bill blackish plumbeous paler on the lower mandible ; outside of 

 tarsus and the outer toe blackish plumbeous, the rest fleshy yellow ; iris 

 blackish brown. Culmen 1 B 45, wing 7'0, tail 3*2, tarsus 1'5 inch. Sexes 

 alike. 



Hob. The tropical and subtropical seas of the whole world ; 

 the eastern coasts of North America from New Jersey to Florida 

 and formerly in abundance in Bermuda ; of accidental occur- 

 rence on the coasts of the British Islands. 



In habits this Shearwater resembles P. anglorum, and like 

 that species nests in holes in the ground or in rocks, or under 

 projecting rocks, depositing in March a single white egg like 

 that of P. anglorum, but smaller, measuring about 2*05 by T40. 



1176. EASTERN DUSKY SHEARWATER. 

 PUFFINUS ASSIMILIS. 



Puffinus assimiUs, Gould, P.Z.S. 1837, p. 156 ; id. B. of Austral, vii. 

 pi. 59 ; Dresser, ix. p. 407 ; Salvin, Cat. B. Br. Mus. xxv. p. 384 ; 

 Eidgway, p. 61 ; Saunders, p. 743 ; P. nugax, Solander, M.S. Bp. 

 Consp. ii. p. 205 (1856) ; P. bailloni, Bp. Compt. Kend. xlii. p. 769 

 (1856). 



Ad. (Porto Santo). Differs from P. olscurus in having the upper parts 

 rather bluer in tinge, the white extending rather more round the eye and 

 on the lores ; under wing-coverts, axillaries, and under tail-coverts pure 

 white ; outer portion of inner web of primaries white except at the tip ; 



