I r 



PI 



378 



THE TUUE-NOSEI) SVVIMMEUS — TUBINAUES. 



some writers, has been given by others to entirely ditr*>rent species. In speaking 

 of one we are liable to quote accounts of habits or resulence that belong to another. 

 This species is of rare anil even doubtful occurrence in the United States. 



Mr. E. L. Layard (" Ibis," 1863) mentions procuring the eggs of what I presume 

 to be this species, on islands north of Mauritius. The birds were breeding in holes 



in the cliffs. Tlieir eggs are said to 

 liave measured 2.50 inches in lergth 

 and 1.50 in breadth, and their color to 

 be of a dull white. 



This species, referred to as P. rlne- 

 reus, is stated to have been met with 

 by Mr. T. L. Powys among the Ionian 

 Islands. Mr. C. A. Wright, in his Notes 

 on the Birds of Malta ("Ibis," 1864), 

 speaks of it as resident and breeding 

 on the southern coast of Malta and 

 Gozo, and also on the small islands of 

 Filfa and Comino. It is said to lay 

 a single unspotted egg of pure Avhite, 

 rather large, and to deposit it on the 

 bare ground, in a crevice, or under a 

 fragment of rock. While it is sitting 

 on its egg it allows itself to be taken. 

 Avithout making any attempt to escape, 

 merely snapping with its strong sharp bill. Both the old and the young birds, when 

 handled, are apt to eject, in a very disagreeable manner, a greenish fluid formed by 

 their feeding on the Liula crithmoides, one of the few plants which grow on those 

 rocky islets. 



Lieutenant Sperling also mentions finding these birds breeding in considerable 

 numbers among the rocks of a small precipitous uninhabited island near Malta. He 

 also noticed them at sea sitting on the water, where they were easily approached. 

 Mr. Godman met with this species in all the archipelagoes of Madeira and the 

 Canaries, and thinks that it must breed on the Desertas or some of the neighbor- 

 ing islands, as he saw it there in the month of June in considerable numbers. 

 Mr. E. C. Taylor (''Ibis," 1878) mentions the capture of a single individual in 

 Alexandria, Egypt, in April, 1877. 



Mr. Howard Saunders found this bird very abundant on the Mediterranean coast 

 of Spain. It appeared to be much less nocturnal than the P. anglonim, and coulfl 

 be found in great numbers in the daytime. Both species are said to breed on tlio 

 Island of Dragonena ; but, to his great surprise, he found that he was too late for 

 their eggs on the 20th of May. 



Degland and Gerbe state that this species inhabits the Mediterranean and certain 

 points in the Atlantic Ocean. It is found off the coast of Provence, Corsica, Sar- 

 dinia, Sicily, in the Adriatic, in the Grecian Archipelago, and on the coast of 

 Barbary, etc. It is said to wander to Greenland, and to be found thence to the 

 Canary Islands ; but Mr. L. Kumlien, while he speaks of it as common from Belle 

 Isle to Grinnell Bay, did not observe any either on Cumberland Island or on the 

 Greenland coast. 



It breeds on the islands near the harbors of Marseilles, Toulon, and Hy^res, nesting 

 in holes in the rocks, laying upon the gi'ound, without any preparations for a nest. 



