PROCELLARIIDyE - THE PETRELS — PUFKINUS. 



379 



The egg is largo, and somewhat rounded in shape, pure white in color, and without 

 spots, or sonu'tiiues white, washed with gray ; it measures L'.T'* incrhes in its greater 

 diameter, and 1.85 in its smaller. The female alone jiert'orms tiie duties of incuba- 

 tion ; and as soon .as the young bird is liatehed, id)andons her nt!st and liides the 

 nestling in sonui other retreat in the neighborhood, and visits it only during the 

 night to bring its food. 



This bird feeds ijrineipally on lish, mollusks, and crustaceans, which it colleets 

 from the surface of the water. It is most commonly seen on tiie approacdi of a 

 tempest, or during the morning or evening twilight. The young, when they first 

 appear, are covered with a thick downy coat of a bright ashy gray. 



Pu£Bnu8 borealis. 



THE NOSTEEBN 8H£ABWATES. 



Pufflnus bnrcttlin, Coitv, Bull. Niitt. Din. (.'lub, VI. no. 2, April, 1881, 84 (coast of Massnchusctts). — 

 Jon, ib. VIII. ()i!t. 1883, 244 (oirCiipo Cod, in August). 



Sp. Chak. " A])ove, brownish ash, the feathers of the back becoming pale at the tips, those 

 on the nape and sides of the neck narrowly tipped with white ; on the sides of the neck and head 

 the ash and wliite gradually mingling, as in P. Kuhlii. Tii)s of the upper tail-coverts wliite. Under 

 eyelid white, showing clearly in coiUrast with the ashy gray of the head. The first three jjrinia- 

 ries are light ash on the inner webs. Wings and tail brownish gray. Under parts white, .sliglitly 

 touched with ash on the flanks ; lining of wings white. Under tail-coverts white, the longest 

 tinged with ash near the ends, which extend nearly to the tips of the longest tail-feathers. Out- 

 side of foot greenish black, inside and webs dull orange ; bill pale yellowish at the biuse, shading 

 into greenish black, but again becoming pale near the tip. 



" Length, 20..')0 inches ; wing, 14.50 ; bill (straight line to tip), 2.25, depth at base, .75 ; tdl, 

 (i.50 ; tarsus, 2.20. 



"The type specimen of this Shearwater was killed near Chatham Island, Cape Cod, Mass., 

 on the nth of October last. Being unacrpiainted with it, I showed it to some fishermen, and 

 rccpiested them to procure any birds they nnght meet with resembling it. During the afternoon 

 one of the boats returned bringing a number of birds of this species. The men stated that they 

 had met with a flock a short distance from shore, and had shot several and knocked others down 

 with tiieir oars. According to their statement, after firing the first shot the birds flew about them 

 in a dazed manner, often passinjj; within a few feet of the boat" (Cory, I. c). 



This Shearwater, of which the National Museum has received two specimens since the above 

 was written, is a near ally of P. Kuhlii, but is decidedly larger, and somewhat different in color- 

 ation. The coloration of the bill and other soft parts are in particidar supposed to difler much in 

 life and in freshly killed e.xamples of the two species. The two examples in the National Collection 

 measure as follows : — 



No. 82488, male adult, Chatham, Mass., Oct. 11, 1880. Wing, 13.75 inches ; tail, 5.60 ; culmen, 

 2.10 ; depth of bill through base, ,80 ; tarsus, 2.25 ; nnddle toe, 2.45, 



No. 9.3040, adult (sex not given), same locality, Oct. 12, 1880. Wing, 14.00 inches ; tail, 6.70 ; 

 culmen, 2,25 ; depth of bill through base, .80 ; tarsus, 2.15 ; middle toe, 2.30. 



The habits and distribution of this recently discovered species are little known, the following, 

 by Mr. Herbert K. Job, in the " Nuttall Bulletin " (VIII. 244), comprising nearly all there is on 

 record : — 



" On the 2d of last August I was out in a yacht collecting sea-bir<ls, about thirty miles east- 

 ward from the southeast end of Cape Cod. Wilson's Petrels, Pomarine Skuas, and Greater and 

 Sooty Shearwaters were abundant. Both these Shearwaters were often seen sitting on the water 

 in flocks, associating freely with one another, and were easily approached. 



" On one occasion 1 sailed up to ([uite a large flock, and shot a P. fuliginosus. As the rest rose, 

 I suddenly perceived amongst them a Shearwater entirely new to me ; and my other barrel soon 



