PUFFINUS CHLORORHYNCHUS. 265 



Adult Male (Cevlon).— Length from skin, 15 5 inches; wing. 10 6 ; tail, 5 2 ; tarsus, 

 1'8; middle toe, 2 : 0; outer toe, 2-0; bill to gape (straight), 20 ; length ofnosthl 

 tube, 03. 



Iris dusky ; bill dusky greenish; legs and feet fleshy white. 



Above glossy smoke-brown ; the wing-coverts and tertials slightly darker than the 

 back, the latter with a greyish tinge or bloom (similar to the appearance of a Tern's 

 wing) on the centre of the feathers ; primaries and tail brownish black ; beneath uni- 

 form pale brown ; the chin and gorge pervaded with ashy grey; under tailcoverts 

 dark brown, the tips slightly paler than the rest of the feathers; under wing uniform 

 grey-brown. 



6bs. — An example of this Petrel in the British Museum from Bourbon is a. facsimile 

 of the specimen here described ; the only difference perceptible is the slightly less grey 

 tint of the under surface. It measures : — Wing, 108 inches; tail, 50 ; tarsus, 1'8; mid- 

 dle toe and claw, 2"25 ; bill to gape (straight), 2 ; length of nostril tube, - 35. 



This species is very close to P. fuliginosus, which is larger, has a longer bill and 

 white under wing-coverts ; wing, llo to 11'7 inches; tarsus, 21 ; bill to gape, 2 2. 



A species of this group inhabiting the Persian Gulf, and larger than the Dusky 

 Shearwater, P. obscurus, Gm., has been described by Mr. Hume as P. persicus (Str . 

 Feath., 1873, p. 5). It measures: — Length. 13(J inches; wing, about 80 ; bill at front, 

 1 2. '• Bill pale lavender, dusky at the tip ; iris dark brown ; legs white, with an 

 opalescent gloss ; lower part of tarsus blackish" (Butler). Upper pluoiage blackish 

 brown, paler on the head; the under-parts white, with the flanks, axillaries, and a por- 

 tion of the under wing-coverts and the longer under tail-coverts deep brown ; the 

 white of the face encircles the eye, extending backwards from the posterior angle as a 

 narrow streak for 4 inches (Hume) 



Distribution. — This species, which is one of the most interest- 

 ing of late additions to the Avifauna of Ceylon, occurred for the 

 first time on the west coast in May 1875. During the height 

 of the south-west monsoon two individuals were met with on 

 the Bolgodde Lake, not far from Panedura. They were on the 

 water near the mouth of the lake, and one was shot, the other 

 escaping. The specimen procured was sent to Mr. Mac Vicar, 

 who gave it to me. In January 1875, I saw two Petrels, 

 evidently of the same species, swimming in the sea near the 

 fort of Trincomalie ; aud recently Mr. MacVicar writes to me 

 that the Colombo Museum has acquired a specimen shot last 

 year on the west coast. The Green-billed Petrel would, there- 

 fore, appear to be a not unfrequent straggler as far north as 

 Ceylon. It is an inhabitant of the southern part of the Indian 

 Ocean, and is not at all uncommon at the Mauritius, Bourbon, 

 liodriguez, and other islands. Mr. Edward Newton met with 

 it at Rodriguez in October; and the Shearwater of the Sey- 

 chelles, which he met with between the islands of Praslin and 

 Mahe, is identified by him doubtfully as this species. Speci- 

 mens were evidently not procured, and hence the doubtful 

 identification ; but it is probable, I think, that the birds seen 

 were Green-billed Shearwaters. I have seen dark Petrels near 

 the Cocos Islands, and thence southwards to the vicinity of the 

 west coast of Australia, which I conclude belonged to the 

 present species. 



Habits. — Like other members of this family, this Petrel is 

 purely a denizen of the ocean, dwelling on the wide waste of 

 waters hundreds, nay thousands, of miles from land, which it 

 rarely approaches, except for the purpose of rearing its young. 



