752 CAPT. F. W. HUTTON ON A COLLECTION OF [DeC. 5, 



the same locality. Its breeding-place is usually near the mountain- 

 top, in some dark guUy filled with palms and fern-trees, and 

 generally its burrow is made at the roots of the latter. It is 

 purely nocturnal in its habits, and rarely leaves its burrow during 

 the daytime. An egg sent to me by Mr. BeU measured 2*5 

 inches in length by 1'9 in breadth, and is pure white in colour." 

 {CJieeseman.) 



CEsTEELATA LEUCOPHRTS, sp. nov. (Plate LXIII.) 

 (E. mollis, albino, BuUer, Trans. N. Z. Inst. vol. xxiv . p. 85 : not 

 of Gould. 



Two specimens from Sunday Island. Length 17 inches, wing 

 12, tail 5, bill 12, tarsus 1-5, mid toe 1*75. 



Specimen no. 1 {type). — Head, neck, and whole of the under 

 surface pure white, the feathers of the front arxd crown with very 

 pale brown centres. Back, uropygium, tail, and all the upper 

 surface of the wings pale ashy brown. Under surface of the 

 wings white, the axillary feathers tinged with ash-grey towards 

 the tips, as also are the outer under tail-coverts. Primaries 

 brownish ash, the inner web white, which colour extends nearer 

 to the tip than in (E. negleeta. Ojter tail-feathers with the inner 

 web white at the base only. Bill black. Ttsus, inner toe, first 

 and half the second joint of the middle toe, first joint of the 

 outer toe, and the web between them, pale ; the distal portion 

 of the foot black. 



Specimen no. 2 {younfj ?). — Like the last, but darke-. Back, 

 uropygium, tail, and upper surface of wings dar'i brown ; under 

 wing-coverts and axillary feathers brown. Feet with the first 

 joint only of all the toes, and the web between them, pale; the 

 rest black. 



In both specimens the wings, when folded, reach to about the 

 end of the tail. The dark co'our of the leet r"akes me think that 

 the darker-coloured bird is the younger of the two. .ludgirg from 

 the general colour of the plumage it may possiWy be the same as 

 P. alha of G-melin, of whx'h I have not the original description ; 

 but that name has been applied to so many different species as to 

 lead me to believe that the description is very vague, and if so the 

 name had better be dropped. It differs from CE. lessoni in not 

 having a black band through the eye. It was thought by Sir "W. 

 BuUer to be a variety of the next species ; but, in addition to its 

 colours, it is easily distinguished by the white on the inner webs 

 of the primaries, by its larger size, and by the wings not reaching 

 beyond the tail. The type is in the Auckland Museum. 



Mr. Bell, who lived on Sunday Island and collected many of the 

 birds, told Mr. Cheeseman that he had seen very few individuals 

 of this species, but that they had the same breeding-habits as the 

 Kermadec Mutton-birds {(E. incerta) and consorted with them. 



CESTBELATA NEGLECTA. 



Procellaria negleeta, Schlegel. 



(E. negleeta, Coues, Proc. Phil. Acad. 1866, p. 170. 



