Vol. xxvii.] 44 



various forms of Pufiims obscurus, and adopted^ with reserve, 

 the name of P. o. bailloni, Bonap,, for the birds from the 

 North Atlantic (Madeira group, Canary Islands, Azores, and 

 Cape Verde Islands). The same provisional name has, for 

 want of specimens from the Seychelles and neighbouring 

 islands, been adopted by Mr. Godman in his 'Monograph of 

 the Petrels.' We have now, in the Tring Museum, six fine 

 adult examples of both, sexes, as well as birds in moult and 

 young from the Seychelles and Reunion, and it is evident 

 that the bird from the North Atlantic differs from these as 

 follows : — 



" The lores, which are dark in P. o. bailloni, are white, 

 except on the uppermost part, in P. o. atlanticus ; the dark 

 patch on each side of the chest is larger and of a darker 

 brown in P. o. bailloni, while in P. o. atlanticus it is greyer 

 in colour. Size similar. ' Wing-measurement of P. o. atlan- 

 ticus 180-190 mm. 



" Type in the Tring Museum : (J ad. Porto Santo, near 

 Madeira, 16. ii. 95. Padre Ernesto Schmitz coll. 



"^P. 0. bailloni was described from the 'Isle de France,' i.e, 

 Mauritius. There is only one form met with in the North- 

 east Atlantic, but on the American side P. o. audubqni occurs. 

 The amount of white on the edging to the inner webs of the 

 quills varies, being sometimes absent, sometimes more or 

 less developed. We have shown (Nov. Zool. t. c. p. 196) 

 that these birds from Madeira, &c. are not the same as P. o. 

 assimilis from the Australian and New Zealand seas.'' 



Mr. Rothschild and Dr. Hartert also exhibited a new 

 form of Spider-hunter, which they proposed to name 



MeLILESTES NOV/E-GUINEiE FLAVIVENTRIS, Subsp. n. 



Adult male. Differs from M. n. novce-guineee (Less.) in 

 having the underside, especially the abdomen, lighter and 

 more yellow, and the upperside also of a rather more 

 \ellowish-grecn. The average size is also rather smaller : 

 the wing-measurement in males varies from 66-69 mm., as 

 compared with 69-72*8 in M. n. iiova-guinecB. 



Hub. Aru Is^lands (Kobrur, Trangan, Wokan). 



