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DUSKY SHEARWATER. 



PUFFINUS OBSCURUS (J. F. Gmelin) 



Procellaria obscura, Gmelin, Syst. Nat. i. p. 559 (1788). 

 Puffinus obscurus, Yarr. ed. 4, iv. p. 27. 



Only two occurrences of this bird in our country have 

 hitherto been recorded — one off the island of Valentia, 

 in May 1853, and the other near Bungay, in Suffolk, in 

 April 185S ; but as the only remarkable differences 

 between it and the Manx Shearwater are the smaller 

 size and darker general colour of the upper parts in 

 the present species, I consider it as more than probable 

 that the Dusky Shearwater may often occur off our 

 coasts without special notice. In this connection I 

 may state that, although I am totally unacquainted with 

 this species, even " in skin," I have frequently noticed 

 considerable difference in the spread of wings in the 

 smaller Shearwaters seen during sea-passages from this 

 country to Gibraltar. The Dusky Shearwater is said 

 to have a wide range, both in the Atlantic and the 

 Pacific. It was formerly plentiful on the Bermudas, 

 and breeds in numbers on the Bahamas ; in both of 



