No. 1.] THE AUSTRAL AVIAN RECORD 25 



results being set forth in pp. 194-231. In view of my 

 note under " Porphyrio albus (White) " {ante), it is not 

 surprising, though very disappointing, to find his work 

 entirely ignored by the makers of the " Official Checklist 

 of the Birds of Australia." 



Halob^na c^jrulea (Gmelin). 



Mathews [I.e., p. 194) noted : " The general facies 

 recalls Pterodroma." This usage of " Pterodro^na " was 

 to cover the species classed under '' Mstrelata" by 

 Godman following Salvin, but more correctly it should 

 be written : " The general facies recalls Coohilaria " 

 This species is represented by one specimen in the 

 Reischek collection with the data "(j Nov., 1882, 

 Hauturu Island, North New Zealand." This bird was 

 placed next to a series of Coohilaria cooki Gray, and the 

 head and bill were so like those of that species that the 

 affinity of the genus may be with that in preference to 

 the Prions, v/hich it closely resembles in the coloration 

 of the back and wings only. 



Examination of the bills of nestlings may quickly 

 solve the question of the exact relationship, as the 

 nestling-prionitic bill is well differentiated from that 

 of the nestling Coohilaria. 



Pachyptila vittata vittata (Gmelin). 



In the Birds of Australia, Vol. II., 1912, p. 199, 

 Mathews used Prion Lacepede, restricting it to this 

 species. On the eve of publication of the first part of 

 our " Reference List of the Birds of New Zealand " (Ibis, 

 1913), I turned up a note I had made some three years 

 ago, questioning the availability of that genus name. 

 Upon consultation, Mathews agreed and Ave rejected it 

 as indeterminable, a bare note being given stating this 

 fact, and using Pachyptila Illiger. I take the present 

 opportunity of detailing the facts that led to that 

 conclusion. 



Lacepede, in the Tableau Oiseaux, p. 14, 1799, diagnosed 



