750 CAPT. r. Av. HUTToy ox A COLLECTION OP [Dec. 5, 



readily distinguished by the under wing-coverts, which are greyish 

 brown and considerably lighter than the upper wing-coverts ; 

 while in P. cMororliynchus tiie upper and lower wing-coverts are 

 of the same tint, and in P. griseus (Gm.) the under wing-coverts 

 are rather paler grey. In P. tenv.irostns the lower mandible is said 

 to be paler in colour than the upper, but this does not show in the 

 dried skin. 



This species is not uncommon in the North Island of Xew 

 Zealand, but I have never seen a specimen from the South Island. 

 P. griseus, on the contrary, is extremely abundant at Stewart 

 Island and Foveaux Straits, and gets rare further north. 



-i PUTFrNTTS ASSIMILIS. 



P. assimilis, Gould; Buller, Birds of N. Z. 2nd ed. vol. ii. 

 p. 239 ; Cheeseman, Trans. X. Z. Inst. vol. xxiii. p. 226. 



One specimen. Length 11 inches, wing 7*o, tail 3, bill 1, 

 tarsus 1"5, mid toe I'o. 



It seems that the Kermadec Island birds are smaller than those 

 from Xew Zealand, for Sir W. Buller remarks that the bird in the 

 British Museum obtained by Mr. John Macgillivray on Raoul 

 Island (= Sunday Island) is somewhat smaller than the New 

 Zealand birds, thus agreeing with the present specimen. In New 

 Zealand this species is common in the Hauraki Gulf, but I have 

 not seen it south of Auckland. In the south it is replaced by the 

 larger species P. garia (Forst.), which is most abundant about 

 Cook's Strait and diminishes in numbers both to the north and to 

 the south. Sir W. Buller, in his ' Birds of Xew Zealand," 2nd ed. 

 vol. ii. p. 236, considers the bird from the Great Barrier Island 

 which I called P. assimilis (Trans. X. Z. Inst. vol. i. p. 161) to be 

 P. gavia, but this is not correct. The mistake, however, is my fault, 

 for when in my ' Catalogue of the Birds of Xew Zealand ' (Wel- 

 lington, 1872, p. 79) I showed that P. gavia of Forster — which 

 had up tiU then been thought to be an (Estrelata — A^as a species 

 of Piiffinua, I confused it with P. assimilis, although the species 

 appear to be distinct. 



Of this species Mr. Cheeseman says that great numbers were 

 breeding on Meyer Island in August 1887. They dig out burrows 

 for their nests, often of considerable length. 



': (Estrelata stgeipennis, Eothschild, Bull. Orn. Club. i. p. Ivii 

 (1893). 



(E. cool-ii, Cheeseman (Jide Buller), Trans. X. Z. Inst. vol. 

 xxiii. p. 224 : not of Gray. 



I have to thank Mr. O. Salvin for this determination. 



Five specimens, all alike, from Kermadec and Curtis Islands. 

 Length 12 inches, wing 9*1, tail 4-5, bill 0-9, tarsus 1-1, mid 

 toe 1-2. 



These birds are rather larger than (E. defiUpjnana, Salvad., but 

 they agree A^dth it very well in colour and proportions. In Xew 

 Zealand this species has been confounded with CE. cooki, from 



