1893.] PETRELS mOM THE KERMADEC ISLANDS. 751 



which it differs much in the stoutness of the bill and in the 

 colours of the feet, as well as in the plumage. From CE. leuco- 

 ptem it differs in being lighter in colour and in the outer tail- 

 feathers having the inner weh white at the base and speckled with 

 grey at the tip. 



" Not uncommon dm'ing the summer months, arriving about 

 the beginning of November and leaviag again at the end of April. 

 It breeds on Meyer Island and more sparingly on Sunday Island, 

 generally in company with P. asshnilis. It constructs a burrow 

 sometimes over a yard in length, depositing a single pure white 

 egg at the extremity." (Cheeseman.) 



■y- (EsTEELATA OEEViOALis, Salvin, Ibis, 1891, p. 192. 



(Estrelata, sp., Cheeseman, Trans. N. Z. Inst. vol. xxiii. p. 224. 



Two specimens from Sunday Island, one adult, the other wdth 

 down still remaining. Length 18 inches, wing 12*5, tail 6, bill 1'5, 

 tarsus 1*6, mid toe 1*7. 



Crown of the head, occiput, and below the eyes rusty black, the 

 feathers of the posterior part of the forehead white with a black 

 spot in the centre. Front, lores, chin, throat, malar and auricular 

 regions, neck all round, breast, abdomen, and crissum pure white. 

 Under wing-coverts white, with a dark patch inside the MTist- 

 joint. Back sooty black ; between the shoulders the feathers are 

 largely tipped with grey, A^hich gets less and less and disappears 

 on the uropygium. The anterior part of the back is entirely grey, 

 and this colour extends slightly on to the breast on each side, but 

 not below the wings when folded. Some of the feathers of the 

 flanks are tipped with grey or blackish. Upper taU-coverts 

 brownish grey. Tail-feathers brownish grey, ^^'hite at the base ; 

 the outer feathers with the inner webs white. Upper wing- 

 coverts sooty black, the greater coverts very narrowly margined 

 with grey. Primaries sooty black, the inner web of the first 

 white at the base only. The wiugs when folded -reach to about 

 the end of the tail. Bill strong, black. Tarsi, the first and 

 greater part of the second joint of the inner toe, the first joint 

 of the middle toe, and the web between them yellow. Distal 

 portion of the feet black. 



Nestling. — The down still on the back of the head, back, flanks, 

 and crissum. The colours of the plumage resemble those of the 

 adult but are lighter. The feathers of the back are more broadly 

 margined with light grey, as also are those of the uropygium. 

 The upper wing-coverts, both greater and median, are margined 

 with grey, and the feathers of the wings and tail are ligliter than 

 iu the adult. On the other hand the yellow of the feet and tarsi 

 is much darker. The measurements of the two ai*e much the same. 



I have to thank JMr. O. Salvin for identifying this bird. I have 

 not seen his description in ' The Ibis.' 



" It arrives about the end of September and reniaius until the 

 end of .lune, being one of the last Petrels to leave the island. It 

 is solitary in its habits, and very seldom can two nests be found in 



