1893.] PETEELS FROM THE KEEMADEC ISLAITDS. 753 



(E. mollis, Cbeeseman (fide BuUer), Trans. N. Z. Inst. vol. xxiii. 

 p. 225 ; Buller, Trans. N. Z. Inst. vol. xxiv, p. 85 ; not of Gould. 

 Two adults and one nestling from Sunday Island. Length 15-5 

 inches, wing 11*75, tail 4-5, bill 1*2, tarsus 1'5, mid toe 1*7. 



Forehead, top of the head, neck, and breast pale greyish brown, 

 the feathers of the forehead with a darker middle spot. A patch 

 in front of and below the eye, as well as a streak below the man- 

 dible, darker. Lores, chin, throat, and abdomen white. Back, upper 

 surface of wings, and tail dark brown. Under surface of mngs, 

 flanks, and under tail-coverts greyish brown. Crissum white 

 washed with grey. Primaries dark brown, the inner web white, 

 this colour not reaching so near the tip as in (E. leucoplirys, and 

 being narrowly pointed distally, and not reaching the shaft for 

 some distance down. Bill black. Tarsi, first joint of inner and 

 middle toes, and the webs between them pale ; the distal portion of 

 the feet black. The wings when folded extend about an inch 

 beyond the tail. 



Nestling. — Sunday Island, Nov. 1890. The down is still on the 

 axillary and flank feathers and the primaries are not fully gro\^'n, 

 not reaching within an inch of the end of the tail. The bill and 

 feet are as large as in the adult. The colours generally are those 

 of the adult, but the lores are grey, the feathers of the forehead 

 have no dark central spot, and the tint of the breast is greyer. 

 The legs and feet are much the same as in the adult. It is pos- 

 sible that this may be the young of the next species. 



In both specimens the line of junction of the feathers with the 

 base of the bill descends perpendicularly from the base of the 

 nasal tubes nearly to the commissure and then suddenly turns 

 backward. 



This bird was considered by Sir W. Buller to be (E. mollis, but 

 that species is smaller, has the whole of the inner web of the 

 primaries dark, and the outer tail-feathers white speckled with 

 grey. I doubt whether (E. mollis has ever been found in the 'New 

 Zealand seas. Dr. Finsch certainly identified a bird taken by 

 the ' Novara ' Expedition as ffi*. mollis, but as he also considered 

 <E. affinis (Buller) to be the same, it is evident that, at the time, he 

 did not know the true mollis. (E. affinis has the inner half only 

 of the inner web of the primaries white, and it has been identified 

 by Mr. O. Salvin with (E. (jularis (Peale). It seems to me that 

 Procellaria ineccpectata (Forster) is the same, although it has been 

 identified with (E. mollis by Dr. R. Bowdler Sharpe. 



Mr. Cbeeseman informs me that (E. neglecta is certainly the 

 winter Mutton-bird of the Kermadec settlers, which is said to breed 

 only on Meyer Island and other outlying rocks during the winter 

 months, the young being ready to depart when the true Mutton- 

 birds arrive at the end of August Mr. Cbeeseman says that at 

 the time of his visit (August 1887) the slopes of Meyer Island 

 were crowded with nearly full-grown fledglings sitting at the roots 

 of the trees. At his approach they uttered hoarse cries and en- 

 deavoured to escape by rolling down the hill, the old birds circling 



