• PROCELLARIID^. 407 



nights is described as a dreadful mixture of the squalling of children and 

 the caterwauliugs of thousands of cats ; thej' lay a single egg in their 

 burrows, and are very fierce when their nests are interfered with. 



The figure given by Mr. Dresser is taken from an example obtained in 

 Plymouth Sound. In Lord Lilford's ' Coloured Figures of the Birds of 

 the British Islands ' is a beautiful plate giving two Sooty Shearwaters 

 taken from specimens from the Yorkshire coast. 



Greater Shearwater. Puffinus major, Faber. 



[Hackbolt.] 



An irregular winter visitor from the Atlantic to the south coast of 

 Devon, sometimes in large numbers. It generally keeps far out at sea, 

 but early in November 1874 numbers visited the south coast after an almost 

 total disappearance for many years (J . G., Zool. 1874, p. 42(32 ; 1875, 

 p. 4300). This Shearwater was first distinguished from P. amjlorum by 

 Dr. E. Moore in his " Cat. Birds of Devon"' (Mag. Nat. Hist. 1837). 



This is another large species of Shearwater belonging to the Atlantic 

 Ocean, commonly seen every autumn off the Scilly Isles, and occasionally 

 met with in large flocks off the Cornish coast, at Mount's Bay, off 

 Looe and Polperro, and also in Plymouth Sound, where Mr. Gatcombe 

 obtained several examples. It has also been seen further to the east in 

 the English Channel off the Dorset coast, having occurred in Poole Har- 

 bour, Swanage Bay, &c. We have in our collection a fine adult specimen 

 which was caught at Penzance in January 1872, and was forwarded to us 

 with a note that at that time there was only one other specimen existing 

 in that town, which had been shot at the Land's End. We have never 

 heard of this Shearwater on the North Devon coast, but as it never comes 

 into the estuaries it has probably been undetected, for it must occasionally 

 enter the mouth of the Bristol Channel and occur off Lundy and Clovclly. 

 Mr. Joseph Dui\n, who some years ago was well known as a dealer in birds' 

 eggs and skins at Stromuess, in Orkney, once wrote to inform us that, one day 

 when he was out in his boat fishing in the summer-time, and had no gun 

 with him, he was suddenly surrounded by a great flock of these large Shear- 

 waters, which kept near him for sohjg time. In its flight and actions this 

 8i)ecie8 closely resembles the Manx Shearwater, and although it is widely 

 distributed, notliing certain is as yet known respecting its breeding- 

 stations, although eggs, purporting to belong to it, liave been brought 

 from South Greenland. Our s])ecimeii, which we have before us, has 

 pure white under2)arts, a liglitish brown cap upon the head, tlic back 

 brown, with paler margins to some of the feathers, and the tail and wings 

 dark brown. 



TlitTf is a ppociinen of tlio Oreater Rlienrwatcr in the Torqiiay Ariisoiim, wliicli wn8 

 taken witli a liook and line in Torhiiy in l.SliO (Zool. 1.S74, |>. ."I'.tUtt) ; anil anolln-r was 

 taken in the same way outside Torbay in IHCm (F. I'erBliousu, Jun., Truua. Devon. 

 Assoc, viii. p. litiS). One occurred off llerry llead in February 1801) (A. von 11., Zool. 

 laOD, p. IT-'U). 



