Goiigh, Kerguelen, and South Georgia Islands. 441 



One skin, one skeleton, and 75 eggs from Gough Island. 



It is only after a great deal of hesitation and careful consulting 

 of descriptions, that I have decided to describe this beautiful bird 

 as a new species, for I am well aware that many ornithologists will 

 doubt its validity in a group of birds so well known and so conspic- 

 uous. Unfortunately, in the absence of a series of specimens for 

 comparison, I have been obliged to confine myself to descriptions of 

 the allied spieces, but, if these are correct, our bird is certainly dis- 

 tinct. The two species most closely allied to eximiiis are T. culmin- 

 atus (Gould) and T. chlororhynchus (Gmelin) and the latter, as might 

 be expected from the locality, comes the closer to it. Gmelin's orig- 

 inal description of T. chlororhynchus \ * Dr. Coues' monograph of this 

 order, containing a very full and careful description of both species ; f 

 and Gould's original description J of culminatus and his descriptions 

 of both species in his " Handbook of the Birds of Australia " (vol. ii, 

 pp. 436, 437); have been consulted, and also Ridgeway's analytical 

 table in his '* Manual of North American Birds " (pp. 52, 53, pi. xiv, 

 fig. 1). From all of these descriptions, and whatever others I have 

 been able to find, it differs noticeably. 



The types of this species, as stated above, consist of a skin and a 

 skeleton, the latter roughly cleaned (apparently in part by parboil- 

 ing), but with the legs and feet in good condition and retaining the 

 skin and claws, though the latter are somewhat worn; and the bill 

 with its sheath still on. 



The general description is as follows : Forehead and fore part of 

 the head on top, pure white from the bill back to about the center of 

 the eyes, from there gradually blending into pale ash-gray, which 

 extends around onto the cheeks and sides of the head, but again 

 fades out to pure white on the throat. In front of the eye, almost 

 from the base of the bill, and bordered on top by the pure white 

 of the forehead, is a very dark, sooty gray, patch, which extends 

 over the eye and around to the center of the lower lid, where 

 it stops abruptly, the rest of the lower lid and the space imme- 

 diately behind the eye being pure white, blending into the 

 ash of the surrounding parts. Back of the head and neck 

 light ash-gray, gradually darkening posteriorly and becoming dark 

 sooty-brown on the back and scapulars. Wings, above, uniform 

 dark sooty brown, remiges a little lighter on the inner webs, shafts 



* Sys. Nat., vol. i. part ii, p. 568. 



f Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phil., 1866, pp. 183, et. seq. 



X Proc. Zool. Soc, 1843, p. 107. 



