DAPTION CAPENSIS. 



(THE CAPE PETREL.) 



Procellaria capensis, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 213 (1766). 



Daption capensis (Linn.), Steph. Shaw's Gen. Zool. xiii. p. 241, pi. 28 (1820) ; Gould, B. 



of Austr. vii. pi. 53 (1848); Hutton, Ibis, 1865, p. 287; Hume, ibid. 1870, p. 438; 



Buller, B. of New Zeal. p. 299 (1873); Hume, Str. Feath. 1879 (List B. of Ind.), 



p. 116. 

 Le Petrel tachete ou le Dander, Buffon, PI. Enl. 964; White-and-Black-spotted Petrel, 



Edwards, Glean. ; Cape Pigeon, of sailors ; Pintado Petrel of some. 



.[•I nit male and female (Australian seas). Length, from the skin, about 10 - iuches ; wing 9 - 7 to 10 - 5 ; tail 4 - to 

 4*3 : tarsus T6 to 1*7 ; middle toe 2-0 to 2-1 ; bill to gape T5, height at tip 0'4 ; length of nostril-tube 04. 

 " Weight 14 to 18 oz." (Gould). " Expanse 36-0 inches " (Hutton). 



Genus OCEANITES. 



Bill slender, vertically compressed, tip much hooked : nostrils placed in a narrow single tube, much recurved at the 

 front. Wings much pointed, the 2nd quill the longest, the 3rd next and considerably longer than the 1st. Tail emar- 

 ginate, of 12 feathers. Legs moderately long, with a considerable portion of the tibia bare : tarsus smooth, and longer 

 than the outer toe, which exceeds the middle; claws flattened. 



Of small size. 



OCEANITES OCEANICUS. 



(wilson's storm-petrel.) 



Procellaria oceanica, Kuhl, Beitr. Zool. p. 136, tab. x. fig. 1 (1820). 



Thalassidroma wilsoni, Bonap. Comp. List, p. 64 (1838). 



? Thalassidroma pelaijiea (Linn.), Layard, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1854, xiv. p. 272. 



Thalassidroma ■ ?, Holdsw. P. Z. S. 1872, p. 480; Legge, Str. Feath. 1875, p. 375. 



Oceanites oceanicus (Kuhl), Dresser, B. of Eur. pt. 67, 68 (1878). 

 Mother Gary's Chicken of sailors (applied to all the Storm-Petrels). 



Adult female (Mekran coast). "Length 7'12 inches: wing 6-25, expanse 16-37; tail 3-0; tarsus 1*3 ; bill at front 



0"5, from gape - 7.'' (Hume.) 

 Iris brown ; bill black ; legs and feet shining black, the webs duller, with a yellow patch in the centre. 

 Dark sooty brown, the wings and tail blackish brown, and the tail darker than the back ; secondaries and tertials paler 



than the primaries : upper tail-coverts and the sides of the lower white ; lower flanks white in some. 



01, s. This species differs from the common Storm-Petrel, O. pelagica, in the length of its legs and the peculiar colora- 

 tion of its feet. It is slightly larger too. A specimen of the latter in my collection measures — wing 4-6 inches, 

 tarsus 0'0, bill to gape 0-6. 



<). melanogaster, Gould, which inhabits the Australian seas, and has been found in the Bay of Bengal, may occur on 

 the coasts of Ceylon, and may, indeed, be the species that has been seen there, instead of the subject of the present 

 article. It measures — wing 6-5 to 6-6 inches, tail 3-0 to 3-45, tarsus T65 to 1-7, bill to gape (straight) 0-83. 

 The upper tail-coverts are white, with the feathers of the rump above the white band tipped with white ; feathers 

 along the edge of the wing above and beneath whitish ; under tail-coverts, vent, and sides of bellv and breast 



