DAPTION CAPENSIS. 1057 



Iris brown ; bill black; legs and feet deep brown, the toes spotted at the side with whitish. 



Head, face, cheeks, hind neck and its sides brownish black ; the upper throat and chin spotted with the same in some, 

 in others with the white of the entire under surface extending almost to the chin ; back, scapulars, rump, upper 

 tail-coverts, and tail white, tipped with black, gradually less to the upper tail-coverts ; tail with a black 

 terminal band 1| inch in width; lesser wing-coverts, primary-coverts, terminal portion of the secondaries, outer 

 webs of the primaries, and a considerable part of their inner webs brown-black ; greater coverts and rest of the 

 primaries and secondaries white ; under tail-coverts tipped with blackish brown ; axillaries tipped with black ; all 

 the central part of the under wing white, black round the edge. 



Captain Hutton observes that this species varies but little in plumage, so that the adult dress must be put on by the 

 time the young birds have spread over the ocean and commenced to follow ships, after the manner of their kind. 



Distribution. — This well-known Petrel, the Cape Pigeon of sailors, finds a place as an oceanic species in 

 the list of Ceylon birds owing to the fact of an example having been killed in the Gulf of Manaar between 

 Ceylon and the mainland. Mr. Hume recorded the capture of this bird (which, it would appear, was killed by 

 a Mr. Theobald) some years ago in the ' Ibis.' It is a remarkable instance of a southern oceanic species 

 straying far beyond the limits of its ordinary range ; and there is no reason why the Antarctic Skua should 

 not likewise have wandered thus far north. This species is one of the most abundant Petrels in the southern 

 hemisphere, and is familiar to all who have made the voyage round either cape to Australia. It is equally 



white, the middle of the breast and belly blackish brown ; axillaries and centre of under wing white ; bases of the 

 feathers across the throat whitish, showing conspicuously in some. Immature birds have the feathers of the back 

 and the scapulars tipped with white, and a conspicuous patch of the same across the throat. 



Distribution. — The identification of any bird on the wing, particularly an oceanic species, is at all times very unsatis- 

 factory ; and I regret exceedingly that the interesting little visitor in the shape of a Storm-Petrel, which has been 

 frequently seen on the Ceylon coasts, has not been shot, and its identity put beyond all doubt. Layard speaks of 

 it as occasionally flitting about the roads at Colombo and the G-alle harbour ; and Mr. Holdsworth has seen it at Colombo 

 and on the west coast during stormy weather, remarking in his catalogue that it has seemed to him " entirely black, with 

 the exception of the white rump." On the 19th August 1874 I observed an individual flying about in calm weather in 

 the wake of the colonial steamer ' Serendib ' at Batticaloa. I could see no other white marking about it bej^ond the white 

 upper tail-coverts, which would be the case with Wilson's Storm-Petrel, as the white under tail-coverts could not be 

 seen. As, however, the bird was not nearer to me than 100 yards, and was flying low, I could not have easily distin- 

 guished the white sides of the breast and belly had it been 0. melanogaster, and therefore it is impossible to say with 

 certainty what our species is. In the Mergui archipelago Mr. Davison has seen numbers of Storm-Petrels in July 

 which Mr. Hume considers to belong to this species. Captain Butler met with it and obtained specimens on the Mekran 

 coast and in the Gulf of Oman in May. It is found in the South Atlantic, frequenting Table Bay sometimes ; it ranges 

 into the North Atlantic, straying to the west coasts of Europe and the British Isles. In the Australian seas it is 

 abundant, and is seen generally off and on between there and the Cape of Good Hope. On the Australian coasts it is 

 recorded by Mr. Bamsay from Wide Bay, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania, and Western Australia. 

 It inhabits the New-Zealand seas, and has been found at New Caledonia. It is seen on the eastern coasts of North 

 America, and is not uncommon near the Azores, ranging also southwards to Kerguelen Land. 



Habits. — Like all Storm-Petrels, this little bird is an inhabitant of the wide ocean, being seen in company with its 

 congeners about ships, where it picks up plenty of food in the shape of refuse thrown overboard. It often settles 

 on the water, and flies much with its legs down, patting the crests of the waves as it skims over them ; and at this time 

 I have noticed that it raises its wings high above its back. Its flight is performed with rapid beating of the wings, and 

 is very speedy. Its tiny form, besides being very apparent against the huge billows, is much dwarfed by contrast with 

 immense Albatrosses, among which it often intrudes when following ships. 



I know nothing of the nidification of this Petrel ; but an egg in the Wolley collection, which Professor Newton 

 informs Mr. Dresser is probably authentic, measures 1-28 by - 81 inch. The Storm-Petrels breed on the ground among 

 stones, or in sandy burrows or crevices. The eggs are white, or white with small reddish freckles. 



