430 PEOCELLAEDD^. 



presence of vast numbers of large land-crabs that inhabit burrows all over the islands 

 and would very likely destroy eggs and young of such a bird as Oceanodroma " ^. 



Another species which has white upper tail-coverts, and probably occurs within 

 Central- American waters, is 0. macrodactyla of Bryant, of Guadalupe Island. This 

 is larger than 0. koedingi, with broad black tips to the white upper tail-coverts, and 

 exhibits on the wing a very conspicuous light brown patch, consisting of the median 

 and greater wing-coverts. Long, tota circa 8'3, alse 6'6, caudae 3-5, culm. 0'7, tarsi 0-9. 



2. Oceanodroma melania. 



Procellaria melania, Bp. Compt. Rend, xxxviii. p. 662 *. 



Thalassidroma melania, Bp. Consp. Av. ii. p. 196 '. 



Cymochorea melania, Coues, Pr. Acad. Philad. 1864, p. 76 ' ; Ridgw. Pr. U. S. Nat. Mus. v. 



p. 534, note * ; Baird, Brewer, & Eidgway, Water-Birds N. Amer. ii. p. 411 '. 

 Oceanodroma melania, A. O. U. Check-1. N. Amer. Birds, 2nd ed. p. 37°; Salv. Cat. Birds Brit. 



Mus. XXV. p. 353^; Nelson, N. Amer. Fauna, no. 14, p. 28" ; Gates, Cat. Eggs Brit. Mus. 



i. p. 149, t. 11. fig. 3 °. 

 Oceanodroma townsendi, Ridgw. Pr. U. S. Nat. Mus. xvi. p. 687 '°. 



Fuliginoso-nigra, Bchistaceo distincte adumbrata; remigibns efc rectiicibus mgerrimis; tectrieibus medianis 

 et majoribus apicem versus pallida brunnescenfcibns, his marginaliter gradnatim albicanti-bmnneis ; 

 gecTrndariis nonnTdlis intimis extas et ad apicem pallide bmmiescentibas ; corpora snbtns paullo brunnes- 

 centiore, guttnre colloque vix schistaceo adumbratis; snbalaribus majoribus vix mfascanti-bniDneo 

 lavatis. Long, tota circa 8-4, alae 6-8, caudae 3-3, culm. 0-5, tarsi 1-2. 



$ mari similis. Long, tota circa 8*5, alae 6'8. (Descr. maris et feminae ex San Benito Is. ilus. Brit.) 



Hal). South Pacific Ocean, north to Southern California ^ ; Lower California, Cape 

 San Lucas (Xanfus ^ ^), San Benito Is. {Anthony ^). — Coasts of Western IMexico -, 

 Acapulco (Townsend ^°), off San Bias to the Tres Marias {Nelson ^). 



The type of this species was redescribed by Sahdn in the ' Catalogue of Birds.' 

 0. melania is one of the larger species of Black Petrel, and the specimens in the 

 Rothschild Museum have wings from 6-7 to 7'25 inches in expanse. 



Mr. Nelson writes : — "Common between Isabel and Tres Marias. Black Petrels 

 were by far the most numerous of the Petrels seen, and outnumbered all the others by 

 two to one. Three, possibly four, other species were seen on the way to and from the 

 islands, but this was the only one secured. They circled about in all directions, 

 sometimes coming very near, but nothing peculiar in their habits was observed. 

 They were quick to see little fragments of fat thrown overboard while we were 

 skinning other waterfowl, and when the morsels were small enough ate them 

 greedily " ^. 



Eggs from San Benito in our own collection and in the British Museum, secured 

 by Mr. Anthony, are broad and oval, closely approaching the elliptical form ; they are 

 smooth and without any gloss, plain white, and have no traces of markings ^. 



