274 SWIMMERS. 



CORY'S SHEARWATER. 



PUFFINUS BOREALIS. 



Char. Mantle brownish gray, the feathers shading to paler at the 

 tips ; crown and nape brownish gray, the feathers on the nape tipped with 

 white; sides of head and neck mottled white and gray; wings and tail 

 brownish gray, darker than mantle ; under parts white ; bill yellowish at 

 base, shading to black towards the tip; legs and feet dull orange. Length 

 about 21 inches. 



Nest and Eggs. Unknown. 



Cory's Shearwater was described in 1881 by Mr. Charles B. 

 Cory from specimens taken off Cape Cod during October, 1880. 

 Since that date a number of examples have been taken along the 

 New England coast in September and October, and in the autumn 

 of 1886 an immense number were seen off the Nantucket islands. 



Writing of this flight, Prof. S. F. Baird said : " The Shearwaters 

 occurred in fiocks of perhaps from fifty to two or three hundred, 

 the bunches being generally found quietly resting on the waters 

 and feeding, while swimming, upon the herrings that were so abund- 

 ant in the vicinity. The birds were very tame, but approach to 

 them could be best made by a steam-launch, which would almost 

 run over them before they would start to fly. A dozen birds were 

 killed by the discharge of two guns from a launch. About a hun- 

 dred specimens were secured, and thousands could easily have 

 been killed if necessary." 



This species is not known to differ in its habits from other mem- 

 bers of the genus, and in appearance is similar to P. major, though 

 borealis is readily distinguished by its yellow bill, the paler tint 

 of the brown in the upper parts, and by the absence of a distinct 

 line of demarcation between the white and dark feathers on the 

 neck. 



Mr. Howard Saunders, a noted English authority on this family 

 of birds, considers that P. borealis is identical with P. kuhlii. 



