308 



white ; crown, a stripe from the base of the bill through the eye, nape, hind neck, and entire upper 

 parts black, the crown and hind neck deep glossy black, the rest of the upper parts having a brownish 

 tinge ; tail black, deeply forked, the outermost tail-feather on each side white, except on the terminal 

 portion of the inner web, where they are greyish black; bill and legs black; iris deep reddish brown. 

 Total length about 16 inches, culmen 1"9, wing 1T2, tail 7'0, tarsus 0'92. 



Young (Ascension Island, December). Entire plumage dull slaty black, except the lower abdomen, which 

 is greyish white, and under tail-coverts, which are dull ashy grey ; upper parts of the body darker than 

 the underparts, most of the feathers tipped with bufFy white ; tail almost even. 



Young in down (Ascension) . Head, neck, throat, and entire upper parts dark grey with a silvery tinge, 

 closely dotted with greyish white ; rest of the underparts white. 



Obs. Judging from the specimens I have seen, the summer and winter dress does not differ, nor do the 

 sexes differ in plumage. I notice, however, that in one specimen, apparently in adult dress, the white 

 passes right round the lower neck, dividing the black on the head from that on the back. 



Found numerously on the southern coasts of the United States and of Central America, the 

 present species is common on some of the islands in the Atlantic, on parts of the African coast, 

 being somewhat rarer on the coast of Asia, though tolerably common and generally distributed 

 in the Australian seas ; but to Europe it is an extremely rare straggler. 



There are, so far as I can gather, only four undoubted instances of its occurrence in Europe, 

 viz.: — one shot at Tutbury, near Burton-on-Trent, in October 1852, and figured by Yarrell in 

 his ' British Birds ;' one shot near Wallingford, Berks, on the 21st June, 1869, now in the posses- 

 sion of Mr. Franklyn (Mr. Harting, Handb. Brit. B. p. 170, says that he examined this specimen 

 in the flesh) ; one which is, Borggreve says, in the collection of Dr. Gueinzius, of Prodel, near 

 Magdeburg, and was obtained near that town ; and one obtained near Verdun, in France. This 

 last, Messrs. Degland and Gerbe write (Orn. Eur. ii. p. 463), " a magnificent male in full plumage, 

 was taken alive on the 15th June, 1854, on the banks of the Ariege, near the village of Verdun. 

 It was unwounded, but was so fatigued that it was caught with the hand. It is now in the Lille 

 Museum." A fifth example is stated by the Rev. J. B. Selwood (Field, 17th July, 1869) to have 

 occurred on the estuary of the Axe, near Axminster, in England ; but there is considerable doubt 

 as to whether this gentleman was right in his identification of the species. 



In Africa it is tolerably widely distributed. Messrs. Finsch and Hartlaub state that it is found 

 on the Red Sea. Heuglin met with it south of 14° N. lat. ; and it is common as far as the Somali 

 coast. It also occurs on the east coast of Africa, and is recorded from Rodriguez, Mauritius, and 

 Round Island, north of Mauritius. On the west coast it is recorded by Pel from the Gold Coast ; 

 and, according to Messrs. Finsch and Hartlaub, there is a specimen in the Berlin Museum from 

 Senegal. On the island of Ascension vast quantities breed ; but it is, Mr. Melliss says (Ibis, 

 1870, p. 106), " not very abundant on St. Helena, but inhabits the rocky islets off the coast, 

 George's and Spury Islands, in considerable numbers. It does not remain all the year round at 

 St. Helena, and probably migrates to Ascension, nearly 700 miles distant, where these birds are 

 to be found in tens of thousands." 



On the coasts of Asia it is somewhat rarer than on the African and American coasts, and is 



