524 



young. Its range, now that I have ascertained that it is specifically inseparable from Nectris 

 amaurosoma of Coues and Procellaria grisea of Gmelin, is very extensive ; for it is found in the 

 Atlantic from the coast of Greenland to the extreme south, in the Pacific from the coast of 

 California down at least to Chili, and off the coast of New Zealand. It is difficult to discrimi- 

 nate the records of its occurrence in Great Britain, as it has so very generally been confused 

 with Puffinus major, from which it is clearly distinct, so much so that Dr. Coues, in his " Critical 

 Eeview of the Family ProceUaridse " (Proc. Ac. N. S. Phil. 1864, pp. 123, 124), treats of it as 

 belonging to a distinct genus. Yarrell (Brit. B. hi. p. 647) and Gould (I. c.) both figured the 

 present species as a Great Shearwater; and the latter remarks (B. of G. Brit. vol. v.) that out 

 of fifty or eighty specimens which have come under his notice not more than three or four were 

 referable to the present species, all the rest being Great Shearwaters, which shows that, as a 

 rule, it is much less numerous on our coasts than Puffinus major — though on the east coast the 

 reverse would appear to be the case, at least off the Yorkshire coast ; for Mr. Cordeaux, who 

 believed the present species to be the young of Puffinus major, says (B. of Humb. Distr. p. 211) 

 that most of the large Shearwaters which occur there are referable to this species; and Mr. 

 Boulton obtained three near Flamborough in the autumn of 1866. The first recorded British 

 specimen was that described by Strickland (I. c), which was shot by Mr. George Marwood, jun., 

 of Busby, in August 1828, at the mouth of the Tees during stormy weather ; and it has doubtless 

 been met with on other parts of the east coast. On the south coast of England it appears in 

 company with Puffinus major. Mr. Gatcombe says that it is met with off Plymouth, and that a 

 friend of his possesses two specimens ; and the specimen figured by Yarrell was obtained off 

 Mounts Bay, Cornwall, in 1838 (it being the only example ever seen in Cornwall), by Mr. Mitchell, 

 who sent it to Mr. Yarrell. Mr. Mansel-Pleydell says that Mr. Horner, of Mell's Park, presented 

 to the Frorne Scientific Institute a specimen of the " Dusky Shearwater," which I surmise to be 

 one of the present species. It is also stated by Degland and Gerbe to have been several times 

 seen off Dieppe. 



It is found off the coast of Greenland, and is, Dr. Coues states, especially numerous off the 

 coast of Newfoundland. Captain Feilden informs me that he observed it in company with 

 Puffinus major sixty miles south of Cape Farewell on the 22nd June, 1875; and it is stated to 

 be common off the coast of Labrador. Mr. George A. Boardman informs me that in the late 

 summer and autumn it is numerous on the mackerel-grounds off the Bay of Fundy, and is 

 known to the fishermen by the name of " Black Hagdon." It is found in the Atlantic as far 

 south as the Cape of Good Hope, where Smith states that it is common ; and in the Pacific it 

 is found from California down to Chili, from both of which coasts I have examined specimens, as 

 also from New Zealand, where, according to Buller (B. of N. Zeal. p. 317), it is "said to be 

 extremely abundant at Stewart's Island and on the adjacent coast of New Zealand." Dr. Finsch 

 states (/. c.) that he received a specimen from Chatham Island through Professor Hutton, and adds 

 that he has convinced himself of its specific identity with Nectris amaurosoma, Coues. 



At first I had some hesitation in uniting the present species with the bird from California, 

 Chili, and New Zealand ; but a careful examination and comparison of specimens, for which I 

 am indebted to Mr. O. Salvin, has convinced both him and myself that there is no specific 



