527 



PUFFINUS MAJOR. 



(GREAT SHEARWATER.) 



IProcellaria gravis, O'Reill. Greenl. and N.W. Passage, p. 140, and pi. fig. 1 (1818). 



Puffinus major, Faber, Prodr. Isl. Orn. p. 56 (1822). 



Puffinus cinereus, Bp. Synops. p. 370. no. 311 (1828, nee Gm.). 



Nectris cinerea, Keys. & Bias. Wirbelth. Eur. p. 94 (1840, nee Gm.). 



Cymotomus arcticus, Macg. Man. Brit. Orn. ii. p. 13 (1842, nee Fab.). 



Puffinus arcticus, Macg. Man. Brit. Orn. ii. p. 262 (1842, nee Fab.). 



Ardenna major (Fab.), Reich. Syst. Av. pi. 14. fig. 770 (1844). 



Procellaria major (Fab.), Schleg. Mus. Pays-Bas, Procell. p. 27 (1862). 



Puffinus obscurus, Harting, Handb. Brit. B. p. 176 (1872, partim, nee Gm.). 



KakordlungnaJc, Greenlandic ; Stora-sfcrofa, Icelandic. 



Figures notabiles. 

 Gould, B. of Eur. pi. 445. fig. 1 ; id. B. of G. Brit. v. pi. 83 ; Audub. B. of Am. pi. 456. 



Ad. pileo, capitis lateribus et nucha, saturate fuscis, collo postico albo fusco tincto : corpore supra saturate 

 fusco, pluinis pallidiore marginatis : supracaudalibas albis fusco notatis : cauda, nigro-fusca : remigibus 

 nigro-fuscis, iu pogonio interno ad basin albis : mento, gula et corpore toto subtiLs albis : subcaudalibus 

 griseo-fuscis, albo apicatis : rostro nigro-corneo : pedibus extiis fuseis, intus et membrana natatoria 

 flavido-carneis : iride fusca. 



Adult Male (Plymouth Sound, 11th December). Crown, sides of the head, and nape deep brown; lower 

 part of the hind neck white tinged with brown ; upper parts generally deep brown, the feathers with 

 rather lighter edges ; lower portions of the upper tail-coverts white marked with brown ; tail blackish 

 brown; quills blackish brown, but white on the basal portions of the inner web; chin, throat, and 

 entire underparts white; under wing-coverts white, the edge of the wing dark brown; under tail- 

 coverts greyish brown tipped with white ; bill deep blackish horn ; the outside of the tarsus and the 

 exterior toe brownish, rest of the feet and the webs yellowish flesh-colour; iris dark brown. Total 

 length about 19 inches, culmen 2 - 35, gape 2 - 05, wing 126, tail 4'7, tarsus 2 - 38, middle toe 2'65. 



Obs. I have not been able to collect together a series of specimens for comparison as regards size and 

 change of plumage; but Dr. E. Coues states (Proc. Ac. N. S. Phil. 1864, p. 134) that the individual 

 variation in size is considerable, and that " the bills of various specimens, as well as the tarsus and toes, 

 differ to the amount of two or even three tenths of an inch ; the wings from the carpus three fourths of 

 an inch or more, and the tail proportionally. The relative proportions, however, and the shape of these 

 several parts, appear to be pretty constant. There also exist greater variations in colour than are found 

 in most of the species. The difference appears to depend chiefly upon age or, rather, upon the age of 

 the feathers themselves. Just after the moult, when the feathers are fresh and new, they are of a clear 

 deep brown with a considerable admixture of a plumbeous tinge, and their margins are exceedingly light- 



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