Order PROCELLAEIIFOEMES.] 



[Family PUFFINID^!. 



PUFFINUS CHLOEOEHYNCHUS. 



(WEDGE-TAILED SHEAEWATEE.) 



Puffinus chlororhynchus, Lesson; Buller, Birds of New Zealand, vol. ii., p. 235. 



This Petrel is called on Sunday Island the Black Burrower, on account of its uniform dark colour 

 and habit of breeding in under-ground burrows. 



I think I ought to put on record the following letter, received some time ago from Mr. 

 W. M. Crowfoot, of Beccles, Suffolk :— " My friend Mr. Dalgleish, of Edinburgh, draws my 

 attention to the fact that, in the last edition of your most valuable book on the birds of New 

 Zealand, in the article on Puffinus griseus, you state that my remarks on Puffinus sphenurus 

 in Norfolk Island probably refer to Puffinus griseus. I think this is a mistake, as a skin of 

 the Norfolk Island species (which I at first thought was P. griseus) was sent to me by my 

 correspondent, Mr. Metcalfe, and I forwarded it to Mr. 0. Salvin for his inspection. He returned 

 it to me as Puffinus sphenurus of Gould. I have since received the eggs of Puffinus griseus from 

 New Zealand, and find that they are much larger than those of P. sphenurus, and of a different 

 colour. My specimens of the egg of P. griseus measure 3 in. by 2 in., and 3£ in. by 2 in. 

 respectively, and are of a yellowish- white colour, whereas the eggs of P. sphenurus measure 2| m. 

 by If in., and 2i in. by If in. respectively, and are of a pure-white colour, just like those 

 of Puffiinus anglorum and P. huhli." 



Captain Hutton writes : — 



There are five specimens in the collection [from the Kermadec Islands] , all of which are larger than those 

 from any other locality which I can find recorded, as the folowing measurements will show. Length, 18'5 

 inches ; wing, 12"75 ; tail, 6'5 ; bill, 1 -65 ; tarsus, 1*9 ; mid toe, 22. Called the ' Black Burrower ' by the settlers. 



It arrives in the month of October in each year, often in very large numbers. It digs out burrows, 

 often several feet in length, on the edges of the cliffs, or on the margins of inland terraces (Cheeseman). 



Of this species Mr. North writes : — 



During the months of November and December this bird was found breeding on Lord Howe Island m 

 great numbers, and like most of the Proeellariidce, they dig a long tunnel or burrow in the sand or the soft 

 earth ; many of these burrows are several feet in length, and a single egg is deposited at the extremity, which, 

 when fresh, is snow-white, but soon becomes stained and soiled. There is great variation in the shape 

 and size, true ovals, lengthened and swollen ovals predominating, some terminating abruptly at one end, 

 others being sharply pointed. 



Length (a) 235 inches by T67 inch ; (b) 2"45 inches by 1*6 inch ; (c) 2'45 inches by 1*68 inch ; (d) 257 



inches by 1*64 inch. 



Captain Hutton, in writing of Puffinus chlororhynchus, gives the following as a synonym :— a P. 

 carneipes, Cheeseman (fide Buller), ' Trans. N. Z. Inst., vol. xxiii,' p. 226, not of Gould."* But 

 this is obviously a mistake ; for I never saw Mr. Cheeseman's specimen and was never consulted 

 about it. On turning to Mr. Cheeseman's paper, cited above, I find that he says : "lam 

 not quite certain whether this species is correctly identified, all my specimens being fledg- 

 lings that have not yet lost their down." Where Mr. Cheeseman sought my assistance in the 

 identification of species he has mentioned the fact in his paper. 



From the Kermadecs I received two examples of Puffinus chlororhynchus, just as I was 

 starting for England, in 1892. I brought them with me, and, on submitiing them to Mr. Salvin, 



he confirmed my identification. 



* Proc. Z. S., 1893, p. 749. 

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