OCEANODROMA LEUCORRHOA. 



In the North Pacific it nests on the Aleutian Isles, and Dr. Stejneger (I.e.) found it 

 breeding on Copper Island, in Bering Sea, though, according to Mr. Emerson, it is his 

 O. beldingi, and not 0. leucorrhoa, which inhabits these islands. The Hon. Walter 

 Rothschild possesses specimens from the islands of Memoshiri and Otoke, off the 

 Japanese island of Yezo. 



On the Pacific side of America, Leach's Petrel is believed to range to the islands 

 off the coast of California, having been recorded by Mr. Loomis as nesting on the 

 Farallon Islands (Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. (2), VI., p. 259), but this record has not been 

 confirmed by subsequent observers. 



I have examined specimens in the Hon. Walter Rothschild's Museum, procured by 

 Mr. Beck in Lat. 5° 30' N., Long. 102°-103° W., which had the wing 6.1 to 6.3 inches in 

 length, and appeared to me to be inseparable from a series of specimens of typical 

 0. leucorrhoa, as did also some other examples collected by Mr. Beck near the 

 Galapagos Islands, in Lat. 13° 20' S., Long. 167° 10' W. 



The southern distribution of Leach's Petrel does not extend as far as that of 

 P. pelagica, since we have no certain records of its occurrence in the Cape seas or in 

 the Indian Ocean, but Mr. M. J. Nicoll, when accompanying the Earl of Crawford 

 as naturalist on board the " Valhalla," observed it between St. Paul's Rocks and 

 Bahia. There is a specimen in the British Museum said to have been procured in the 

 Cape Seas by Sir Andrew Smith, but I imagine that this bird was obtained by 

 him in more northern waters, on one of his voyages to the Cape. It should be noted, 

 however, that the British Museum has recently received a specimen of Leach's Petrel 

 from the Gold Coast. 



Mr. Meade- Waldo obtained an example of this species near Orotava in Tenerife, 

 and Mr. Nicoll states that it followed the " Valhalla " to a little south of the Line. 

 The same observer also states that 0. leucorrhoa was seen in the Mediterranean 

 two days after leaving Port Said for Gibraltar (Ibis, 1906, p. 711). 



Mr. Eagle Clarke (Ann. Scott. Nat. Hist, 1905, p. 85) considers the Flannan Islands 

 to be one of the principal breeding-places of Leach's Petrel in the British area ; and he 

 says that it was there more abundant than P. pelagica, which it resembled in its 

 habit of noisily flying about during the long summer nights. 



The eggs were laid somewhat earlier than those of the Storm-Petrel, the first being 

 found on May 29th, but the nesting habits of the two species were very similar. The 

 nests themselves were composed of matted grass and were to be found in burrows, holes 

 in rocks or old walls, and showed but little signs of the in-comings or out-goings of the 

 parent birds. The latter were seldom visible during the day, but might occasionally be 

 seen at night attracted by the light of the lantern. 



Eggs of Leach's Petrel in the British Museum are white, minutely speckled with 

 reddish dots at the larger end. Axis, 1.15-1.35 inch ; diam., 0.95-1.0. 



Adult male. Sooty-brown, with a decided gloss of slaty-grey ; the under-surface 



