PUFFINUS KUHLI. 



distinguishable from P. flavirostris of the Atlantic, with its dark quill-lining, but for 

 the fact that the Mediterranean birds have sometimes dark primaries, and the Atlantic 

 birds have occasionally a certain amount of white on the quills below. It is not 

 possible to assign definite characters to these races, for the extent of the white quill- 

 lining varies considerably in Mediterranean specimens, and although the bird from Genoa 

 which I describe below, shows a distinct white area or " mirror " on the inner 

 webs of the primaries, a second specimen from Genoa, also collected by the late 

 Edward Cavendish Taylor, in the same month of July, has no great extent of white 

 lining to the inner webs of the primaries, the quills being dark below, only showing 

 a little white towards the base. The marking on the wings in this individual is not 

 symmetrical, for whereas the left wing has the inner web of the first primary uniform 

 ashy-grey, and white only at the extreme base, the first primary of the right wing is ashy- 

 grey below, white at the base of the inner web to half-way down the feather, and 

 mottled with ashy-grey. 



Adult. General colour above ashy-brown, the upper-surface mottled with dark 

 brown feathers, all of which are plainly margined with ashy-grey, especially on the 

 scapulars and inner secondaries ; hind-neck more uniform ashy-grey ; upper tail- 

 coverts brown, with hoary-whitish edges ; wing-coverts dark brown, edged with 

 lighter brown ; quills blackish, with a slight shade of ashy on the secondaries, which 

 have a good deal of white on the inner webs, the primaries having the outer web 

 blackish, the black occupying the portion of the inner web adjacent to the quill, as 

 well as the end of the feather, this black being prolonged as a distinct margin along the 

 inner web, leaving a large wedge-shaped white lining ; tail-feathers blackish above, ashy 

 below ; crown of head dusky-brown, a little darker than the back, and shaded with white 

 in front of the eye, which has the eyelid white ; cheeks and sides of neck ashy-grey, with 

 frecklings of ashy bars and spots, where these parts adjoin the white under-surface ; 

 the chin also with a few greyish spots ; entire under-surface of body white, including the 

 under tail-coverts, a few of the feathers near the thigh freckled with ashy-brown, some 

 of them also externally ashy-brown, but not forming a conspicuous patch ; under 

 wing-coverts and axillaries with a broad blackish band round the edge of the wing ; 

 quills dusky-black below, with a distinct quill-hning of white. Total length about 

 15 inches ; culmen, 1.5 ; wing, 13.1 ; tail, 4.9 ; tarsus, 1.9 ; middle toe and claw, 2.6. 



The following is a summary of the measurements of specimens examined by me 

 in the British Museum and the Rothschild Museum : — 



(Mediterranean.) (Atlantic.) (Eastern N. America.) 



Inches. Inches. Inches. 



Wing .. .. 12.5—14.1 13.5—14.5 13.2—14.2 



Culmen .. .. 1.7—2.2 2.1—2.3 1.95—2.25 



Tarsus .. .. 1.9—2.3 2.0—2.5 2.0—2.25 



Middle toe and claw 2.4—2.8 2.7—2.95 2.7—2.9 



97 



