PUFFINUS CREATOPUS. 



Dr. Elliot Coues gives the soft parts in the typical specimen from San Nicholas 

 Island, as follows : — " Culmen and margins of the bill brownish-black, the rest of the 

 bill light yellowish flesh-colour ; legs and feet entirely light flesh-colour ; claws whitish 

 with brown tips." 



As is the case with many of the white-breasted Shearwaters, P. creatopus appears to 

 have a dusky phase of plumage, but, judging from the specimens examined by me, this 

 is not so pronounced nor so uniform as in some of the allied species. Many examples 

 have the under-surf ace freckled with dusky-grey ; others, however, have dusky frecklings 

 and bars on the abdomen, which occasionally extend over the entire breast. The 

 frec klin gs on the side of the neck vary in intensity, and are more pronounced in those 

 specimens which incline to a dusky under-surface. 



The description is taken from the male procured by Admiral A. H. Markham, 

 in Coquimbo Bay, and in our collection. The same specimen has been figured in the 

 Plate. 



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