MONOGRAPH OF THE PETRELS. 



quills blackish externally, but ashy or ashy-brown on the inner webs ; tail black ; 

 crown of head and sides of face sooty-black like the back, with a slight tinge of ashy-grey 

 on the lores and ear-coverts ; cheeks and under-surface of the body sooty-brown, with 

 a distinct shade of grey on the fore-part of the cheeks and throat, but with scarcely 

 any grey on the breast and abdomen ; under wing-coverts and axillaries sooty-brown, 

 darker than the breast. Total length about 19 inches ; culmen, 1.8 ; wing, 12.5 ; tail, 

 4.3 ; tarsus, 2.2 ; middle toe and claw, 2.7. 



The adult female appears to differ in no way from the male as regards colour, nor 

 do the measurements vary much, as will be seen from the following list of specimens 

 examined by me : — 



Wing. Tail. Culmen. Tarsus. Middle toe 



° and claw. 



a. 



c. 



c? ad Hakodate (Blakiston: 













Mus. Brit.) . . 



12.4-12.6 



4.4-4.45 



1.65 



2.0-2.1 



2.55-2. 



? ad. Hakodate (Blakiston: 













M us. Rothschild) . . 



12.3 



4.5 



1.5 



2.1 



2.75 



? ad. Hakodate {Mus. Brit.) 



12.4-12.8 



4.2-4.45 



1.6 



2.1 



2.6 



ad. Norfolk Isl. (M us. Brit. ) 



12.0-12.5 



4.15^.3 



1.65-1.75 



2.2 



2.6-2.7 



ad. New Zealand (Buller: 













{M us. Rothschild) . . 



12.4 



— 



1.6 



2.2 



2.8 



ad. Karewhalsl. N.Z. (Reis- 













chek: Mus. Rothschild) 



12.4 



4.3 



1.65 



2.15 



2.55 



d. e. 

 d. e. 



/• 

 9- 



The colour of the bill and feet, on the other hand, appears to vary considerably. 

 Gould says that the bill is " fleshy white ; the culmen and tips of the mandibles brown ; 

 the legs, feet, and inter-digital membrane yellowish flesh-colour" (Handb. Birds Austr., II., 

 p. 466). Reischek's specimen from Karewha Island had the " eyes dark bluish-black ; 

 the feet flesh-colour, yellowish on the webs ; bill flesh-colour, with a yellowish tinge, 

 the tip brownish-black." Dr. Ramsay, from living specimens, gives the colours as 

 follows : — " Iris blackish-brown ; legs and feet pale flesh-colour ; bill dark brown 

 above, lighter below" (Pr. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., III., p. 406). Buller, who also had 

 living specimens before him, writes : — " Iris black ; bill yellowish horn-colour, 

 brownish-black at the tips of both mandibles and along the culmen to the opening of 

 the nostrils ; legs and feet dull flesh-colour ; the webs pale brown." 



The specimen described is in the British Museum, and was obtained by Mr. Ernest 

 Saunders on Norfolk Island. ^The Plate represents a bird from Hakodate in our 

 collection. 



144 



