MONOGRAPH OF THE PETRELS. 



feather on either cheek, while another captured at the same time has no white 

 feathers on the cheeks. 



A female from Auckland resembles the birds from Chile ; and one from 

 Tasmania is also similar, neither having any white on the cheeks. 



In Australian birds there is a band of white across the crown, varying in width, 

 which in one specimen is almost united to a similar band extending along the cheeks 

 behind the ear-coverts, nearly joining on the occiput. Another example has a narrow 

 white band across the crown, and a few white spots on the face, not forming any distinct 

 band. A third specimen, presented to the British Museum by Sir George Grey, has a 

 white chin, but the base is black ; the forepart of the cheeks is black also, the rest of 

 the cheeks white, forming a wide band, as far as the sides of the occiput. Across the 

 crown is a broad band of white with a white patch on the lores. The white on the 

 sides of the face is not symmetrical. 



The colour of the bill apparently varies considerably, and, according to Professor 

 Giglioli, is a strong character for the separation of M. cequinoctialis from M. 

 conspicillatus, but from the dried specimens in the British Museum I have been unable to 

 find any confirmatory evidence. 



Mr. M. J. Nicoll states that in a specimen from Table Bay the bill was " greenish- 

 yellow, and with black streaks on both mandibles, the tarsi and toes black, with a 

 whity-brown patch on each web." 



In the Gough Island example, the naturalists of the " Scotia " record the following 

 colours : — " Yellowish bill, with the basal part of the culminicorn, the margins 

 contiguous to the latericorn, and its tip black ; the distal plate and the narrow median 

 plate of the mandible, black." 



Gould mentions the Australian form, M. conspicillatus, as having the nostrils 

 and sides of the mandibles yellowish horn-colour ; culmen, tips of both mandibles, and 

 a groove running along the lower mandible, black ; feet, black. 



An Auckland Island specimen, procured by Mr. Bethune, had the " bill, when fresh, 

 with the upper mandibles and the tubes blue, the culmen and unguis black, and the 

 lower edge of the lower mandible flesh-coloured " (Buller, Suppl. Birds New Zealand, 

 p. 110). It will be seen that there is a marked difference, as here recorded, in the 

 colour of the bill of specimens from various localities, but to what it is due I am unable 

 to say. 



The flight of M. mquinoctialis much resembles that of the Albatros, and the birds 

 may be seen for hours at a time following the wake of a ship with their apparently 

 motionless wings outstretched, occasionally wheeling to pick up the refuse on the 

 surface of the water. The natural food consists of mollusca, Crustacea, seaweed, and 

 cuttlefish, the beaks and remains of which are frequently found in the stomach. The 

 " Cape Hen," like other Petrels, has a strong musky odour, which remains permanently 

 in the dried skins. 



172 



