(ESTRELATA BREVIPES. 



ends ; iris brown " (Peale). Total length about 10.5 inches ; culmen, 0.9 ; wing, 8.5 ; 

 tail, 3.8 ; tarsus, 0.95 ; middle toe and claw, 1.15. 



In the specimen from Ternate, according to Dr. Bernstein, the feet were 

 " yellowish- white, but two-thirds of the anterior part of the toes with the membrane 

 were blackish." I have but little doubt that the colour of the feet varies with age 

 and season. 



OS. brevipes has a dark phase, like so many of the Fulmars, and this was first 

 noticed by Macgillivray, who pointed out that some specimens were white below, with 

 a broken grey collar on the chest, whereas others were grey from the chest 

 downwards, the throat alone being white. He attributed these differences to age, 

 but Salvia (Ibis, 1891, p. 413) has shown that this is not the case, as young birds of 

 many Petrels, still carrying remains of nestling-down, have the plumage of the adults. 



The description is taken from an adult male, obtained by Kleinschmidt in the 

 interior of Viti Levu, in the collection of the Hon. Walter Rothschild. The figures 

 have been drawn from two examples in our collection, from Aneiteum, procured by 

 Macgillivray ; they show both light and dark phases. 



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