MONOGRAPH OF THE PETRELS. 



BuUer recognised two forms of Pelecanoides in New Zealand, one being the true 

 P. urinatrix and the other P. berardi. Of the latter, he examined four specimens in the 

 Paris Museum, all of which had yellowish legs and feet ; he remarks, however, that 

 he does not place much confidence in this character, and as I find that in some of our 

 specimens the feet are yellowish, I imagine that this is due to the way in which they 

 dry when the skins are preserved. Apparently there is a slight difference in the 

 colour of the bill and feet of birds from New Zealand when compared with those from 

 Australia. Buller (Birds New Zeal., 2nd ed., II., p. 207) writes : — " Legs and feet 

 cobalt, tinged with green, the webs bluish-white ; bill black ; iris black." Gould's 

 notes are as follows : — " Tarsi and toes beautiful light blue ; bill black, the base of the 

 cutting edge of the upper mandible, and a line along the lower edge of the lower 

 mandible, blue-grey ; iris very dark greyish-brown." 



With these may be compared the description given by Mr. M. J. Nicoll of a 

 specimen shot by himself in Molyneux Sound, Straits of Magellan : — " Tarsi and 

 toes bluish-grey, with a black line down the back of the tarsus ; webs black ; 

 iris black." It will be noticed that the webs are described as black, and if this 

 difference could be established, it might prove that the South American birds are distinct 

 from those inhabiting Australasian waters. I notice that the Molyneux Sound bird is 

 black on the sides of the face, and the sides of the fore-neck and chest, and shows but little 

 tint of grey ; other birds from the Straits of Magellan are grey on the sides of the face 

 and ear-coverts, and are not black as in the one above noticed. I am not able to 

 account for these differences, as the Molyneux Sound specimen seems to be fully adult, 

 and has the scapular streaks pure white, not greyish. An example procured by 

 Darwin during the voyage of the " Beagle " had the legs of a " flax-flower blue." 



In regard to the affinity of P. urinatrix with P. exsul of Kerguelen Island and 

 the Crozets, I wish to point out that the only character for their separation consists 

 in the greater amount of grey mottling on the throat, neck, and sides of the body in 

 P. exsul. Among the series from Kerguelen Island, there is not one which has a pure 

 white chest, such as is generally seen in birds from New Zealand. In the last-named 

 locality, however, many grey-throated birds occur, and such specimens have been 

 referred by Salvin and others to P. exsul. 



I have not had a sufficiently large series at my disposal to satisfy myself as to the 

 meaning of the presence or absence of grey on the throat in these two forms of 

 Pelecanoides. The nestlings from the Auckland Islands prove that in the first plumage, 

 after the shedding of the down, the throat is pure white. 



The grey band along the sides of the mantle varies in extent, being in some 

 specimens very distinct, and in others obsolete. The white edgings to the secondaries 

 are also pronounced in some individuals and evanescent in others. I imagine that 

 these white-edged quills are the sign of young birds, as they are strongly in evidence 

 in the nestlings from the Auckland Islands. 



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