MONOGRAPH OF THE PETRELS. 



In flying the feet are stretched out under the tail, and often protrude beyond it, 

 presenting the appearance of two extra long feathers (Of. Barrett-Hamilton, Ibis, 1903, 

 pp. 320-323). 



Adult male. General colour above dark brown, with paler brown or whitish edges 

 to the feathers ; scapulars like the back ; lower back and rump brown, with blackish 

 edges to the feathers ; wings brown, the median and greater coverts whitish or ashy- 

 grey towards the base of the inner webs ; primaries blackish, with yellow shafts ; 

 secondaries dark brown, greyer towards the base of the inner web ; upper tail-coverts 

 pure white, a few basal ones with dark brown margins ; tail dark brown ; crown of 

 head dull white, becoming browner on the nape and hind-neck, the crown slightly 

 mottled with light brown bases to the feathers ; chin white, like the fore-part of the 

 cheeks ; hinder-cheeks, ear-coverts and remainder of throat, pale ashy, verging into 

 brown on the sides of neck, lower throat, and fore-neck, the feathers of these areas 

 having obscure sandy margins ; remainder of under-surface pale ashy-grey, the 

 feathers broadly margined with pale whity-brown ; feathers of abdomen whiter ; 

 under tail-coverts pure white ; under wing-coverts and axillaries dark brown ; quills 

 brown below, rather more ashy on the inner web ; " bill plumbeous, base and tip 

 black ; tarsi and feet black ; iris umber " (Bean). Total length, 27 inches ; culmen, 

 4.2 ; wing, 19.5 ; tail, 5.4 ; tarsus, 3.9 ; middle toe and claw, 5.0. 



Young female. Entirely brown, with faint margins of lighter brown, the rump 

 like the back, but with no white on the upper tail-coverts ; wings rather blacker than 

 the back ; sides of face dark slaty-grey, rather lighter on the throat, and especially 

 on the chin ; the cheeks, fore-neck and chest blackish, with an ashy shade ; remainder 

 of under-surface very dark ashy-grey, dark brown on the under tail-coverts, under 

 wing-coverts and axillaries ; quills blackish, rather more ashy on the inner web. 

 Total length, 29 inches ; culmen, 1.9 ; wing, 19.51 ; tail, 5.5 ; tarsus, 3.5 ; middle toe 

 and claw, 4.5. 



Immature birds show a few white feathers with brown edges on the upper 

 tail-coverts ; the crown of the head is more or less ashy-grey, and the sides of the 

 face, ear-coverts and cheeks, as well as the throat, are paler slaty-grey, the rest of the 

 crown and hind-neck blackish ; a line across the forehead, fore-part of cheeks and 

 chin, white ; below the eye a white streak, extending a little way above the ear- 

 coverts ; feathers below and in front of the eye black. 



In the " Catalogue of Birds " (I.e.) Salvin expressed his opinion that the white- 

 rumped birds were the young, while those with the dark rump were the adult. After 

 a careful examination of the series in the British Museum I arrive at a different 

 conclusion, and as there is all through the Albatroses a tendency to grow whiter with 

 age, I think it is far more probable that the birds with a white face and abdomen, 

 and with white upper tail-coverts, are the fully adult, and herein I find that I am in 

 agreement with Mr. Ridgway (Water-Birds N. Amer., II., p. 355). 



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