THALASSOGERON CULMINATUS. 



T. Mororhynchus the bare skin which marks the bill of a Thalassogeron separates 

 the frontal feathers from the culminicorn. This alone is a character sufficient 

 to distinguish T. chlororhynchus from T. culminatus at all ages. 



The species is widely distributed in southern waters, especially in the Australasian 

 Seas, whence it ranges throughout the Pacific to South America, extending north to 

 the coast of Oregon ; it is also found in the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans. 



According to Mr. W. L. Sclater, this bird, which he calls " Gould's Yellow-nosed 

 Mollymauk," occurs chiefly between the 30th and 50th parallels of South Latitude, 

 and breeds on the Crozets. Mr. T. Parkin met with it in Lat. 39° 51' S., 

 Long. 8° 49' E. (Bull. Brit. Orn. Club, X., p. cvi., 1900). During the voyage of the 

 "Southern Cross " Nikolai Hanson procured several examples in October and November 

 in Lat. 42° 23' to 45° 9' S., Long. 20° 32' E. to 77° 13' E. Dr. Davidson obtained 

 two immature black-billed specimens, which the late Capt. Hutton stated to 

 be from the Indian Ocean, and identified as T. culminatus (Ibis, 1903, p. 265). 

 Numbers of these birds were observed by Gould during a voyage from Launceston 

 to Adelaide, particularly off Cape Jarvis and Cape Northumberland, and between 

 Sydney and the northern extremity of New Zealand. According to the late Sir 

 Walter Buller and Capt. Hutton, T. culminatus, although frequenting these seas, does 

 not breed in New Zealand. 



A specimen shot on the 22nd October, 1899, about one hundred miles to the 

 south of Campbell Island, was presented to the British Museum by Commander 

 R. F. Ayscough, who says that only two of these birds were seen between 

 Macquarie and Campbell Islands. 



Dr. E. A. Wilson, the Naturalist of the " Discovery," relates (Nat. Antarctic Exped., 

 Aves, p. 114), that T. culminatus was constantly with the ship during the last ten days 

 of October and throughout the first half of November, 1901 (between Long. 70° — 140° 

 E. and Lat. 50° — 60° S.). It disappeared on approaching the ice, but when the 

 " Discovery " again went north it was seen off the Macquarie Islands, and followed the 

 ship thence to New Zealand. In March, 1904, the species was observed as the vessel 

 was proceeding north (Lat. 68° S., Long, 140° E. ) and continued with it until the Auckland 

 Islands were reached. It was also seen between New Zealand and Cape Horn and in 

 the Atlantic, although absent in the Magellan Straits ; the most northerly examples 

 were encountered in Lat. 45° S., Long. 45° W. 



Professor Giglioli says that during the voyage of the " Magenta," T. culminatus 

 was found in the Pacific, in the zone traversed by the ship, but was not very 

 numerous. It was seen on the 30th of June, 1867, in Lat. 39° 49', Long. 167° 59' E., 

 and up to the 23rd of July, in Lat. 39° 43' S., Long. 124° 54' W. 



A specimen obtained by Mr. T. Bridges, near Panama, is in the British Museum : 

 the habitat " North America " is given in the "A. 0. U. Checklist," where the bird is 

 said to be occasionally found off the coast of Oregon. 



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