MONOGRAPH OF THE PETRELS. 



whitish down ; when approached closely it makes a strange clattering with its 

 beak, and if touched will eject a deluge of foetid oily fluid from the nostrils. The 

 egg is oval, usually white, but sometimes marked at the larger end with purplish 

 spots and blotches. 



Adult. Sooty-brown, inclining to black on the head and sides of the face ; a 

 ring of short white feathers, very conspicuous in life, nearly encircles the eye ; 

 wings blackish, primaries with white shafts, darker at the tips ; tail also blackish, with 

 white shafts to the feathers, very prominent ; under wing-coverts paler than the 

 upper. Bill black, with a horizontal straw-coloured groove on the under mandible, 

 extending from the gape to the unguis. 



Total length, 29.5 inches ; wing, 19.2 ; culmen, 4.15 ; tail, 10.2 ; tarsus, 2.9 ; 

 middle toe and claw, 4.6. 



The description and figure are taken from a New Zealand bird formerly in our 

 collection. 



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