122. PHCEBETRIA COKNICOIDES (Button). 



(HUTTON'S SOOTY ALBATKOS.) 



Albatros with White Eyebrows, Cook, Voy., I., p. 38. 

 Diomedea fuliginosa, var. cornicoides, Hutton, Ibis, 1867, pp. 186, 192. 

 Phcebetria cornicoides, Eagle Clarke, Ibis, 1905, pp. 267, 560 ; 1906, p. 177 ; 1907, pp. 

 342, 653. 



P. fuliginosce similis, sed dorso et corpore subtus brunneo-cinereis ; mandibulae 

 striga caerulea distinguenda. 



This species was first described as a variety of P. fuliginosa by Captain Hutton, with 

 which it had previously been confounded. It may at once be distinguished by its 

 grey-brown back and underside ; the groove, too, in the under mandible is smaller 

 and narrower and in most specimens is of a pale blue. 



The two races have been so confused by most of the early writers that it is very 

 difficult, if not impossible, to decide as to which form their observations refer. This 

 question has, however, been discussed under the preceding species. The bird 

 referred to by Captain Cook, in Lat. 64° 12' S., Long. 38° 14' E., is undoubtedly 

 P. cornicoides, as he particularly mentions the grey-brown back, the black head, and 

 the white eyebrows. Though over a large portion of their range the two species are 

 found together, P. cornicoides appears to have a more southern range than its ally, 

 as Mr. Eagle Clarke says that it alone was encountered in the Weddell Sea by the 

 " Scotia " Expedition, and it was only on reaching the South Atlantic that P. fuliginosa 

 was seen. Hutton' s " Sooty Albatros " breeds in the Auckland and Antipodes 

 Islands ; its nest and general habits are doubtless similar to those of its ally 

 P. fuliginosa described above. 



Adult. Similar to P. fuliginosa, but with the mantle and upper back ashy-grey, 

 becoming somewhat darker on the scapulars and upper tail-coverts ; wing-coverts 

 darker than the back, with a greyish tinge ; head similar to that of P. fuliginosa, but 

 offering a greater contrast to the mantle. Bill black ; suture in under mandible 

 pale blue. 



The description is taken from a specimen obtained by the " Southern Cross " 

 Expedition in Lat. 42° 23' S., Long. 20° 32' E., October 24th, 1898. 



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