

(ESTRELATA PHJEOPYGIA. 



UUAU. 



? Procellaria alba, Dole, Proc. Bost. Soc. N. H. xii. p. 308 (1869) ; id. Hawaiian Alman. 1879, p. 55 



(nee Gmelirt). 

 (Estrelata phceopygia, Salvin, Trans. Zool. Soc. ix. p. 507, pi. 88. fig. 1 (1876) ; Ridgway, Manual 



N.-A. Birds, p. 65 (1887). 

 (Estrelata sandwichensis , Ridgway, Water-B. N. Am. ii. p. 395 (1884). 



JEst?'elata sandwichensis, Ridgway, Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus. ix. p. 95 (1886) ; id. op. cit. xi. p. 104 

 ) ; Stejneger, op. cit. x. p. 77 (1887). 



In the ' Proceedings of the U.S. National Museum ' for 1887 Dr. Stejneger writes 

 as follows : — 



" In the great work on the Water-Birds of North America Mr. R. Ridgway writes as 

 follows (ii. pp. 394-395) : — ' A specimen from the Sandwich Islands (No. 61259, 

 V. Knudsen coll.), labelled " Puffinus meridionalis" differs from the above diagnosis 

 [of (E. hcesitata'] in several particulars, and may possibly be distinct. The entire upper 

 parts, except forehead, are continuously uniform dusky, nearly black on the head, the 

 nape, the back, and scapulars more greyish brown ; this dark colour even covers 

 uniformly the entire side of the head and neck, except that portion of the former 

 before the eye, and thence downward and backward across the malar region. The 

 feathers of the nape and side of the neck, however, are white immediately beneath the 

 surface, this colour showing conspicuously wherever the feathers may be disturbed. 

 There is, likewise, no exposed white on the upper tail-coverts or base of the tail ; the 

 former are, however, very abruptly white beneath the surface, but the latter is white 

 only at the extreme base, and the outer rectrices have a considerable amount of white 

 on their inner webs. The lower parts are almost entirely white, there being merely a 

 few plumbeous irregular bars on the flanks. The measurements are as follows: — 

 wing 11-80 inches (less than the average of (E. hcesitata as given by Dr. Coues) ; tail 

 5*75, its graduation 2*40 ; culmen 1-22 ; depth of bill at base 0*99 ; tarsus 1*40, middle 

 toe (without claw) 1*55. In view of the differences of coloration, much more graduated 

 tail, and smaller dimensions — and especially in view of its different habitat, no speci- 

 mens of (E. hcesitata having to our knowledge been reported from any part of the 

 Pacific Ocean — the specimen in question may be really distinct. Should such prove 

 to be the case, the name (E. sandwichensis is proposed as a suitable designation. 5 And 

 in a footnote he adds : — ' In pattern of coloration this specimen agrees exactly with an 

 example of (E. cookii, but has the back, scapulars, rump, and tail decidedly less ashy.' 

 After having had an opportunity to compare Knudsen's bird with examples of true 



2d 



