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A PRACTICAL HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS. 



white occasionally with some fine brown shaft-streaks ; under 

 wing-coverts white, most feathers with fine brown shaft -streaks 

 and those round edge of wing brown tipped and edged white ; 

 tail-feathers dark brown with a grey bloom when fresh, bases of 

 inner webs white mottled brown ; primaries : outer webs and tips 

 black-brown with grey bloom, inner webs brown along shafts and 

 along edge of distal portion, rest white, white extending along 

 middle of web on distal portion, but rarely whole distal portion 



The Mediterranean Great Shearwater (Puffinus leuhlii kuhlii) lower, and the 

 North Atlantic Great Shearwater (P. k. borealis) upper figure. 



brown as in P. k. borealis except outer primary which often has 

 wide distal portion brown ; secondaries same but outer webs not 

 quite so dark and extremely narrowly fringed white ; primary- 

 coverts black-brown with grey bloom ; rest of wing-coverts dark 

 brown fringed and tipped paler brown. This plumage appears to 

 be acquired by complete moult July-Jan. and sometimes not quite 

 complete in Feb. and March. Very few moulting examples avail- 

 able for examination. 



Nestling. 1st down. — Upper-parts greyish -brown, darker and 

 browner than in P. p. puffinus like that of P. p. yelkouan, under- 

 pays rather paler than upper-parts, lower -throat and upper-breast 

 white, centre of breast very pale brown but not white as in P. 

 puffinus. Fore -head, round eyes, chin and upper -throat nearly 

 bare. 2nd down. — Like first but rather darker on upper-parts. 



Juvenile. — Like adult. 



