120 J. Christopher Haney et al. 



size of the bird we observed (near or identical to black-capped petrel) 

 indicates the Fea's petrel. Third, the population of the smaller Freira 

 petrel is apparently reduced to only a few dozen pairs (A. and F. 

 Zino personal communication), and it has not been recorded conclu- 

 sively away from the breeding sites. Therefore, it seems less likely to 

 be seen at sea. Finally, the Fea's petrel has been found wandering a 

 similar distance before, e.g. to Israel where it was collected on 8 

 February 1963 (Bourne 1983b), although the majority of pelagic records 

 for this form have been near the Canary Islands and off western 

 Africa (Bourne and Dixon 1973, 1975; Lee 1984). 



Neither the soft-plumaged nor related petrels have yet been 

 accepted onto the official list of North American birds (cf. A.O.U. 

 1983, 1985). Lee's (1984) observation of a soft-plumaged petrel off 

 North Carolina on 3 June 1981 was the first report for this continent; 

 that individual had a complete breast band, a trait that points to a 

 southern origin. It is notable that Lee's observation occurred during 

 austral winter, a period when the southeast trade winds extend north 

 across the equator and are liable to drift southern-hemisphere seabirds 

 to the northwest Atlantic (comparable seasonal patterns for northward 

 dispersal by seabirds occur in the Indian Ocean, see Ash [1983]). 

 Similarly, the more northern Fea's petrel appeared off North America 

 to the west of its breeding sites at a time when the northeast tradewinds 

 still extend north. This pattern starts to deteriorate early in the northern 

 winter after which time the westerlies move south to replace the 

 northeast trades (at a time when the Fea's petrel was recorded as 

 vagrant to Israel). In addition to our and Lee's (1984) records of 

 soft-plumaged-type petrels off eastern North America, additional sight 

 reports, including photographs of the nominate soft-plummed petrel, 

 were made during May 1992, also off North Carolina (D. S. Lee 

 personal communication, Anon. 1992). 



DISCUSSION 



We are aware of the inherent uncertainty in sight records of 

 pelagic seabirds, especially Pterodroma, and we advocate photographic 

 documentation when possible. However, we disagree with recent sug- 

 gestions (Legrand 1985) that records of rare gadfly petrels off the 

 eastern United States be supported with voucher specimens. Most 

 countries, including the United States, have little jurisdiction over and 

 limited protection for rare pelagic birds beyond coastal waters. Standard 

 collection practices could further reduce the numbers of Atlantic petrels, 

 some of which are now composed of only a few dozen breeding 

 pairs. This risk seems unwarranted. 



