DUSKY SHEARWATER. 



PUFFINUS OBSCURUS [J. F. Gmelin). 



Procellaria obscura, Gmelin, Syst. Nat. i. p. 559 (1788). 

 Puffinus obscurus, Yarr. ed. 4, iv. p. 27. 



Only two occurrences of this bird in onr country have 

 hitherto been recorded — one off the island of Valentia, 

 in May 1853, and the other near Bungay, in Suffolk, in 

 April 1858; but as the only remarkable differences 

 between it and the Manx Shearwater are the smaller 

 size and darker general colour of the upper parts in 

 the present species, I consider it as more than probable 

 that the Dusky Shearwater may often occur off our 

 coasts without special notice. In this connection I 

 may state that, although I am totally unacquainted with 

 this species, even " in skin," I have frequently noticed 

 considerable difference in the spread of wings in the 

 smaller Shearwaters seen during sea-passages from this 

 country to Gibraltar. The Dusky Shearwater is said 

 to have a wide range, both in the Atlantic and the 

 Pacific. It was formerly plentiful on the Bermudas, 

 and breeds in numbers on the Bahamas ; in both of 



