Order TUBINAEES.] 
[Fam. PEOCELLAEIII)^. 
HALOB^NA CiEEULEA. 
(BLUE PETREL.) 
Blue Petrel, Lath. Gen. Syn. iii. pt. 2, p. 415 (1785). 
Procellaria cmrulea, Gm. Syst. Nat. i. p. 560 (1/88, ex Lath.). 
Pachyptila cmrulea, Illiger, Prodr. p. 275 (1811). 
Procellaria similis, Forst. Descr. Anim. p. 59 (1844). 
Procellaria forsteri. Smith, 111. Zool. S. Afr. pi. 411 (1849). 
Halobmna cmrulea, Bonap. C. R. xlii. p. 768 (1856). 
Ftdmarus cmruleus. Gray, Hand-1, of B. iii. p. 107 (1871). 
Procellaria cmrulea, Buller, Birds of New Zealand, 1st ed. p, 306 (1873). 
Ad. suprtl dare cineretts, pileo summo brunnescente lavato : tectridbus alarum minimis et ala spuria brunnescen- 
tibus : remigibus extus brunnescenti-dnei’eis, intiis albis, secundariis darius duereis : cauda obscure dnerca 
albo terminate, rectrice extima albicante ; fronte, loris, supercilio indistincto, facie laterali et corpore subtiis 
toto albis, pectoris superioris lateribus et bypochondriis imis cinereis : rostro rufescenti-brunneo, culmine et 
apiee saturatioribus : pedibus flavicanti-albidis : iride nigr^. 
Adult, Upper surface pale ashy grey, darker on the scapulars and washed on the crown of the head with brown; 
tbe whole of the small wing-coverts as well as the primary coverts greyish brown ; forehead, sides of the 
face, an indistinct line over the eyes, the throat, fore neck, and all the under surface pure white, stained on 
the sides of the breast and on the lower part of flanks with ashy grey ; outer primaries greyish brown, with 
black shafts, whitish on their inner webs ; inner primaries and secondaries dark grey on their outer webs ; 
middle tail-feathers greyish brown, largely tipped with white, the lateral ones uniform dark grey, and the 
outermost one on each side entirely white. Irides blaek ; bill reddish brown, darker on the ridge and at 
the tips ; legs and feet yellowish white, with brown claws. Length 11'5 inches ; wing, from flexure, 8 5 ; 
tail 3’5 ; bill, following curvature of upper mandible 1'3, from gape to extremity of lower mandible 14; 
tarsus 1-2 ; middle toe and claw 1’6. 
Mr. Gould states that he found this species “ very abundant off the north-east coast of New Zealand ” 
in May 1840, and that he observed it in every part of the ocean he traversed between the 40th and 
55th degrees of south latitude, both in the Atlantic and Pacific. Nevertheless it is a very rare bird 
in local collections. The Auckland Museum has, for some years past, possessed a specimen, and in 
1877 I received one, in very perfect plumage, from Mr. C. H. Eobson of Cape Campbell. 1 have 
not met with any other examples. 
Mr. Layard records that “it is not uncommon along the coast of South Africa, and is occasionally 
cast ashore after a gale of wind.” 
It is readily distinguished by the scapulars being edged and the tail-feathers broadly tipped with 
white. 
Of the egg of this species Mr. Howard Saunders (in his account of the collection brought from 
Kerguelen Island by the Transit of Venus Expedition) says that the nine or ten specimens varied a 
good deal in size, the average being 1'9 inch in length by 1‘5 inch in breadth ; also that the shell has 
a granulated surface, and is “ of the dead white colour characteristic of the birds of this family,” 
besides having the usual musky smell. 
