Oedee TUBINAKES.] 
[Fam. PEOCELLABIII)^. 
DAPTION CAPENSIS. 
(PINTADO PETREL.) 
Frocellaria capensis, Linn. S 3 -st. Nat. i. p. 213 (1766). 
Daption capensis, Steph. Gen. Zool. xiii. p. 241 (1826). 
Frocellaria punctata, Ellman, Zool. 1861, p. 74/3. 
Ad. pileo et collo postico usque ad interscapulium fuliginosis : dorsi totius plumis albis ad apicem conspicub 
fuliginoso maculatis : tectricibus alarum minimis fuliginosis, medianis et majoribus intenoribus ad basin 
conspicue albis : remigibus fuliginoso-brunneis, intiis ad basin albis, secundariis albis, ad apicem fuliginoso 
maculatis : caudie dimidio basali albo, apicali late fuliginoso-brunneo : mento fuliginoso : corpore reliquo 
subtus albo, subcaudalibus exterioribus et subalaribus marginalibus fuliginosis : rostro nigro : pedibus 
saturatb brunneis : iride nigra. 
Adult. The whole of the bead, throat, back, and sides of the neck sooty black ; the back, mantle, rump, and 
upper tail-coverts white, handsomely spotted with sooty black, each feather marked wiDi a terminal trian- 
gular spot of that colour ; fore neck, breast, and all the underparts pure white j primaries blackish brown, 
paler on the inner webs, and more or less varied with white j secondaries and scapulars vvhite towards the 
base, black in their apical portion ; wing-coverts sooty black, the longer ones varied with white ; under 
surface of wings white, stained with sooty grey towards the edges ; the long under tail-coverts tipped with 
sooty grey. Irides and bill black ; legs and feet dark brown. Length 15 inches ; wing, from flexure, 10 ; 
tail 4; bill, following curvature of upper mandible I'So, length of lower mandible I'd; tarsus lA ; middle 
toe and claw 2. 
To those who have made a voyage in the southern hemisphere probably no bird is so familiar as the 
so-called “ Cape-Pigeon.” 
It is numerous off the New-Zealand coast at most seasons of the year, and is the commonest of 
the birds inhabiting our seas. Nor indeed does it seem to be limited to any particular tract of ocean, 
for it is met with in all the colder latitudes. 
In stormy weather it often approaches the land, following in the wake of the tossing vessel, 
hovering gracefully over the water, and occasionally alighting on the surface to pick up any floating 
substance that may arrest its attention. On one occasion, in comparatively smooth weather, a number 
of these birds attended our little steamer to the very mouth of the Wanganui river; but this 
occurrence was quite exceptional. 
I do not know any more pretty sight than to watch the Cape-Pigeons on the wing. They move 
about with such absolute command of wing, presenting to the observer alternately their snow-white 
breast and then their prettily marked upper surface, the whole set oft by their sooty black head and 
neck, that they look like large painted moths hovering in the air. The eye never tires of following 
them and noting their ever-varying evolutions, all performed with the utmost ease and gracefulness. 
Unlike the Albatroses and other sea-birds which exhibit a considerable amount of individual \aiia- 
tion, one is struck with the wonderful uniformity in the plumage of these birds. All have the same 
freckled and spotted back and rump, and the same broad splash of white on the upper surface of each 
wing. There is no transitional plumage from the young to the adult states, and no difference observ- 
able between the sexes. 
