Oedee TUBIJSTAEES.] 
[Fam. procell AEIID^. 
PUFFINTJS GAVIA. 
(FORSTER’S SHEARWATER.) 
Procellaria gavia, Forst. Descr. Anim. p. 148 (1844). 
yEstrelata gavia, Coues, Proc. Phil, Acad. 1866, p. 154. 
Puffinas assimilis, Hutton, Trans. N.-Z. Inst. vol. i, p. 161 (1868, nec Gould). 
Native name. — Pakahaa : “ Rainbird ” of the colonists. 
Ad. supra nitide brunnescenti-niger : facie lateral! et corpore subths toto albis : rostro sordide plumbeo, mandibula 
pallidiore : pedibus flavicanti-albis, exths nigro limbatis : iride nigra. 
Adult male. Crown of the head, nape, and all the upper surface, including the wings and tail, glossy brownish 
black, fading away gradually towards the under surface ; sides of the face, throat, fore neck, and all the 
under surface white. Irides brownish black; bill dark grey, lighter and sometimes yellowish grey on the 
under mandible; tarsi and toes pinkish flesh-colour, stained with blackish brown along the front of the 
tarsus, and on the outer edges of the toes; webs darker. Total length 14‘5 inches; extent of wings 27'5 ; 
wing, from flexure, 8'5 ; tail 3 ; bill, along the ridge 1‘4, along the edge of lower mandible 1'75 ; tarsus 1’5 ; 
middle toe and claw 2. 
Female. Upper parts dull yellowish brown, with dingy tips ; underparts white ; on the sides of the neck the 
dark colour fades imperceptibly away. Total length 14'5 inches ; wing, from flexure, 8'5 ; tail 3 ; bill, along 
the ridge 1'25 ; tarsus 1'5. 
Another example (in the Otago Museum) is somewhat smaller and has the plumage of the upper parts 
darker. 
Young. The young bird assumes the colours of the adult from the nest, but with rather paler margins to the 
wing-coverts, the woolly covering clinging longest to the back, and flanks. 
Nestling. Covered with very thick slate-coloured down on the upper, and white on the under, surface. 
Obs. In this Petrel the white on the femoral region is very conspicuous when the bird is on the wing. 
One from Selwyn (in the Canterbury Museum) has the upper parts sooty grey, and the underparts pure 
white, the former colour extending forwards from the shoulders and being nearly confluent on the lower 
fore neck. Another (marked 2 ) from Chicken Island is somewhat smaller in all its proportions, and has 
the plumage of the upper parts sooty black, there is less white on the cheeks, and the dark colour is not 
spread forward on the fore neek. 
This species of .Petrel, which enjoys a wide oceanic range, is comparatively common in the seas 
surrounding New Zealand ; and after stormy weather it is frequently picked up, either dead or in an 
exhausted state, among the sea-drift on the open strand. It is certainly not the same as P. opistho- 
melas, Coues, as I formerly supposed, for the latter species may be at once distinguished by its 
“ fuliginous-black under tail-coverts ” (see Proc. Nat. Sc. Phil. 1864, p. 189)*. Mr. Salvin has shown 
* Mr. Salvin writes (Ibis, 1888, p. 356) : — “ Sir Walter Buller’s collectiou contains a specimen referred to this species, which 
is the first I have seen answering to Forster’s description. It has a general resemblance to P. opisthomelas, Coues, as regards the 
colour of its plumage, but may at once be distinguished by its pure white under tail-coverts.” 
