THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
From Ocmnites nereis nereis, the Kerguelen breeding birds are separable 
by their smaller size, the wing averaging 124 mm., and these I name 
Oceanites nereis couesi, subsp. n. 
Falkland Island birds, on the other hand, are larger than 0, n. nereis, the 
wing averaging 135 mm., and are moreover darker on the head and breast, 
and have more grey on the back. For this subspecies I propose the name 
Oceanites nereis chubbi, subsp. n. 
As I have pointed out above, I consider the genus Garrodia unnecessary, 
and it may be of interest to note that Gould, Ramsay, and Coues all class it 
with the short-legged species, and more recently Reichenow {Deutsche Siidp. 
Exp., Zook, pp. 495-558, 1907) has also placed it there. 
Coues {Bull. U.S. Nat. Mus., No. 2, p. 31, 1875) wrote : “ It comes very 
near P. pelagica proper, in form belonging to the same short-legged group, as 
distinguished from Oceanites and Fregetta, though the legs are longer than in 
P. pelagica.'''^ Forbes himself, when he wrote the Anatomy of the Petrels, 
concluded, “ Garrodia is, therefore, on the whole, the least modified form 
of the group.” 
I would accept this form as being the connecting link between the long- 
legged and the short-legged small Petrels, and its presence certaiuly obviates 
the necessity of any family distinction between the two groups. 
The male figured and described was obtained at the Chatham Islands 
by Mr. W. Hawkins. 
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