THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
‘ ‘ Like the F. mdanogaster, the White-bellied Storm-Petrel is a fine and 
powerful species, fluttering over the glossy surface of the ocean during calms 
with an easy, butterfly-like motion of the wings, and buffeting and breasting 
with equal vigour the crests of the loftiest waves of the storm ; at one moment 
descending into their deep troughs, and at the next rising with the utmost 
alertness to their highest points, apparently from an impulse communicated as 
much by striking the surface of the water with its webbed feet as by the action 
of the wings. Like the other members of the genus, it feeds on mollusca, the 
spawn of fish, and any kind of fatty matter that may be floating on the surface 
of the ocean.” 
In view of this it is strange that no birds are available from any of the 
South Indian Ocean islands, nor are there any from thereabouts. 
The bird figured is a male, and was collected at sea, between Australia 
and New Zealand. 
As noted in the preceding article, Gould introduced a new species, Thalas- 
sidrmna leucogaster (in the An7i. Mag. Nat. Hist., Vol. XIII., p. 367, 1844), for 
a specimen killed in 36° S. 6° 47' E. The original description reads : — 
Thalassidroma leucogaster, n. sp. Head and neck deep sooty -black ; back greyish- 
black, each feather margined with white ; wings and tail black ; chest and aU the under- 
surface and upper tail-coverts pure white ; bill and feet jet-black. 
Total length inches ; bill | ; wings 6 ; tail 3 ; tarsi IJ ; middle toe and nail 1. 
This bird was killed in 36° S. lat. 6° 47' E. long. 
Bonaparte named this species as the type of his genus Fregetta, but later identified 
it with the species called Procellaria grallaria by Vieillot, who had described 
his bird as follows : — 
Procellaria grallaria VieilL, Nouv. Diet. d’Hist. Nat. XXV., p. 418, 1817. 
On le trouve k la Nouvelle-Hollande ; il a le bee, les pieds, les ailes et la queue, noirs ; 
la tete, le cou en entier, la gorge, le dos, les scapulaires, les couvertures superieures des ades, 
d’un gris bleuatre sombre ; la poitrine et les parties posterieures, blanches ; la taille du petrel 
marin ; les pieds longs et greles. 
On le trouve sur les mers australes. 
Apparently the first occurrence of the former species to science was when 
a specimen was killed off the Rio de la Plata and a drawing made of it by 
Parkinson and apparently identified as P. jregata Linne. This was beautifully 
described by Solander as in the attached copy : — 
Fregata Procellaria nigra, abdomine uropygioque albis, pedibus totis nigris. 
Linn. Syst. Nat. 212, 2. 
Fig. Picta. 
Habitat in Oceano America' australis, Latit. austr. gr. XXXVII (Dec. 22, 1768). Varietas : 
vitta abdominali nigra ; in Oceano antarctico a Terra del Fuego australi. Lat. 
LVIII. gr. Austr. (Feb. 2, 1769). 
(a) Caput, Gollum, Pectus, Dorsum, AW & Cauda nigra. 
Gula cinereo -albicans. 
38 
