THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
summarised as below. They concluded the majority of these small white- 
breasted Pufflnus to represent one species, Pu^nus ohscurus^ of which five sub- 
species were recognisable ; the first Pufflnus obscurus ohscums Gmelin, of which 
were noted as synonyms P. dichrous Hartlaub and Finsch {P.Z.S.y 1872, p. 108), 
P. opisthomelas var. minor Hartlaub, and P. tenehrosus Pelzeln. Its range was 
given as “ Inhabiting Fanning group (Christmas Island), Pelew Islands, Caro- 
lines, probably down to the New Hebrides and Samoa.” 
The second, Puffinus obscurus auduboni Finsch, with no synonyms, in- 
habiting “ New Jersey to Florida, nesting in the Bahamas, also probably West 
Indies and Bermudas.” 
The third, Puffinus obscurus subalaris Ridgway, from the Galapagos group, 
the islands noted being “ Culpepper, Wenman, Albemarle, Narborough, Jervis 
and Kicker Rock, near Chatham Islands.” The original description reads : — 
Ridgway, P. U.S. Nat. Mus., XIX., p. 650-1, 1897. Puffinus subalaris. Similar to 
P. auduboni Finsch, but decidedly smaller, and with under wing-coverts conspicuously clouded 
with brownish grey ; under tail-coverts darker. 
Range, Galapagos Archipelago, Dalrymple Rock. 
The fourth subspecies, for which they used the name Puffinus obscurus 
bailloni Bonaparte, they regarded as occurring “ round the coasts of Africa, 
from Madeira (Desertas, Porto Santo), the Canary Islands, the Cape Verde 
Islands, round the Cape of Good Hope to Madagascar, the Seychelles, Mauritius, 
etc. They, however, noted : “ P. elegans may be the young of P. bailloni. 
We have still to ask “ Quid Procellaria munda Kuhl ? ” and include the 
former name as a questionable synonym. 
Their last subspecies they called Puffinus obscurus assimilis Gould, the 
only synonym noted being P. nugax Bonaparte, and its distribution was given 
as “Inhabits New Zealand and Australian seas; ” and gave the following note : — 
The distribution he (Salvin, Gat. Birds, Vol. XXV.) ascribes to P. assimilis, viz., Australian 
and New Zealand seas and North Atlantic Ocean, while he allows P. obscurus to occur between 
these countries, at Bourbon, the Seychelles, and again on the coasts of Great Britain, the 
West Indies and Pacific Ocean, would be a most peculiar one. The material in the British 
Museum does seem to lead to Salvin’s view, but we are not prepared to accept it. While 
the skins from near Madeira and the Canary Islands in the British Museum have a great deal 
of white on the inner webs of the primaries and most closely resemble the true P. assimilis, we 
have some from the Canary Islands which are so dark on the inner-webs they would be better 
united with P. obscurus, while those from the Cape Verde Group are all much darker on the 
primaries than any P. assimilis. Those from the Madagascar region (Reunion, etc.) are more 
like P. obscurus than like P. assimilis. 
In the Monograph of the Petrels few species were treated progressively, 
but Salvin’s 1896 treatment {Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., Vol. XXV.) was mostly 
conservatively followed. Hence we find therein included : Puffinus obscurus 
Gmelin, Puffinus subalaris Ridgway, Puffinus auduboni Finsch, Puffinus assimilis 
Gould, Puffinus elegans Giglioli and Salvador!, and Puffinus bailloni Bonaparte, 
the latter covering Rothschild and Hartert’s subspecies Puffinus obscurus bailloni 
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