THE BIEDS OE AUSTKALIA. 
Introduced by Gould in his Handbook of the Birds of Australia, this species 
has ever since been included in the Australian List, though Gould admitted 
that he had seen no specimen from Australian waters. BuUer recognised 
specimens from the Kermadecs as 0. mollis, but this species does not occur 
there, the birds Buller examined being referable to P. neglecta Schlegel. Layard 
recorded it as breeding on Mount Mou in New Caledonia, but at present the 
bird breeding there is quite unknown, only nesthngs and eggs being presented 
to the British Museum by Layard. In the Tabular List of Australian Birds, 
1888, Bamsay includes this species as having questionally occurred in Tasmania 
only ; this is very interesting, as in that List, with very little knowledge of 
Petrels, Bamsay gives most wonderful distribution of the majority of the 
species of Petrels, as note the inclusion of Bterodroma solandri as being known 
from the Wide Bay District, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, 
Tasmania, and West Australia — though that species was at that time known 
from a unique example only. In fact, P. 7nollis seems to be the only species 
Bamsay has not noted as recorded from more than one locahty. 
I included it in my Handlist, on the specimen noted from North-west 
Australia in the British Museum, now in my collection, but upon working up the 
material I found that specimen to be absolutely identical with the co-type 
and other specimens from the South Atlantic, and distrust being thus cast upon 
the locality I found that there was no verity in the North-west Australia locality, 
and that the bird had been killed on the high-seas, and consequently as far as 
can now be ascertained was procured in the South Atlantic. There is therefore 
no record whatever for this bird from Australian waters, and it should be crossed 
off the Australian List. I am including the plate prepared from the supposed 
North-west Australian specimen, so that Australian ornithologists may see 
what the South Atlantic bird is like. Investigation of the specimens has pointed 
to the following plumage-changes : The newly-moulted bird has the upper 
coloration of a clear grey, the feathers having paler margins ; the feathers 
on the forehead have broad white edgings, and the feathers of the breast-band 
also have light edges. As the feathers wear, the pale tips become less noticeable, 
and the grey becomes darker so that it looks brown, while the white tips to the 
forehead-feathers become obscure or lost altogether. This is important, as many 
species have been created upon these colour-differences, single specimens only 
having been examined, and sea-shot examples at that. As a consequence 
our knowledge of the members of this genus is very imperfect, and until it is 
recognised that series from breeding-localities are necessary for the accurate 
discrimination of species of this genus, not much progress can be made. It 
should be recorded that at the present time no species is known as breeding in 
far-apart localities, and no record that is not based upon a dead specimen can 
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