NEW ZEALAND BEOAD-BILLED PRION. 
bird, so that fairly considering all the preceding, I have selected New Zealand as 
the type-locality of Omelin’s ProceUaria vittata ; Latham’s P. forsteri and Bonna- 
terre’s P, latirostris, being different names for the same bird, become absolute 
synonyms. No attempt was made to separate any forms until Gould indicated 
a new species as having a larger biU than P. vittatus, under the name of 
P. 7nagnirostris {Proc. Zool. Soc. (Lond.), 1862, p. 125) : — 
“ Head, all the upper surface and sides of the chest blue-grey ; lesser wing 
coverts and the edge of the shoulder brown ; the remainder of the wing blue-grey, 
deepening into slate-grey at the tips of the inner primaries ; the outer primaries 
slaty-black, fading into white on the inner edge ; scapularies deepening into 
slate-grey near the end, and tipped with pale grey ; tail very light grey, the centre 
feathers tipped with blackish-brown ; chin, throat, centre of the breast, abdomen, 
and under surface of the wing creamy- white ; a faint wash of blue on the lower 
part of the flanks and the under tail coverts ; bill blue, deepening into black 
on the sides of the nostrils, at the tip and along the side of the lower mandible ; 
irides brown, legs beautiful light blue. Total length 11 inches ; bill, base to 
tip 2 inches, breadth at base 15/16th, wing 8 inches, tail 4J inches, tarsi 
1 J inches. 
“ Hab. unknown.” 
In the Ibis, 1873, p. 85, Potts introduced Prion australis for the bird breeding 
on Green Island in Foveaux Strait. He noted as differences : “ The bill is of 
remarkable size ; it is considerably longer than the head, it is much broader 
than that of P. vittatus ; the pectinated apparatus of the upper mandible is 
very fuUy disclosed. Of the primaries the first is quite as long as, even if it 
has not the advantages when measured against the second quill ; the total 
length exceeds that of P. vittatus by some inches.” 
Diagnosis of adult : — 
“ Head dark bluish grey, mottled sparingly with black ; ear-coverts rather 
slaty-blue, bounded above and below irregularly with white or yellowish-white ; 
upper surface bluish-grey ; scapulars clouded with staty-black ; upper tail- 
coverts tipped with the same, under-surface white ; under tail-coverts white 
lightly tinged with delicate ash-grey ; quill-feathers, of which the first two are 
longest and of about equal length, outer web black, inner web white, more or less 
stained with ash-grey ; tail bluish-grey tipped with black ; chin naked, the skin 
marked with narrow furrows of angular form arranged in regular ordei?, angle 
within angle. Bill, longer than the head, measures in length from gape to point 
9'", greatest width of bill 11'", tarsus 1" 5'", middle toe and claw 1" 6'", wing, 
from flexure 8", tail 4", total length 14" 3'".” 
Long series from New Zealand and the Chatham Islands cannot be 
differentiated from the type of Gould’s P. inagnirostris, and the topotypes of 
VOL. n. 
209 
