274 
SWIMMERS. 
CORY’S SHEARWATER. 
PUFFINUS BOREALIS. 
Char. Mantle brownish gray, the feathers shading to paler at the 
tips ; crown and nape brownish gray, the feathers on the nape tipped with 
white; sides of head and neck mottled white and gray; wings and tail 
brownish gray, darker than mantle ; under parts white ; bill yellowish at 
base, shading to black towards the tip ; legs and feet dull orange. Length 
about 21 inches. 
Nest and Eggs. Unknown. 
Cory’s Shearwater was described in i88l by Mr. Charles B. 
Cory from specimens taken off Cape Cod during October, 1880. 
Since that date a number of examples have been taken along the 
New England coast in September and October, and in the autumn 
of 1886 an immense number were seen off the Nantucket islands. 
Writing of this flight. Prof. S. F. Baird said : “The Shearwaters 
occurred in flocks of perhaps from fifty to two or three hundred, 
the bunches being generally found quietly resting on the waters 
and feeding, while swimming, upon the herrings that were so abund- 
ant in the vicinity. The birds were very tame, but approach to 
them could be best made by a steam-launch, which would almost 
run over them before they would start to fly. A dozen birds were 
killed by the discharge of two guns from a launch. About a hun- 
dred specimens were secured, and thousands could easily have 
been killed if necessary.” 
This species is not known to differ in its habits from other mem- 
bers of the genus, and in appearance is similar to P. major, though 
borealis is readily distinguished by its yellow bill, the paler tint 
of the brown in the upper parts, and by the absence of a distinct 
line of demarcation between the white and dark feathers on the 
neck. 
Mr. Howard Saunders, a noted English authority on this family' 
of birds, considers that P. borealis is identical with P. knhlii. 
