White-winged Petrel ( Pterodroma leucoptera ) 
Although never a common bird on this cruise, White-wings were regu¬ 
larly sighted on the western half of the track area below the north boundary 
of the North Equatorial Countercurrent. What were believed to have been 
two different subspecies were recorded. Most common was P. 1. masafuera (?) 
which was seen regularly in the eastern three quarters of the Counter- 
current as well as in waters to the south of the current. What were be¬ 
lieved to have been P.l. brevipes were seen on the western leg, north of 
the range of masafuera . Although the writer is not certain of the sub¬ 
specific assignment the two forms were given, he is sure that no less 
than two subspecies were seen. The ones to the south were surprisingly 
uniform in appearance. The birds were characterized by a very dark head 
and nape, with a markedly lighter back which had a very prominant "W TT 
pattern. The underwings were white with thick black borders. Most striking 
however, was an incomplete collar down the side of the upper breast which 
was almost black. The leucopterans to the north had an interrupted gray 
collar with indistinct margins; they also had a thinner black border on 
the underwings than their southern couterparts. 
Because there is considerable confusion in the writer's mind as to 
where which forms of leucoptera breed, the subspecies assigned to the 
above forms may be in error. I am quite certain that the few I called 
brevipes were in fact brevipes , but the subspecific identifications of the 
southern form should remain open to question. 
Phoenix Petrel and Tahitian Petrel ( Pterodroma alba and P. rostrata ) 
Because these two species may be confused, all sightings were re¬ 
corded as Phoenix/Tahitian Petrels. However, the writer feels that both 
species were present in the area with the Phoenix being the more common 
of the two. Neither bird was common, however. Virtually all of the 
sightings were between 10° and 5° north latitude. The habitat preference 
appeared to be similar to that of the Juan Fernandez Petrels. 
Kermadec Petrel ( Pterodroma neglecta ) 
Compared to the August-September cruises there were very few birds 
of this species present in the EASTROPAC area. Both light and dark phase 
birds were seen. 
Murphy’s Petrel ( Pterodroma ultima ) 
There was no bird seen on this cruise which could positively be iden¬ 
tified as this species. However, a single bird seen sitting with about 50 
storm petrels on 23 October was suspected to be a Murphy’s Petrel. 
Harcourt’s Storm Petrel ( Qceanodroma castro ) 
A total of 39 birds believed to have been this species was seen through¬ 
out the cruise. However, because of the difficulty in identifying the dark 
storm petrels, there were probably many more which were recorded only as 
white-rumped storm petrels. The distribution of those which were identified 
