Order PROCELLARIIFORMES. 
No. 9. 
Family PROCELLARIIDM. 
PUFFINUS ASSIMILIS. 
LITTLE SHEARWATER. 
Puffinus Brissou, Omith., Vol. I., p. 56, Vol. VI., p. 130, 1760. Type (by tautonymy): 
Puffinus= Proccllaria puffmus Briinnicli (for synonyms, cf. Syst. Av. Australas., p. 110, 
1927, or my Check List, p. 19, 1920). 
Puffinus assuiilis Gould, Synops. Birds Austr. and Adj. Isl., pt. iv., App., p. 7, April 1st, 
1838: Norfolk Island. 
Puffinus assimilis Gould, Synops. Birds Austr. and Adj. Isl., pt. iv., App., p. 7, April 1st, 1838 ; 
id., Birds Austr., pt. xxxv., Vol. VII., pi. 59, Dec. 1st, 1848 ; Salvin, Cat. Birds Brit. 
Mus., Vol. XXV., p. 384, 1S96 (pref. July 30th); Godman, Monogr. Petrels., p. 133, pi. 
35, March, 1908; Mathews, Birds Austr., Vol. II., p. 50, May 30th, 1912; id., List Birds Austr., 
p. 33, Dec. 1913 ; id., Check List Birds Austr., p. 19, Feb. 16th, 1920 ; Mathews and Iredale, 
Man. Birds Austr., p. 23, March 9tli, 1921 ; Mathews, Syst. Av. Australas., p. 110, 1927. 
Puffinus affinis Anon, Penny Cyclop., Vol. XVIII., p. 42, 1840, error for assimilis. 
Puffinus australis Gould, Birds Austr., pt. xxxv., Vol. VII., Dec. 1st, 1848, text to plate 59, 
as synonym of assimilis (ex Eyton MS.). 
Puffinus nugax Bonaparte, Consp. Gen. Av., Vol. II., p. 205, Oct. 1st, 1857 ; Gould, Handb. Birds 
Austr., Vol. II., p. 458, Dec. 1865. 
Puffinus assimilis howensis Mathews, Austral. Av. Rec., Vol. II., p. 125, Jan. 28tli, 1915 : Lord 
Howe Island. 
Distribution. Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands. 
Adult female. General colour above slaty-black ; scapulars, lower back, rump, upper tail-coverts 
and wing-coverts black, with concealed basal two-thirds dark grey ; primary-quills dark 
silvery-grey, with the margins of the outer webs and the inner webs of the primaries 
and secondaries white on the basal half ; tail-feathers black, powdered with silvery-grey ; 
fore-head and crown of head black ; occiput, nape, hind-neck, lores, sides of the face, 
ear-coverts, cheeks, chin, throat and remainder of the under-parts snow-white ; under 
tail-coverts, almost reaching to the tips of the tail, white ; quills below ash-coloured, 
becoming white towards the inner web ; under wing-coverts and axillaries white. Bill 
blue and black, eyes very dark brown, feet bright blue. Total length 255 mm. : 
culmen 23, wing 171, tail 65, tarsus 40. Collected on Bird Rocks, Norfolk Island, on the 
9th of August, 1912. 
Adult male. Similar to the adult female. 
Eggs. The clutch consists of one egg only and like those of other Puffini are placed in deep 
burrows. They are white, without or with a faint trace of gloss; held against the light 
they appear creamy. The shape is elliptical ovate. Measurements : 49 X 35'5, 52 X 35, 
50 X 36 5, 52 X 36 7, 56 X 356, 47 7 X 555, 51 X 36, 51 X 35, 52 X 36'4, 48'5 X 37, 
53 7 X 35 o, 52 7 X 35 5, 51 X 36, 535 X 36, 48 X 355, 49 5 X 36, 49 5 X 34 7, 53 X 35, 
48-6 x 33, 52 X 34‘7, 49 X 33 2, 48 2 X 34 5, 54'5 X 35, 49 X 36, 49'5 X 35, 50 X 35 mm. 
The eggs were found on the so-called Bird-Rocks on July 29th and August 9th, 1912. 
Breeding-season. July and August. 
13 
