Order PROCELLARIIFORMES. 
No. 12. 
Family PROOELLARIIDJE. 
PTERODROMA MELANOPUS. 
BROWN- HEADED PETREL. 
(Plate 12.) 
Procellaria melanopus Gmelin, Syst. Nat., Vol. I., pt. n., p. 562, April 20th, 1789 : North 
America error=Norfolk Island. 
Procellaria melanopus Gmelin, Syst. Nat., Vol. I., pt. ii., p. 562, April 20th, 1789 : Norfolk Island. 
Procellaria solandri Gould, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., Vol. XIII., p. 363, May 1st, 1844: Bass 
Straits. 
Procellaria phillipii Gray, Ibis, July 1862, p. 246 : Norfolk Island. 
Procellaria agilis Gray, Handl. Gen. Spec. Birds B.M., pt. iii., p. 106, Aug. 18th, 1871 ; as synonym 
of phillipii Gray. 
CEstrelata solandri Salvin, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., Vol. XXV., p. 410, 1896 (pref. July 30th, 1895); 
Godman, Monogr. Petrels, p. 219, 1908. 
IEstrelata montana Hall, Proc. Linn Soc. (N.S.W.), Vol. XXXV., p. 785, March 1st, 1911 : Lord 
Howe Island. 
Pterodroma melanopus Mathews, Birds Austr., Vol. II., pt. ii., p. 141, pi. 84, July 31st, 1912; 
Mathews and Iredale, Austral. Av. Rec., Vol. IV., p. 108, Dec. 16th, 1920 ; id., Man. Birds 
Austr., p. 34, March 9th, 1921 ; Mathews, Syst. Av. Australas., p. 118, 1927 ; Hartert, 
Nov. Zool., Vol. XXXIV., pp. 129-131, 1928. 
Distribution. Australia, Lord Howe Island (formerly Norfolk Island). 
Adult. Back, scapulars, and upper tail-coverts slate-grey with dark edges to the feathers ; 
lesser wing-coverts, bastard-wing, and primary-coverts dark brown ; primary-quills also 
dark brown on the outer webs and at the tips, paler on the inner webs, and becoming 
white at the base ; median and greater coverts slate-grey, the secondaries similar but 
pale brown on the inner webs and whitish at the base ; tail dark brown with hoary-grey 
on some of the outer webs of the feathers, pale on the inner webs and also at the base ; 
head and neck all round sooty-brown, the feathers having white bases give a scalloped 
appearance on the fore-head and sides of the face ; breast pale sooty-brown, becoming 
dull slate-grey on the abdomen, under tail-coverts and sides of the body ; the feathers 
on the side of the body slightly edged with white at the tips like the axillaries ; under 
wing-coverts dark brown, the greater under wing-coverts dull white like the base of the 
primaries. Bill black ; eyes dark brown ; feet black, webs greyish-black. Total length 
450 mm.: exposed culmen 40, wing 296, tail 128, tarsus 41. (Type of solandri Gould.) 
Sexes. Alike. 
Adidt female. Forehead and lores smoky-black, each feather broadly margined with white ; 
crown of the head, occiput, nape and hind-neck smoky-black, with the basal half of the 
feathers whitish-grey ; scapulars, lower back, rump and upper tail-coverts dark slaty- 
grey, each feather margined with blackish-brown, producing a scaled appearance ; wing- 
coverts brownish-black, slightly fringed with whitish at the extremity; quills brownish- 
black, becoming greyish-white tow'ards the inner margin ; tail-feathers brownish-black, 
17 
