Male: the whole of the plumage deep chocolate-black ; bill and feet jet-black.
This is one of the commonest species inhabiting the Atlantic, and no ship passes between our' shores and the
Cape of Good Hope without encountering i t; it is a species respecting which very considerable confusion exists in
the writings of nearly all the older authors. I t is the P.fuliginosa of Forster’s Drawings, No. 93 B, and the P.
fuliginosa of Lichtenstein’s edition of Forster’s MSS. p. 23, which term cannot be retained, as it had already been
applied by Latham to a very different bird from Otaheite; it is the P. grisea of Kuhl but not of Linnasus, who has
given the term to another species, consequently grisea cannot be retained for i t ; and hence I have been induced to
give it a new appellation, and thereby prevent misapprehension for the future.
591. Procellaria macroptera, Smith.
Procellaria macroptera, Smith, Zool. of South Africa, Aves, pi. 52.
I think that a bird I killed in the seas off Van Diemen’s Land, where it was tolerably abundant, and which
differs from the last in being of a larger size, in having much longer wings and a greyer face, may be identical
with the P. macroptera of Smith, and I therefore retain it under that appellation, in preference to assigning it a
new name.
592. Procellaria Solandri, Gould.
Procellaria Solandri, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part XII. p. 5.7 ; and in Ann. and Mag. of Nat. Hist.,
vol. xiii. p. 363.
Head, back of the neck, shoulders, primaries and tail dark brown ; back, wing-coverts and upper tail-coverts
slate-grey, each feather margined with dark b rown; face and all the under surface brown, washed with grey on the
abdomen; bill, tarsi, toes and membranes black.
This is a remarkably robust and compact bird. I shot a single individual in Bass’s Straits on the 13th of
March 1839. M. Natterer thought that it might be identical with the bird figured in Banks’s drawings, to which
Dr. Solander has affixed the term melanopus, an opinion in which I cannot concur; I have therefore named it in
honour of that celebrated botanist. The specimen above described may possibly not be fully adult, as the dark
colouring of the under surface only occupies the extreme tips of the feathers, the basal portions of which are
snow-white.
593. Procellaria Glacialoides, Smith . . . .
594. Procellaria Lessonii, Gam. . . . . . . . . . .
595. Procellaria mollis, Gould . . . . . . . . . .
596. Procellaria Cookii, G. R. G r a y ................................................
597. Procellaria coerulea, Gmel. . . . . . . . . . .
598. Procellaria flavirostris, Gould.
Procellaria flavirostris, Gould in Ann. and Mag. of Nat. Hist., vol. xiii. p. 365
Feathers of the head and all the upper surface brown with pearl edges, fading into white on the tips of the
upper tail-coverts; wings and tail deep blackish brown; all the under surface pure w hite; the feathers of the under
surface of the shoulder with a streak of brown down the centre; bill yellow, passing into dark horn-colour at the
tip ; tarsi and feet fleshy white.
This fine species was procured off the Cape of Good Hope, inlat. 36° 39' S., long. 10° 3' E., by His Excellency
Governor Grey, on his passage to South Australia. I t is distinguished from its congeners by its much larger size,
and by the yellow colouring of the bill. The female is somewhat smaller than her mate.
This bird so nearly approaches in form the members of the genus Puflmus, that it is almost questionable whether
it should not be included in that group.
599. Procellaria nivea, Gmel.
600. Procellaria Antarctica, Gmel.
Vol. VII. PI. 48.
Ypl. VII. PI. 49.
Vol. VII. PI. 50.
Vol. VII. PI. 51.
Vol. VII. PI. 52.
Genus Daption, Steph.
A genus established for the reception of the Procellaria Capensis of Linnteus, a species abounding in all the
temperate latitudes of the southern seas.
601. Daption Capensis .......................................................... ......... • • . • ^ '
Genus P rion, Lacep.
A genus of fairy-like Petrels confined to the southern hemisphere: much confusion exists respecting these
birds, and they are so puzzling that I regret to say I have not been ¡able to throw any light upon the subject.
Of the following species two only have been figured:—
602. Prion T u r t u r ............................................................./,.• >. : f ■ 7 oL,VIL PL R
6.03. Prion v i t t a t u s ................................................................................................. • • . 55'
604. Prion Banksii.
Pachyptila Banksii, Smith, Zool. of South Africa, Aves, pi. 55. "
Prion Banksii, Gould in Ann. and Mag. of Nat. Hist., vol. xiii, p. 366.
Found in the temperate latitudes of the Atlantic and Pacific, and I believe in similar latitudes all round the
globe.
605. Prion Ariel, Gould.
Prion Ariel, Gould in Ann. and Mag. of Nat. Hist., vol. xiii. p. 366.
I killed this species in Bass’s Straits, where it was rather numerous.
Genus P uffinus, Briss.
The members of this genus inhabit the seas of both the northern and southern hemisphere, but are nowhere
more abundant than round Australia, the fauna of which country comprises four species, which make one or other
of the groups of islands lying off the coast their great nurseries or breeding-places.
606. Puffinus brevicaudus, Brandt . . . . . . . . . . . Vol. VII. PI. 56.
I t will b e seen that I have alluded in forcible terms to the great abundance of this species in Bass’s Straits,
in confirmation of which I annex the following extract from Flinders’ Voyage, vol.i. p. 170
“ A large flock of Gannets was observed at daylight, and they were followed by such a number of the sooty
petrels as we had never seen equalled. There was a stream of from fifty to eighty yards in depth, and of three
hundred yards or more in b readth; the birds were not scattered, but were flying as compactly as a free movement
of their wings seemed to allow; and during a full hour and a half this stream of Petrels continued to pass without
interruption, at a rate little inferior to the swiftness of the Pigeon. On the lowest computation I think the number
could not have been less than a hundred millions. Taking the stream to have been fifty yards deep by three
hundred in width, and that it moved at the rate of thirty miles an hour, and allowing nine cubic yards of space to
each bird, the number would amount to 151,500,000. The burrows required to lodge this quantity of birds would
be 75,750,000; and allowing a square yard to each burrow, they would cover something more than 18£ geographic
square miles of ground.”
607. Puffinus cameipes, G o u l d .......................................................................................Vol. VII. PI. 57.
608. Puffinus sphenurus, Gould . Vol. VII. PI. 58.
609. Puffinus assimilis, Gould . . . . . . . • - - - Vol. VII. PI. 59.