SOOTY SHEARWATER.
PUFFINUS GRISEUS [Gmel).
Proccllaria grisea, Gmelin, Syst. Nat. i. p. 5G4 (1788).
Puffinus einereus, Macg. v. p. 438.
Puffinus griseus, Yarr. ed. 4, iv. p. 17; Dresser, viii. p. 523.
The Sooty Shearwater is a bird of immense oceanic
range, being reported as common off the coasts of
Labrador and Greenland, and found on those of Chili,
California, S. Africa, Australia, and N. Zealand (Yarrell
tit supra). It is an irregular, but not a very uncommon,
visitor to our coasts.
The drawings for the Plate were taken from two birds
obtained on the coast of Yorkshire, and kindly lent to
me by Mr. J. Backhouse, jun., of York.
I have several times observed large Shearwaters in
the Bay of Biscay and off the Spanish coast that showed
no trace of white in their plumage, and must, I think,
have belonged to this species.
