DUSKY SHEARWATER.
PUFFINUS OBSCURUS {J. F. Gmelin)
Procellaria obscura, Gmelin, Syst. Nat. i. p. 559 (1788).
Puffinus obscurus, Yarr. eel. 4, iv. p. 27.
Only two occurrences of this bird in our country have
hitherto been recorded—one off the island of Valentia,
in May 1853, and the other near Bungay, in Suffolk, in
April 1858 ; but as the only remarkable differences
between it and the Manx Shearwater are the smaller
size and darker general colour of the upper parts in
the present species, I consider it as more than probable
that the Dusky Shearwater may often occur off our
coasts without special notice. In this connection I
may state that, although I am totally unacquainted with
this species, even " in skin," I have frequently noticed
considerable difference in the spread of wings in the
smaller Shearwaters seen during sea-passages from this
country to Gibraltar. The Dusky Shearwater is said
to have a wide range, both in the Atlantic and the
Pacific. It was formerly plentiful on the Bermudas,
and breeds in numbers on the Bahamas ; in both of