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Show 189L.H BIRDS OP T H E PHF_ENIX ISLANDS. 295 TUBINARES. PUFFINTJS NATIVITATIS, Streets x. Though this bird was frequently seen both at Phcenix and Canton Islands, I only obtained one egg, which was placed in the interior of a heap of rough coral blocks piled together by the guano-diggers. It is pure white, and of a long oval shape, measuring 2*3 in. in length and barely 1*5 in. in breadth. The bird was first described from Christmas Island (Pacific Ocean), and two specimens have since been obtained at Krusenstem Island to the west of the Sandwich Islands. (ESTRELATA PARVIROSTRTS (Peale2). There were numbers of this species, wheeling rapidly hither and thither near the ground in wide figure-of-8 curves just as the smaller Petrels do over the surface of the sea. They place their eggs, with almost no nest, on the ground under the tangled branches of the bushes. The egg is white, and measures 2'3 in. in length and 1-65 in. in breadth. A newly hatched young one was covered with dark grev down. The bird appears to be known only from Puka-puka ( = Honden or Dog Island, Low or Paumotu Archipelago), near which a single individual was obtained by Peale3 on the visit of the Wilkes Expedition. This specimen has remained hitherto unique. FREGETTA ALBIGULARIS (Finsch). During the middle of the day there were few of these birds to be seen, but towards sunset before we left the island they came in in considerable numbers. I watched one of them beating backwards and forwards over a sandy tract sparsely covered with grass, in which they make their burrows. It was some time before the bird found his home and settled down. I caught it as it was disappearing. On putting m y arm into the burrow I found a second bird at the extreme end, which was just as far as I could reach. I found no eggs in the burrows, but on opening one of the birds that I obtained I "found an egg ready to be laid in the oviduct. This egg measures 1*54 in. in length and 1*12 in. iu breadth. It is of a creamy-white colour, with minute spots profusely sprinkled at the larger end, but sparsely over the remainder. Those of the deeper layers are pale purple, the superficial ones reddish brown. The sandy tract above mentioned contained a large number of burrows, so that on walking over it the ground frequently gave under foot. This bird was first described as a distinct species by Finsch from Kandavu in Fiji4. It had been previously obtained from the Marquesas Islands 5 and from the New Hebrides 6. 1 Bull. United States Mus., No. vii. 1877, p. 29. 2 Peale, Zoology of United States Exploring Expedition, 1848, p. 298. 3 Cassin, U. S. Expl. Exped., Mammalogy and Ornithology, p. 411. 4 Finsch, P. Z. S. 1877, p. 722. 5 Bp. "Ois. Marquises," Comptes Send. 1856, xh. p. 1109. s Salvin, P. Z. S. 1879, p. 130. |