398 Bulletin American Museum of Natural History [Vol. LXV (Petit). Captain Tuckey‘ noted that a few “hlother Carey’s chickens (storm petterel) ” were seen off Mayumba Bay at the end of June, so it would seem that they must have been Oceanites. On July 11, 1930, I watched four of these petrels flying about in the mouth of the Congo, just above Banana. HABITS.-The ways of this Mother Carey’s chicken are so well known as to need but little mention here. Their “walking” on the water, as Dr. Murphy notes, “is not strictly a walking or running-one foot after the other-but rather a two-footed hopping or pattering, both webs coming down together as they spring along the surface.” They often “stand” on the water, and “Mr. Cleaves’ photographs of Wilson’s petrels, including a reel of cinematograph scenes, show the birds in every attitude of ‘hop, skip and jump,’ but never progressing foot after foot.” More remarkable is the fact that it was found that “they dived most skilfully to a depth of several times their length, leaping forth dry and light-winged from the water into the air.” We were surprised to find that on the deck of the ship our bird did not stand up on its legs at all, but usually rested on the whole length of the metatarsus. In walking, however, the heels had of course to be raised a little. FooD.-Oil, grease: or small bits of fish readily attract these birds, and these substances, often in the form of blubber or scraps from whaling stations or sealing vessels, are greedily consumed. Aside from these supplies produced through the agency of man, they have been found to feed on putrescent fish and fly maggots washed out of it; on bits of carrion dropped by larger birds; and in the stomachs Dr. Murphy has found otoliths and crystalline lenses apparently from small fishes, traces of alga and minute crustaceans, or even cinders of volcanic ash. The stomach of the present specimen contained only a few bits of some hard cinder-like substance. [FAMILYPROCELLARIIDW. PETRELS, SHEARWATERS] KEYTO THE SPECIESOF PROCELLARIIDBTO BE EXPECTEDOFF THE MOUTHOF THE CONQO 1.-Wing less than 280 mm.; lower back, secondaries, and upper tail-coverts largely white with distal spots of blackish; rectrices white with broad black tips; breast and abdomen white. , . Daption capensis. Wing usually more than 280 mm.; back and wings nearly uniform brown or sooty gray, with paler edgings at most; underparts sooty or whitish. .2. ‘1818,‘Narrative Exp. Expl. R. Zaire,’ p. 57. 19321 Chapin, Birds of the Belgian Congo, I 399 2.-Wing less than 310 mm.; no white in plumage save beneath wings; upperparts blackish brown, lower surface more grayish. , , . Pufinus griseus. Wing more than 310 mm.; throat, breast, and flanks white, and longest upper tail-coverts whitish; under tail-coverts and mid-line of abdomen gray; back and rump brown, crown sooty, and an indication of a whitish collar around hind-neck. , . Pufinus gravis. [Daption capensis capensis (Linnaeus)] Procellaria capensis LINNBUS,1758, ‘Syst. Nat.,’ 10th Ed., p. 132 (type locality: Cape of Good Hope). The Cape pigeon inhabits the whole of the southern ocean, though the form inhabiting the Australian seas has been claimed to be sub- specifically distinct. The typical race extends northward along the westc ern coast of Africa regularly to Great Fish Bay. Specimens have been secured near St. Paul de Loanda and off the Gaboon coast, so there is reason to expect it occasionally at the mouth of the Congo. [Pu$nus griseus (Gmelin)] Procellaria grisea GMELIN,1789, ‘Syst. Nat.,’ I, part 2, p. 564 (type locality: S. hemisphere between 35” and 50’ =New Zealand). The sooty shearwater ranges from the southern ocean over both the Atlantic and Pacific, extending from the seas about the Cape of Good Hope to the northern Atlantic. It has been secured in the vicinity of Landana by Fakenstein and by Lucan and Petit, and must certainly occur near the Congo River mouth. [Pufinus gravis (O’Reilly)] Procellaria grawis O’RCILLY,1818, ‘Voyage to Greenland,’ p. 140 (type locality: Greenland to Newfoundland). Breeding on the islands of the Tristan da Cunha group, the greater shearwater migrates northward in the Atlantic as far as Greenland. It has been collected near Fernand Val; on the Gaboon coast by Marche and Compi&gne,’and thus is to be looked for off the coast line of the Belgian Congo. [FAMILYDIOMEDEIDB. ALBATROSSES] Albatrosses are probably little more than accidental along the West African coast as far north as the Congo. Attention must, however, be called to an observation by Captain Tuckey2: “The day we made the land [Gaboon coast, lat. 3” 24’ S.] a dead albatross (Diomedea ezulans), ‘Bouvier. 1875. ‘Cat.GBogr. Oiseaux Marche et CompiPgne,’ p. 40. 21818, ‘Narrative,Exp. Expl. R. Zaire,’ pp, 55, 260. Hartlaub, 1857, ‘System der Ornithologie Weatafrica’s,’ p. 251, Congo coast.” 400 Bulletin American Museum of Natural History [Vol. LXV was picked up floating in a putrid state; which seems to show that these birds wander farther towards the equat,or than is generally supposed.” Tuckey’s identification may be questioned, but he would hardly have mistaken a bird of another family for an albatross; and from our present knowledge the three species most apt to range northward in this region are : Dimedea exulans Linnseus, the Cape wandering albatross ; Thalassarche melanophris (Temminck), the black-browed mollymauk; and Thalassa,rchechlororhynchos (Gmelin), the Cape yellow-nosed mollymauk. The last-named has been reported from Great Fish Bay, Mossamedes. These three birds, as well as Daption capensis and Procellaria squi- noctialis (the “Cape Hen”), are seen commonly in the wake of steamers plying in the cold waters off the western coast of South Africa, but they are immediately left behind when the temperature of the sea wat.er rises a little above 60” F. As this happens about 20” S. latitude, it will readily be understood how slight is the chance of their straying to the Congo mouth. ORDERPELECANIFORMES [FAMILYPHAETHONTIDB TROPIC-BIRDS] KEYTO THE SPECIESOF Phadthon INHABITINQTHB OCEAN ADJACENT TO THE CONQOCOAST Beak yellow. Middle of back pure white in adult (only banded in the young): scapulars tipped with black, and a narrow black band extending from the black innermost secondaries across the lesser wing-coverts; tip of the outermost primary white for about 25 mm.. , . , . , . .P. lepturus. Beak red. Back, scapulars, and many of the wing-coverts white, rather narrowly barred with blackish; no pure black stripe across wing-coverts; the black patch on the outer primaries extends nearly to the tip of the outermost quill. P. zthereus [Phaethon sthereus Linnzeus] Phaelhon rethereus LINNBUS,1758, ‘Syst. Nat.,’ 10th Ed., p. 134 (type locality: tropical seas, Ascension, ex Osbeck). The red-billed tropic-bird has been reported from the Congo by Hartlaubl and by Reichenow,2 who attributed the record to Captain Tuckey. It is not among the birds listed by Leach in Cranch’s collec- tion, and on turning to Captain Tuckey’s narrative, we discover on p. 32 that “Phaeton ethereus” was merely mentioned as breeding in the crevices of rocks near the shores of St. Jago, one of the Cape Verde Islands. Flocks of tropic-birds were noted by Tuckey off Cape Palmas, but the species not determined; and the occasional, solitary individuals he 11857, ‘Syst. Om.Westafr.,’ p. 257. ’1900, ‘Vogel Afrikas,’ I, p. 79. 19321 Chapin, Birds of the Belgian Congo, I 401 later encountered off the coast of Gaboon and the Bay of Mayumbal are perhaps more likely to have been P. Zepturus ascensionis. On our way to the Congo, Lang and I observed the red-billed tropic- bird only off the coast of Portuguese Guinea, on June 13, 1909; and we saw no species of the genus near the Congo mouth. P. zthereus is, however, recorded by Bouvier? from Fernand Vaz, and may occasionally reach the Congo. It inhabits the tropical parts of both the Atlantic and Pacific. [Phaethon lepturus ascensionis (Mathews)] Leptophadhon Zepturus ascensionis MATHEWS,1915, ‘Birds of Australia,’ IV, p. 311 (type locality: Ascension). This species of white-tailed tropic-bird, occupying the warmer parts of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans, is represented in the southern Atlantic by the above race. It breeds on Ascension Island and on islets in the vicinity of S5o Tom6 and perhaps Ann~bon.~Though not yet known from the Gaboon or Congo coasts, this is the tropic-bird most apt to occur there; and was perhaps the bird meant by Sir. H. H. Johnston,4 when he stated that “Phzthon athereus” was of frequent occurrence off Banana Point, and bred on S5o Tom& FAMILYSULIDB. GANNETS,BOOBIES KEY TO THE SPECIESOF SWLID~OCCURRING IN THE VICINITYOF THE MOUTHOF THE CONGO The whole anterior part of the throat between the bases of the mandible naked; upperparts, head, and neck dark brown; belly white. .Sula leucogaster. Only a narrow naked strip extending down the throat; adults mostly white with blackish remiges and rectrices; young with upperparts brownish spotted with whitish, beneath dirty whitish. Morus capensis. [ Sula leucogaster Zeucog as t er (Boddaert)] Pelecanus leucogaster BODDAERT,1783, ‘Tabl. Planches Enluminkes,’ p. 57 (type locality: Cayenne, ex Daubenton). The brown booby ranges across all the tropical oceans, breeding on many islands in the warmer parts of the Atlantic. It must certainly occur off the mouth of the Congo, and it has been secured at Landana by Lucan and Petit,.6 We noted eight of these boobies between Dakar and Freetown (lat. 10” 20’ N., long. 16” 14’ W.) on June 13, 1909, but ITuckey, 1818, ‘Narrative Exp.