Puffinus assimilis, Gould. (Allied Shearwater.)

A fledgling which I have received from Sunday Island (one of the Kermadecs) is a very pretty object. The plumage is as in the adult, except that the longer wing-coverts and inner secondaries are minutely tipped with white. But the long, fluffy, dark-grey down still adheres to the sides of the body, and as the bird squats it looks as if reposing in a luxurious nest of down, which projects an inch or more from the body, and has a charming effect.