Œstrelata leucophrys, Hutton. (Kermadec-Island Petrel.)

Under the above name Professor Hutton has described a Petrel received from the Kermedec Islands. The description was to appear in the "Proceedings" of the Zoological Society after I left England, and a beautiful plate of it had been prepared by Keulemans. It is as well to have it on record, but it is by no means certain that it is a good species. I had previously taken Home two specimens of this Petrel, which I had received from Captain Fairchild. On submitting them to Mr. Salvin, the great authority on the Petrel family, he unhesitatingly pronounced it an aberrant form of Œstrelata neglecta, which has a great tendency to vary. At Mr. Salvin's request, I afterwards examined Professor Hutton's type at the Zoological Society's rooms, and found it was identical with the species I had submitted to him. Mr. Salvin's own verdict was, "a bad species and a bad name."