Œstrelata affinis, Buller. (Mottled Petrel.)

Professor Hutton is in error in stating (loc. cit., p. 753) that Mr. Salvin had identified my Œstrelata affinis with Œ. gularis (Peale). Had our acknowledged authority on Petrels, Mr. Salvin, so identified my bird, I certainly should not have described and figured it as Œstrelata affinis in my second edition of "The Birds of New Zealand." While admitting the species, Mr. Salvin suggested that it might prove to be the same as Œ. gularis, Peale (see Ibis, 1888, p. 358), and so the matter rests. Professor Hutton knew this perfectly well, because I had stated the facts in my account of the species. The type of Œstrelata gularis is in the Smithsonian Institution, and neither Mr. Salvin nor I have had an opportunity of comparing it with Œ. affinis, mihi.