Mr. Latham's description is as follows.
"Length nineteen or twenty inches: bill three inches, stout and of a pale yellow: nostrils pervious: the crown of the head black; the feathers longish, and forming a kind of pensile crest at the nape; the rest of the head, neck, and under parts of the body, white: back and wings pale cinereous grey: quills grey, with the ends dusky; the inner webs, half way from the base, white: tail grey, forked; the end half of the other feathers white; the last is exceeded by the first an inch: legs black. Supposed to inhabit China; seen also, or very similar, from the Friendly Isles; also found at Hapaee, one of the Sandwich Islands." Syn. Vol. vi. p. 351.
NORFOLK ISLAND PETREL. Order IX. Web-Footed. Genus Xc.
Length sixteen inches, bill one inch and an half long, black, and very hooked at the tip: the head as far as the eyes, the chin and throat, waved, brown and dusky white: the rest of the body on the upper parts of a sooty brown, the under of a deep ash colour; the inner part of the quills, especially next the base, very pale, nearly white, and the wings, when closed, exceed the tail by about an inch: the tail is much rounded in shape, and consists of twelve feathers, of the same colour as the upper parts of the body: the legs are pale yellow, the outer toe black the whole length, the middle one half way from the tip, the webs also correspond, the outer one being black, except just at the base; and the inner one black for about one third from the end: the claws black; the spur, which serves in place of a back toe, is also black.
This inhabits Norfolk Island, and burrows in the sand like a rabbit, lying hid in the holes throughout the day, and coming out of evenings in quest of food. This bird appears to differ so very little from the dark grey Petrel of Cook's Voyage, vol. i. p. 258. that it is not improbable it may prove to be the same species. This is described in the General Synopsis of Birds, vol. vi. p. 399. under the name of Grey Petrel; as also another species, in p. 400. by the name of White-breasted Petrel, differing only in the breast from our specimen.
Norfolk Island Petrel
BRONZE-WINGED PIGEON. Order IV. Columbine. Genus XLVI.
Size of a large dove-house pigeon: general colour of the plumage ash-coloured, brown on the upper parts, the feathers margined with pale rufous; the under parts pale ash-colour, with very pale margins: the wing coverts are much the same colour as the back, but the greater ones, or lower series, have each of them a large oval spot of bronze on the outer webs near the ends, forming together, when the wings are closed, two bars of the most brilliant and beautiful bronze, changing into red, copper, and green, in different reflections of light: several of the feathers also among the other coverts have the same spots on them, but are irregularly placed: the quills are brown, with the inner webs, from the middle to the base, pale rufous; as are the sides of the body and all the under wing coverts: the tail consists of sixteen feathers; the two middle ones are brown, the others pale lead, or dove colour, with a bar of black near the tips: the bill is of a dull red: the forehead very pale, nearly white, passing a little way under the eye: the chin and throat pale grey: the legs are red.