Manx shearwater night-time clamour. Manx shearwater The Manx shearwater ("Puffinus puffinus") is a medium-sized shearwater in the seabird family Procellariidae. The scientific name of this species records a name shift: "Manx shearwaters" were called "Manks puffins" in the 17th century. Puffin is an Anglo-Norman word (Middle English "pophyn") for the cured carcasses of nestling shearwaters. The Atlantic puffin acquired the name much later, possibly because of its similar nesting habits. The shearwaters form part of the family Procellariidae, a widespread group containing nearly 100 species of medium to large seabirds. They have long, narrow wings and the characteristic “tubenose”. The large genus
Frederick Wollaston Hutton in 1891. He was founding President of the Royal Society of New Zealand from 1904 to his death in 1905; he was followed by Sir James Hector. He worked successively at the Colonial Museum, Wellington (1871–1873); Otago Museum, Dunedin (1877–1879); and the Canterbury Museum, Christchurch (1887–1905) Hutton died on the return voyage from England on 27 October 1905, and was buried at sea off Cape Town, South Africa. He is commemorated in the Hutton Memorial Medal and Research Fund, awarded for scientific works bearing on the zoology, botany or geology of New Zealand. Hutton's shearwater ("Puffinus huttoni"), a sea bird,