314 



KEY AND DESCRIPTION 



gated central tail 

 feathers, and has 

 the upper parts 

 somewhat irregular- 

 ly barred with black. 

 The tail feathers are 

 marked with a black 

 spot near the tip. 



Yellow-billed Tropic Bird 



Leiiijth, 30 ; wing, 

 11 ; tail, 20 or less; culnien, 2J. West Indies to Central America, north 

 to Florida and Bermuda, accidental in New York and Nova Scotia. 



ORDER XV. TUBE-NOSED SWIMMERS (TUBI- 

 NARES) 



An order of marine birds with tubular nostrils; practically, 

 as far as our own birds are concerned, consisting of but the 

 following : 



FAMILY LVII. Fl'LMAUS, SIIKAK WATERS, AND rF>TRELS 

 (PROCELLARllD^) 



This is a large family (70 species) of strong, swiftly flying 

 birds, belonging strictly to the open ocean, and rarely seen 

 near the shore except for breeding purposes. The fulmars 

 and shearwaters are large birds, but some of the petrels are 

 very small. The fulmars are much like gulls in appearance, 

 but their method of flying is very different. They flap their 

 wings more like owls, and in scudding they hold them very 

 straight, at right angles with the body ; they sail close to the 

 waves for great distances, apparently without moving their 

 wings. The flight of the petrels is peculiarly light and airy, 

 more like that of butterflies than like the flight of birds. They 

 often gather in flocks around vessels at sea and follow them 

 for miles. Though they spend most of the time near the sur- 

 face of the water, they do not appear to swim, but are constantly 

 on the wing, beating to and fro about the ship. The shear- 



