7 82 SYSTEMA TIC SYNOPSIS. — L ONGIPENNES— TUBINABES. 



longest, 3d nearly equal, 1st longer than 4th. The general plumbeous or bluish-ashy cast 

 of the plumage is quite difierent iroui the sooty shade of C. melcEna, approaching the condition 

 seen in species of Oceatwdroma. Length about 7-25 ; wing about 5.00 ; tail 3.25, forked 0.60 ; 

 tarsus 0.90; middle toe and claw the same; bill 0.50; gape 

 0.75; height or width at base 0.20; nasal tubes 0.24. Faral- 

 luue Islands, Cala. ; another rare and little known species. 



328. OCEANO'DROMA. (Gr. 'Q.Kfav6s, Okeanos, Lat. Oceanus, 

 the divinity of the sea ; Bpo^ios, dromos, running.) Gray 

 Fork-tail Petrels. Bill small, weak, much compressed. 

 Wings short; 2d and 3d primaries equal and longest, 1st shorter 

 than 4th. Tail lung, deeply forked, with broad medium and 

 narrow external feathers. Feet as in Cymochorea. Colora- fig. 526. — Black Petrel, nat. 

 tion peculiar; bluish or grayi.sh, and white. size. (Ad nat. del. E. C.) 



826. O. furca'ta. (Lat. furcata, forked.) Gray Fork-tailed Petrel. Bluish -ash, paler 

 or whitish below and on the greater wing-coverts, dusky about the eyes ; lesser wing-coverts 

 sooty ; quUls and tail brownish, the primaries pale or white on their inner edges, outer web 

 of outer tail-feather white ; biU and feet black. Length about 8.00; wing 6.00; tail 4.00, 

 deeply forked; bill 0.60; tarsus 0.87; middle toe and claw the same. N. Pacific coast, 

 common. 



827. O. horn'byi. (To Admiral Hornby, R. N.) Hornby's Fork-tailed Petrel. Front, 

 cheeks, throat, collar round neck, breast, and abdomen, pure white; crown, hind head, a broad 

 baud in front of neck, bend of wing and lesser wing-coverts, sooty-gray ; upper part of back 

 gray; lower part of back, and tail ashy-gray; greater wing-coverts brownish-gray; tertiaries 

 and quills black. Length 8.25 ; tail 3.75; tarsus 1.00; middle toe about the same; biU along 

 culmen 0.60; along rictus 0.90. N. W. coast. I have never seen this rare species, of which 

 there are not to my knowledge any specimens in this country. 



329. OCEANI'TES. (Gr. 'QKeavirt]!, Okeanites, son of the sea.) Wilsoxiak Stormy Petrels. 

 Very different from any of the foregoing "stormy" petrels in great length of the legs, like 

 stilts. Bill short, weak, compressed, not i as long as head, about f the tarsus, with sides 

 a little concave, hook small, and nasal tubes perfectly horizontal. Wings very long, 2d 

 primary much the longest; 1st and 3d about equal; 4th much shorter. Tail moderate, about 

 square (as in Procellaria) ; ample, with feathers broad to their very tips. Tibia denuded an 

 inch or more. Tarsi presenting the character, remarkable if not unique among water birds, 

 of being covered in front and on sides by a continuous plate or "boot," as in a thrush, the 

 ordinary scuteUa being fused. Toes, though long, only about f the greatly lengthened tarsi ; 

 hind toe so minute as to be liable to be overlooked. Claws broad, flat, obtuse. There are 

 several species of this notable genus. 



828. O. ocea'nicus. (Lat. oceanicus, oceanic.) Wilson's Stormy Petrel. Coloration much 

 as in P. pelagiea or C. leiicorrhoa ; dark sooty-brown, pale gray on the wing-coverts, black 

 on wings and tail ; the upper tail-coverts, and frequently the crissum and sides of rump and 

 base of tail, white; bill and feet black, but webs with a yellow spot; iris bro^vn. Length 

 7.00-8.00; extent about 16.00; wing about 6.00; tail 3.00, nearly even; tibia bare 1.00; 

 tarsus 1.30; middle toe and claw 1.10; bill 0.50. One of the commonest and best known 

 species, widely dispersed over the globe; said to breed on our N. Atlantic coast. Nest in 

 burrows in the ground; egg single, white. 



S30. FREGET'TA. (Ital. fregata, a frigate.) Stilt Stormy Petrels. Resembling Oceamtes 

 in the great length of leg, flat obtuse claws, and other characters. Bill stout, about as high 

 as broad at base, half as long as head, with lon^ high nasal tube. Wings moderately long, 

 folding just beyond the tail; 2d primary longest ; 3d nearly equal; 1st between 3d and 4th. 

 Tail ample, square, with broad feathers, square-tipped. Tibiae bare an inch or more ; tarsi;.- 



