48 



TUBINARES. 



OCEANITID^. 



OCEAN ITID.E. 



OCEANITES OCEANICA (Kubl*). 



WILSON'S PETREL. 



Thalass idroma Wilson i . 



OcEANiTEs, Keyseidinfj and Blasiusf. — Bill small and weak, tlic unguis 

 gradually decurved ; nasal tubes perfectly horizontal. Wings exceedingly long, 

 the second quill feather much the longest, the first quill being shorter than the 

 fourth, and slightly exceeding the fifth. Tail almost square. Legs long and 

 slender, bare for a considerable distance above the tarsal joint ; feet nearly as 

 long as the tarsi, membranes emarginate, hind toe absent. 



This long-legged Petrel was noticed and figured as Pro- 

 cellarid j^f/r/r/ica by Wilson (Am. Oru, vii. p. 90, pi. Ix. 

 fig. 6), under the impression that it was identical with the 

 Storm Petrel, but the earliest scientific description of it was 

 given by Kuhl in 1820. In 182J: Bonaparte published a 

 memoir on four species of Storm Petrels, with the distinctive 

 characters, measurements, and figures of each, in the 

 ' Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Phila- 



* Procdlaria oceanica, Kuhl, Beitr. Zool. p. 136, fab. x. fig. 1 (1820). 

 t Wirbelth. Eur, p. 238 (1840). 



