Wilson's petrel. 145 



leg-hones^ and the tarsus is at least twice as long as the femur ; 

 the basal phalanx of the middle toe is as long as the next two 

 joints, or longer than them ; the keel of the sternum has a 

 large "fenestra"; the tarsi are usually covered in front with 

 a single shield, or with transverse short scutes ; the outer and 

 middle toes are sub-equal in length, and the secondaries are 

 ten in number. (Cf. Salvin, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xxv. p. 343.) 



THE LONG-LEGGED STORM-PETRELS. 



GENUS OCEANITES. 



Oceanites, Keys, und Blasius, Wirb. Eur. ii. pp. xciii. 131, 238 

 (1840). 



Type. O. Oceanians (Kuhl). 



Two species of the genus Oceanites are known, viz., O. 

 oceanictis, which inhabits the Atlantic, Indian, and Australian 

 Oceans, and O. gracilis (Elliot), which is found along the 

 western coast of South America. 



In Oceanites the claws are not so much flattened as in 

 Pelagodroma and the other genera of the sub-family, and the 

 basal phalanx of the middle toe is normal or only slightly 

 flattened, less so than the remaining joints and claws, the 

 latter being sharp and spatulate. The scutellas of the front 

 of the tarsus are obsolete, a character distinguishing Oceanites 

 from Garrodia, an allied genus with a single species, G. nereis, 

 peculiar to the southern Oceans. 



L Wilson's petrel, oceanites oceanicus. 



Procellaria oceanica, Kuhl, Beitr. p. 136 (1820). 



Oceanites oceanicus^ Dresser, B. Eur. viii. p. 505, pi. 614 (1878) ; 



B. O. U. List Brit. B. p. 197 (1883); Saunders, ed. 



Yarrell's Brit. B. iv. p. 48 (1884); id. Man. Brit. B. 



p. 729 (1889); Salvin, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxv. p. 358 



Oceanites wilsofii, Bp. ; Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 449 



(.885). 



Adult Male. — Sooty black, the head and throat somewhat 

 ashy, with the ear-coverts slightly blacker ; wing-coverts sooty 

 15 L 



