i6o allf.n's naturalist's library. 



THE SHEARWATERS. SUB-FAMILY, PUFFININ^. 



These Petrels are distinguished by the absence of lamellae 

 on the side of the palate, a character which is developed in 

 the Fulmars. Eight genera of Shearwaters are recognised, the 

 genus Puffijins being found nearly everywhere throughout the 

 seas of the world, whereas the allied genera, such as Priofinus^ 

 ThalasscBca^ Priocella^ and Majaqueus^ are inliabitants of the 

 southern oceans. (Esirelafa and Biihveria are more widely 

 distributed, and range into the temperate seas of the Northern 

 Hemisphere. 



THE TRUE SHEARWATERS. GENUS PUFFINUS. 



Puffiftus^ Briss. Orn. vi. p. 131 (1760). 



Type, P.puffinus (Linn.). 



In these Petrels the tarsus is distinctly compressed, with its 

 anterior edge sharp. The nasal tube is low, and both nostrils 

 are visible from above, directed forwards and slightly upturned. 

 There are twelve tail-feathers. (Cf. Salvin, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. 

 XXV. p. 368.) Twenty species are known, distributed over the 

 seas of both hemispheres. 



L THE GREAT SHEARWATER. TUFFINUS GRAVIS. 



Procellaria ^ravis^ O'Reilly, Voy. Greenland, p. 140, pi. 12, 



fig. I (1818). 

 P iiffl mis major ^ Temm.; Dresser, B. Eur. viii. p. 527, pi. 616 



(1877) ; B. O. U. List Brit. B. p. 198 (1883) ; Saunders, ed. 



Yarrell's Brit. B. iv. p. 12 (1884); Seebohm, Hist. Brit. 



B. iii. p. 417 (1885); Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. part viii. 



(1888); Saunders, Man. Brit. B. p. 715 (1889). 

 Puffinus gravis, Salvin, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxv. p. 373 (1896). 



Adult Male. — General colour above brown, with somewhat 

 paler edges to the feathers of the back and scapulars, some of 

 the latter having whitish margins ; long upper tail-coverts 

 mottled with white and having broad white tips ; wing-coverts 

 rather darker brown than the back, the greater series externally 

 shaded with ashy-grey ; quills dusky-blackish, with white at 



