.70 BEPOET OF XEW JERSEY STATE MUSEUM. 



109 Oceanites oceanicus (Kuhl). 

 Wilson's Petrel. 



Adults. — Length, 7-7.25. Wing, 5.75-6.20. Similar to Leach's Petrel, but 

 under tail-coverts mottled with white ; wing-coverts with whitish edges, and 

 webs of feet mainly yellow ; tail, square ; feet much longer — tarsus, 1.30-1.35. 



A common bird on the ocean off our coast from May to September, 

 occasionally coming in shore or up the rivers during storms. Retires 

 to Kerguclen Island, in the Southern Ocean, to breed in January and 

 February. Krider took one in Delaware Bay,^ and Scott secured sev- 

 eral from a large flock off Barnegat Light August lOth. 1877. ^ Lau- 

 rent^ reports it as common on the fishing banks off Five Mile Beach, 

 and Chapman* observed numbers of Petrels [presumably this species] 

 off the Delaware coast May 9th, 1897. 



A dead bird was found on the beach at Point Pleasant, N. J., by 

 Dr. A. P. Brown.^ 



Order STEGANOPODES. 



Totipalmate Swimmers. 



The birds comprising this order are distinguished from all other 

 swimming birds by the fact that the hind toe is connected with the 

 inner toe by a web, making three webs instead of two, as in the ducks 

 and gulls. The several families are distinguished as follows : 



a. Tip of upper mandible with a distinct hook or "nail" at the tip. 



6. Bill 10-15 long, with large pouch. Pelicans, p. 73 



bb. Bill 2-3 long, scarcely any pouch. Cormorants, p. 72 



aa. Tip of upper mandible without a distinct hook. Gannets, p. 71 



^ Field Notes, p. 79. 



= Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, 1879, p. 228. 



' O. and O., 1892, p. 43. 



* Abst. Proc. Linn. Soc. N. Y., X., p. 



» Abst. Proc. D. V. O. C, I., p. 11. 



