GIANT PETREL. 45 
at the base, and showing a median keel, and narrowing to a small circular aperture, 
apparently single, the septum being far within. A specimen measured gave breadth 
at base 28.5 mm., at aperture 14 mm., diameter of aperture 9mm. The interramal 
space is feathered. 
In the wing the first primary is longest, and the general shape is rounded. 
The tail is also rounded, and the rectrices number sixteen, a feature shared with 
no other member of this family, and is about one-third the length of the wing. The 
legs are very strong and the tarsus is nearly as long as the culmen ; the toes very 
long and fully-webbed and a distinct hind-toe present, of only one phalanx. 
Coloration uniform brown to uniform white. 
35. Macronectes giganteus.—GIANT PETREL. 
[Procellaria gigantea Gmelin, Syst. Nat., Vol. I., pt. u., p. 563, April 20th, 1789: Staten 
Island, off Tierra del Fuego. Extra-limital.] 
Gould, Vol. VII., pl. 45 (pt. xxxvi.), Dec. 1st, 1848. Mathews, Vol. IT., pt. 2, pl. 89, July 
31st, 1912. 
Macronectes giganieus dovet Mathews, Austral Av. Rec., Vol. III., pt. 3, p. 54, April 7th, 
1916: Sydney, New South Wales. 
DistTrRIBUTION.—East Australian Seas. Occurrence in West Australian Seas recorded, but 
no specimens seen. 
Adult : dark phase-—Sooty-black above and below ; wing 513 mm., culmen 
101, tail 177, tarsus 88 ; bill, pale yellowish horn ; feet and legs grey. 
Adult : white phase—Entire upper- and under-surface white, with a few dark- 
tipped feathers sparsely scattered over the whole plumage. The dark feathers vary 
in pattern ; some are entirely dark grey, while others are only tipped, or the grey 
restricted to the outer web; there are also some with black shafts, the black increas- 
ing in width at the tips. Total length 865 mm.; culmen 104, wing 483, tail 165, 
tarsus 94. 
Immature —Darker, and almost pure black in the Sub-antarctic forms, but 
brownish in the Antarctic races, and, of course, showing smaller measurements, 
and generally paler bills and feet. 
Nestling—Covered with grey down. 
Nest—A depression in the ground. 
Eggs.—Clutch, one; white ; 100 mm. by 63. 
Breeding-season.—November. 
Distribution and forms.——Round the Antarctic and Sub-antarctic Circles. Six 
subspecies have been proposed : M. g. giganteus (Gmelin) may breed on Graham’s 
Land and the South Orkneys ; MW. g. solanderi Mathews, for the Falkland Islands 
bird, of uniform dark coloration, small size and pale yellow bill ; MW. g. halli Mathews, 
from, Kerguelen Island, uniform dark brown with a white face, long and massive 
bill, but less than the Antarctic forms ; M.g. albus Potts, an albino, the New Zealand 
race is uniformly dark coloured, darker than the preceding, with a much smaller 
bill and shorter tarsus (M. g. dovei Mathews was named from Sydney, as being 
smaller) ; MW. g. wilsont Mathews, from the Ross Sea, Antarctica, of very large 
size and notably paler coloration, a majority being almost white, and to which has 
been attached the Macquarie Island birds ; and IM. g. forsteri Mathews, from the 
west coast of South America the smallest and darkest subspecies with small bill, 
wings, and feet. It may be observed that the Antarctic breeding birds are larger 
and paler than the Sub-antarctic breeding series. 
Famiry PELECANOIDID:. 
At present only two genera are recognised in this family and, as the differential 
characters are only seen in the bill formation, the features of the family may be 
