DIRECTOKY TO BIRDS OF EASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 



21 



g. Murrelets. Synthliboramphus. 



Bill, short, somewhat compressed ; rather small, short- 

 necked, compact birds, auk-like in general habit ; lead-col- 

 ored above; white beneath. 



1. ANCIENT MURRELET, S. antiquus. 10.00 long ; top 

 and sides of head, throat, and fore neck, black ; sides of neck 

 and a broad stripe on either side of back of head, white ; up- 

 per back, streaked with white ; in winter the throat is white 

 and the white streakings above are absent. Coasts and is- 

 lands of the north Pacific; accidental in Wisconsin. 



r>. TXJBE-]>rOSEr> SW^IMilMLEPtS. 



Ocean-inhabiting birds of varying sizes, but always with 

 long, narrow wings, webbed anterior toes, and nostrils more 

 or less protected by exter- Fig. 18. 



nal tubes which open for- 

 ward, figs. 18, 20, 22, 24. 

 All of the species move 

 with ease upon the wing, 

 and among them are found 

 some of the strongest fiy- 

 ing birds known : all swim 

 well, but none of our spe- 

 cies dive; when annoyed, 33, B, a, 1 

 nearly all eject an oily fluid from the mouth which has a 

 strong odor. The outer covering of bill consists of several 

 pieces, fig. 18. Egg, single, white ; young, covered with down 

 when hatched, but helpless and fed by regurgitation. 



A. ALBATROSSES. Diomedeidae. 

 Very large birds living upon the open ocean remote 

 from continental land. Wings, very long and narrow, hav- 

 ing 30 to 50 flight feathers ; nasal tubes, widely separated. 

 Nests, placed upon oceanic islands, mound-like structures, 

 placed in open situations ; single egg, white, sometimes 

 sprinkled with reddish dots. All of the species occur in the 

 Pacific or oceans of the southern hemisphere; accidental 

 elsewhere. 



