DIOMEDEID.E — THE ALBATROSSES — DIOMEDEA. 345 



3. Felecanoididae. Wings short, and general appearance decidedly Auk-like. Nasal tubes 

 vertical, the nostrils opening superiorly. 



The Pelecanoididm are not represented in the North American fauna ; and both the other families 

 are known mainly as irregular though often abundant visitors to the coast, and are even occasionally 

 driven by gales far inland. 



Family DIOMEDEID.E. — The Albatrosses. 



The three known genera of this family may readily be distinguished by the 

 following characters : — 



.%. Sides of the mandible without longitudinal groove. Wing three or more times as long as the 

 short rounded tail. 



1. Diomedea. " Culminicorn " much broadest at the base, where joined closely to the 



'■ latericorn." 



2. Thalassogeron (gen. nor.) 1 " Culminicorn " narrow, and of equal width from the 



middle of the culmen to the base, where widely separated from the "latericorn" by 

 the interposition of a strip of naked skin extending from the nasal tubes to the 

 forehead. Bill much more compressed. 

 B. Sides of the mandible with a deep longitudinal groove, extending the entire length of the 

 lateral lamina. Wing only about twice as long as the graduated or cuneate tail. 



3. Fhoebetria. In his "Report on the Anatomy of the Petrels" (Zoology of H.M.S. 



"Challenger," Vol. IV. p. 57), the late Professor W. A. Forbes says that these " three 

 good genera of Albatrosses . . . may be distinguished, independently of external char- 

 acters, as follows : — 



"Diomedea. Tongue very short ; uncinate bones more or less styliform (Diomedea exulans 

 and hntclnjuru). 



" Thalassiarche [= Thalassogeron]. Tongue intermediate; uncinate hones styliform 

 (Thalassiarcht eulminata ). 



" Fhoebetria. Tongue much longer ; uncinate bones flattened ; hallux better developed than 

 in the other forms, and with an external claw (Phxbetria fuliginosa)." 



The type of Thalassarche, Reichenbach, being the Diomedea melanophrys — a true 

 Diomedea — it unfortunately becomes necessary to give a new name for the genus repre- 

 sented by T. eulminata, and we have selected Thalassogeron as being an appropriate one. 



Genus DIOMEDEA, Linnaeus. 



Diomedea, Linn. S. N. ed. 10, I. 1758, 132 ; ed. 12, I. 1766, 214 (type, D. cxulans, LlNN.). 

 Attains, Briss. Orn. VI. 1760, 125 (same type). 



Phcebastria, Reichenb. Syst. Av. 1852, v (type, Diomedea brachyura, Te.mm.). 

 Thalassarche, Reichenb. t. c. v (type, Diomedea melanophrys, Boie). 



Char. Size very large (one species perhaps the largest bird of flight) ; wings extremely long, 

 through very narrow ; sides of the mandible smooth, without a longitudinal groove ; bill mode- 

 rately or slightly compressed, the culmen broad and rounded ; tail rounded, one third as long as 

 the tail, or less. 



The Albatrosses are strictly oceanic lards, which rarely visit the land, except at their breeding- 

 grounds, which are usually remote islands or isolated rocks. The species which have been obtained 

 in North American waters are the following : — 



1 Thalassogeron (gen. iwv.), SaKaaaa = mare ; by{pwv = scnex. 

 VOL. II. — 4-1 



