THE DIVING PETREL 267 



Family Pelecanoididae. 

 The Diving' Petrel. 



Genus Pelecanoides. 



Bill shorter than the head ; the nasal tubes united on the top 

 of the bill, opening vertically upwards. Wings short. 



The diving petrel does not fly like its congeners, but flutters 

 along, hardly rising above the surface of the water, soon settling 

 again, and generally diving at once. It flies under the water 

 like a penguin. It is gregarious, living in small flocks all round 

 the New Zealand coasts. There are two species. 



Pelecanoides urinatrix. 



Above browuisli black; below, white. Bill, black. Legs and feet pale 

 blue. Length of the wings, 4.7 in. ; of the tarsus, 1 in. Egg — -LS in. in 

 length. Found also at Cape Horn. 



Pelecanoides exsul. 



Like the last, but the feathers of the sides and middle of the throat 

 with a distinct sub-terminal grey bar; flanks mottled with grey, and 

 under wing-coverts grey. Found also at the Crozette Islands and 

 Kerguelen Land. 



Family Dlomedeidae. 



Bill long, the nasal tubes disjointed, lateral. Wings long and 

 narrow. Hind toe absent. Egg white, often spotted with reddish 

 brown. 



Sailors apply the name albatross to the large species with white 

 backs, and distinguish the smaller forms with black baclcs as' 

 mollymawks. The breeding habits in these two groups are very 

 different, the albatrosses choosing grassy flats, the mollymawks 

 rock}' cliffs, on which to make their nests. In the Pliocene Period, 

 albatrosses inhabited the North Atlantic Ocean; but at present 

 they are limited to the North Pacific, the coast of Peru, and 

 the Southern Ocean between 30° S. and 60° S. Several are dark 

 coloured when they are young, and get whiter as they grow old; 



