602 LARID^E. 



THE DUSKY PETREL. 



PUFFINUS OBSCURUS. 



Bill an inch long ; upper plumage ink-black ; chin and under plumage white ; 

 sides of the neck slightly barred. Length eleven inches. Eggs white. 



AN oceanic bird abundant in the Gulf of Mexico, the 

 north-west coast of America, Australia, and the coast of 

 Africa. Audubon states that Dusky Petrels frequent the 

 fields of gulf-weed which occur in certain parts of the 

 Atlantic, and that when about to alight they skim the 

 surface of the sea, with their feet trailing in the water ; 

 and that they both swim and dive in pursuit of fishes, 

 which they seize with great agility. A specimen of this 

 Petrel was captured off Valentia, in Ireland, in 1853, and 

 another was found dead in Norfolk in 1858. 



BULWER'S PETREL. 



THALASSIDROMA BULWERII. 



Bill black ; general plumage sooty black ; tail rounded ; feet reddish brown, the 

 membrane dark brown. Length ten and a half inches. Eggs unknown. 



AN inhabitant of Madeira and the adjacent islands, 

 where it appears to be a bird of rare occurrence and little 

 known. A single specimen only has been obtained in this 

 country. It was found dead in Yorkshire in the month 

 of May, 1837. 



WILSON'S PETREL. 



THALASSIDROMA WILSONI. 



Bill black ; general plumage dark brown and sooty black ; edges and tips of the 

 secondaries, as well as the upper tail-coverts, white ; legs long and slender ; 

 feet black, with a greyish yellow patch on each web of the membrane. Length 

 seven and a half inches. Eggs white. 



A FEW specimens only of this bird have been obtained on 

 the British coast. It is a native of North America, and 

 breeds in considerable numbers on some small islands off 

 the southern extremity of Nova Scotia. Its habits resem- 

 ble those of the Stormy Petrel. 



