THE PETRELS 2297 



group. This species, which may attain a length of eighteen inches, is of a uniform . 

 dusky tint above and slightly paler beneath; its range being nearly or quite as ex- 

 tensive as that of the preceding species, and stragglers occasionally reaching the 

 British Isles. , 



Allied to the shearwaters is the genus CEstrelata, as represented by 

 Capped Petrel ^e ca pp e( j petrel (CE. h&sitata) and certain other species. It is 



characterized by the great compression of the rather short beak, in 

 wer's Pet- 

 re l which the terminal curved " nail " is of very large size, and the short 



and very prominent nasal tubes. The long and pointed wings extend 

 when folded considerably beyond the graduated tail, and the hind- toe is small and 

 elevated. This species inhabits the warmer parts of the Atlantic, straying oc- 

 casionally to England and France. While the forehead, the sides of the head, the 

 neck, the upper tail coverts, and the base of the tail are white, the crown of the 

 head has an isolated black cap, and the upper parts are bistre brown, the whole 

 length being sixteen inches. The uniformly blackish-brown Bulwer's petrel (Bul- 

 weria columbina) is a much smaller bird of some ten and one-half inches in length, 

 and is the sole representative of its genus. It is more slenderly formed and longer 

 tailed than the last; frequenting the Atlantic in the neighborhood of the Canaries 

 and Madeira, and laying in holes or under the shelter of rocks. 



From its superficial resemblance to a dark colored pigeon, the bird 

 properly known as the Cape petrel {Daption capensis) is commonly 

 designated in the colony the Cape pigeon. It represents a genus distinguished 

 from those last mentioned by the presence of fourteen tail feathers; and further 

 characterized by the beak being broad and depressed, except at its tip, where the 

 nail is small, and occupies less than a third of the total length. The nasal tubes 

 are depressed and concave, and are separated by a considerable interval from the 

 terminal nail. In the leg, the metatarsus is shorter than the third toe, although 

 much longer than the beak. This bird is of medium size and is easily recognized by 

 the sooty head and neck, the mingled dusky and white plumage of the upper parts, 

 and the immaculate white of that below. 



The Cape, or, as it is often called, pintado petrel, is an inhabitant of the South 

 Atlantic and South Pacific Oceans, occasionally straggling northward of the Equa- 

 tor. In the Antarctic seas these birds are frequently met with in vast numbers; 

 and an observer who accompanied a whaling expedition in the winter of 1892-93, 

 writes that so eager were they for any scraps thrown over the ship's side, that any 

 number of them could have been caught with small hand nets only large enough to 

 contain one at a time, and many of them were thus captured by the crew. In 

 stormy weather they not unfrequentty come close into land. When gracefully hov- 

 ering in the air, the bird may be seen to make a sudden dart downward to the 

 water, in order to secure some floating morsel of food it has espied, and on such oc- 

 casions will dive readily. It is also said to throw up its tail after the manner of a 

 duck, and thus to fish up bits of food from slight depths. When caught and placed 

 on deck, is has to run some distance with outstretched wings before being able to 

 rise; and when first hauled in or handled, invariably ejects from its mouth or nos- 

 trils a reddish oily fluid. These petrels breed on Tristan da Cunha and Heard 



