2298 



TUBE-NOSED BIRDS, DlVING BIRDS, PENGUINS 



Dove Petrels 



island, and probably also on some of the Antarctic islands; on Heard island their 

 nests are made in holes in low basaltic cliffs. 



The dove petrels (Prwn) are much smaller birds, represented by 

 numerous species in the southern seas, and typically characterized by 

 the great breadth of the base of their beaks. One of the best known is the common 

 dove petrel (P. desolatus}, which is a small gray species with a broad boat-like 

 beak, furnished with fine horny lamellae projecting inward from each side. It flies 

 like a swallow, and may be seen in flocks about a ship, or cruising over the sea, or 

 attendant on a whale to pick up the droppings from its mouth. Hence it is termed 



CAPE PETRELS SWIMMING. 

 (One-fourth natural size.) 



by sealers the whale bird. Its food, as that of all the petrels except the carrion 

 ones, seems to consist of the very abundant surface animals of the south seas, 

 especially of small crustaceans. It breeds on Kerguelen, laying its single white egg 

 in a burrow which may be as much as a yard and a half in depth. The broad- 

 billed blue petrel (P. vittatus) is another well-known representative of this genus. 

 The tiny storm petrel (Procellaria pelagica] the smallest of British 

 web-footed birds is the first representative of several genera of pet- 

 rels, readily distinguished from all the foregoing by their diminutive 

 proportions; the length of the wing not reaching seven inches. The storm petrels 



The Storm 

 Petrels 



