PROCKI.LAR1D.K. 



PUOCELLAHID.K. 



Wale*,' voL i.) 

 into the sub g.- 

 of which w. | 



This |M include. UM true Petrels, and U divided 

 \\'a-jM*t, and PmceUaria, 



we prooesd to give example*. 



i. I). Cffntii, Stephens ; PnctUaria Capmiit, Linn. ; Cape 

 Psjm of th* English ; Peintada of the Portuguese, may be taken as 

 an example of this form. Its plumage is variegated with brown and 

 whit*. The total length of one measured by M. Lesson was 13 inches, 

 that of UM tube of the nottrils 6 lines. The testicles were rather 

 Jseptiay, the larynx had two muscle* proper to it, and the total 

 length of UM intestinal tube was 47 inch**. M. Oarnot communicated 

 to M. Lseioo a species which the latter believed to be new, with an 

 elaborate description and anatomical details, which M. Lesson quotes 

 t length. 





Csp* Pigeon (Dtflim Oaprntu). 





Tkalatttdroma, Vigors (UydnhtUa of Boie.). Mr. Selby remarks 

 that the members of this genus, which are all of small size, have 

 been yery properly separated by Mr. Vigors from the re*t of the 

 Petrel group. They are, he observe', birds of nocturnal or crepus- 

 cular habiu, and are seldom sern except in lowering weather, or 

 daring terms, when they frequently fly m the track of ships. At 

 other times, and in clear weather, they remain concealed during the 

 day in UM hole* of rocks, rat-burrows, Ac., aud only come forth at 

 nightfall in search of food, consisting of marine crustaceans, small 

 mollusc*, and other oily animal matter which they find floating on the 

 surface of the ocean. Tlieir flight equals in swiftness that of the 

 Swallow tribe, which they resemble in size, colour, and general 

 appearance. All the known species are of a dark hue, more or less 

 relieved with white, and are widely distributed, some being found in 

 both hemispheres, and in a variety of climate. They breed in the 

 erenow of rocks, caverns, tc., and, like the Fulmars and Shearwaters, 

 lay but one egg, which it white, and comparatively large. (' Illustrations 

 of British Ornithology,' vol. ii.) 



T. pdagica. This species is considered to be the smallest of the 

 webfootcd birds; it is the ProctUaria jdagicaot Linmeus; Uccello 

 Helle Tempeste of the Italians ; Oiseau de Tempete, Petrel, and Petrol 

 Tetnpete, of the French and Temminck ; Ungewitter Vogel, Kleinster 

 Sturmvogcl, and Meer Peters Vogel, of the Dutch ; Storm Zwalu of 

 the Netherlander. ; Stromwodcrs Vogel of the Swedes; Soren Peder, 

 Si. Peden Kugl, Vestan-Viuds, or Sonden-Vinds Fugl, and Uveurs 

 Fug!, of the Norwegians ; CM Oan Longwr of the Welsh ; Common 

 Storm Petrel, Stormy Petrel, and Storm-Finch, of the English, who 

 call the species also (provincwlly) Little Petrel, Mitty, Asiilag, Spcney, 

 Sea-Swallow, Allamouty, Witch, and (mariners especially) Mother 

 Carey's Chickens, a title which U not confined to Proctllaria ptlagica, 

 bat is shared by, an-1 more generally applied to, tho more ooeanio 

 sisriis, such as Tkalauidroma ]\',l,onii, Its. 



Head HIM] I ;\ of nt*i"imnm ft'.aflrm. 



It has the head, back, wings, and tail dull-black ; lower parts sooty 

 black ; a large transverse baud of pure white on the rump ; scapulars 

 and secondary quills terminated with white ; tail and quills black, 

 the first quill not the longest, but shorter by four lines than the 

 second and third, which is the longest ; bill and feet black ; irU brown. 

 The tail is square, and the tips of the wings reach but very little 

 beyond its point. The length of the tarsi is 10 lines. Total length 

 5 inches 6 lines. (Male and female.) 



Young of the Year. These hare the tints less deep, and the edges 

 of the feathers sooty or rusty : in other respects they resemble the 

 adults. 



It is more common in North America than in Europe ; found on 

 the coasts of England and Scotland ; rather common at the Urcades 

 and Hebrides ; more abundant in the island of Saint Kilda ; wanders 

 rarely on the coasts of the ocean, and very accidentally on the lakes of 

 the centra of Europe. (Temminck.) 



This, or some other species of T/ialaulJroma, is in all probability the 

 Cyptclut of Pliny, who describes (' Nat. Hist,' x. 39) the swallow-like 

 appearance of his Cgpteli, their nesting in rocks, their wide spread 

 over the sea, and Bays that however far ships go from land, these birds 

 fly around them. 



The habits of this species very much resemble those of the other 

 Petrels. 



T. Wiltonii. This species appears to be the ProcMaria jxlagica of 

 Wilson; P. occanica of Banks; /'. H'lbonii of Prince Bonaparte; 

 L'Oiseau TempAte of Buflbn, ' EnL,' 99S ; and Petrel Echase of Tem- 

 minck. Head and all the lower parts sooty black ; back, scapulars, 

 and wings black ; some of the great wing-coverts bordered with whitish ; 

 all the upper tail-coverts, and, in some individuals, a part of the feathers 

 of the thighs also, or some of the lower coverts, pure white ; tail nearly 

 square, only slightly emarginate, the three lateral feathers white at their 

 base ; wings exceeding the tail more than an inch ; bill and feet (tarsi 

 15 lines long) block ; on the membranes a long yellow stain and the 

 edges of the toes finely bordered with that colour ; iris black ; extre- 

 mity of the nasal tube turned up. Total length of the bird inches 

 3 or 4 lines. (Both sexes in perfect plumage.) 







^ 



Thalailidronia U i/ioiiii. 



M. Temminck, who gives the above description, observed that the 

 young birds doubtless differ but little from the adults; but they arc 

 not as yet exactly known. (' Manuel,' 4th part, 1S40.) 



It inhabits the coasts of America to Cane Horn : common on the 

 coasts of Chili, the United States, and Bmzil ; more rare at the Cape 

 of CJood Hope than /'. jtlagica; shows itself accidentally ontheooaits 

 of Spain and in the Mediterranean. (Temminck, ' Manuel,' 4th part) 



Nuttall, who enumerates their vulgar names of Stormy Petrels, 

 Devil's Birds, and Mother Carey's Chickens with remonstrance, well 

 describes their habits in his ' Manual of the Ornithology of the United 

 States and of Canada,' Temminck states that their food consists of 

 the seeds of some marine plants, small testaceous, molluscs, Ac. ; 

 Wilson says that they feed on the gelatinous spores of the Gulf- Wend 

 (l-'ttcu* natant), as well ai small fish, barnacles, Ac. Nuttall iuformx 

 us that theie Petrels breed in great numbers on the rocky shores of 

 the Bahama and the Bermuda island', and along some parts of tho 

 coast of East Florida and Cuba, Mr. Aiidubon infoi mc<l him that 

 they also breed in largo flocks on the mud and sand islands off Cape 

 Sable in Nova Scotia, burrowing downwards from tho surface to the 

 depth of a foot or more. They also commonly employ tho holes and 

 cavities of rocks near the sea for this purpose. " The e?gs," says 

 Nuttall, in continuation, "according to Mr. Audubon, are three, white 

 and translucent After tho period of incubation they return to feed 



