158 



SUBKINGDOM VEKTEBEATA. 



Fig. 269. 



Rhyncfiops nlgra, Scissors-bill. J. 



Fig. 270. 



the short upper one, like a razor into its handle. Darting 



swiftly* along, cutting 

 the water with its lower 

 mandible, small fishes 

 struck by it slide upward 

 to the throat, and are im- 

 mediately swallowed. 



Procellariidae. The 

 Albatross and Petrel are 

 characterized by a hooked 

 bill and nostrils united in 

 a double-barrelled tube. 

 The Common Albatross is 



DiomeMa exulans, Wandering Albatross. T V ftie ] ar g es t sea-bird, hav- 



ing an expanse of ten to fifteen feet. Eeposing on the sur- 



face of the water, with its Fig VJ1 



head under its wing, it is 



often found a thousand 



miles from land. Once 



elevated in the air, it sel- 



dom flaps its wings, and 



muscle of the oyster and otber bi- 

 valves which the scissors-bill finds 

 a little open on the beach. 



* In the swiftest swallow the ex- 

 pansion of wing is twice the length 

 of the body ; but in the scissors-bill 

 it is much greater, giving corre- 

 sponding increase of power. 



Thalassidromapelaglca, Stormy Petrel. 



