456 TUBINAEES 



As with the other Orders so with this there is a good deal of 

 disagreement among authors as to the system of classification most 

 suitable to express the inter-relations of the members of the group. 

 Garrod and Forbes laid great stress on the distinctness of the 

 Long-legged Petrels assigned to the genus Oceanites and its allies 

 from all the other members of the Order, and I think that on the 

 whole it is best to follow these authors, recognising only two families 

 and assigning subfamily rank only to the Stormy Petrels, Puffins, 

 Diving Petrels and Albatroses. 



Key of the Genera. 



A. Nostrils opening more or less forwardly on the 

 top of the culmen, side by side or with a single 

 opening. 

 . a. Tarsus covered in front by a single plate. 



a 1 . Phalanges of toes normal, claws rounded 



and pointed Oceanites, p. 458. 



ft 1 . Phalanges of toes broad and flat; claws 



flattened and spade-like Fregetta, p. 461 . 



b. Tarsus with transverse scutellations in front... Garrodia, p. 460. 



c. Tarsus covered in front with small hexagonal 



plates. 

 a 1 . Small birds, wing under 6'0 ; plumage sooty. 



a 2 . Tail square or slightly rounded Procellaria, p. 464. 



6 2 . Tail distinctly forked Oceanodroma, p. 467. 



6 1 . Larger birds, wing always exceeding 6*0. 

 a 2 . Sides of the palate smooth without 



lamellge. 

 a 3 . Tarsus compressed, with a sharp edge 



anteriorly. 

 a 4 . Tail with twelve feathers. 



a/'. Nasal tube short and low about 

 one-fourth of the length of the 

 bill; the openings directed for- 

 wards and upwards Puffinus, p. 468. 



6 5 . Nasal tube higher, the openings 



directed forwards and inwards ... Priofinus, p. 472. 

 b*. Tail with fourteen feathers ; nasal 

 tube longer, about one-third of the 



length of the bill Priocella, p. 473. 



fc 3 . Tarsus not compressed, rounded in 



front. 



a 4 . Bill large, its length from the tip to 

 the base measured straight far ex- 

 ceeding its distance from the eye; 

 its colour chiefly yellow Majaqueus, p. 474. 



