458 OCEANITID^] OCEANITES 



Genus I. OCEANITES. 



Type. 

 Oceanites, Keys. & Blasius, Wirb. Eur. ii, pp. xciii, 



131, 238 (1840) O. oceanicus. 



Bill slender, compressed and slightly hooked ; nostrils opening 

 externally by a single rounded aperture on the culmen about half 

 way down the bill; wings very long and pointed, the second 

 primary the longest; only ten secondaries; tail of twelve feathers 

 nearly square, the outer ones only slightly surpassing the middle 

 ones; tarsus very long about one-and-a-half times the length of 

 the middle toe, covered in front by a single long smooth shield ; 



FIG. 142. Left foot of Oceanites oceanicus. x \ 



middle and outer toes nearly equal in length ; the basal phalanx of 

 the middle toe normal and about equal to the others in length; 

 hind toe rudimentary ; webs yellow ; claws rounded and pointed ; 

 size small and plumage sooty. 



The sternum is slightly excavated behind, there are no caeca to 

 the intestine and the ambiens muscle is present-. 



Two species only of this genus are generally recognised, the 

 widely spread Wilson's Petrel here described, and a second rarer 

 species confined to the west coast of South America. 



