papular JBicttonary of &m'matctt $aturi. 509 



seems at one time to have lived in this 

 country, although now alone known by 

 lo^sil remains, figured hy Mr. Strickland, 

 under the name of CEshna Jiassina. There 

 are two species known the Petalura gi- 

 gantea, of New Holland, and the Petalura 

 Carovei of New Zealand ; both of which 

 may be at once known by the largely de- 

 veloped appendages at the end of the ab- 

 domen. The accompanying figure, copied; 



(PETAI.TJR*. OAKOV1TI ) 



from the Zoology of H. M. SS. Erebus 

 and Terror, will give a tolerably accurate 

 idea of the form of this curious genus of 

 Ncuroptera. The name, we may remark, 

 was given to it in compliment to the author 

 of ' The Story without an End,' in which 

 a Dragon-fly is made to act an important 

 part. 



PETAURUS. The Flying Phalanger : 

 a Marsupial animal which bears the same 

 relationship to the true Phalanger, as the 

 flying squirrel does to the ordinary squirrel. 

 By means of the skin which is extended 

 between the fore and hind limbs, the animal 

 can partially sustain itself in the air ; and 

 its aerial evolutions, when favoured by the 

 shades of evening, are considered peculiarly 

 graceful. It is destitute of the prehensile 

 tail of the true Phalangers. 



PETREL. (Thalasstdroma.) A genus of 

 celebrated oceanic birds. 



The STORMY PETREL, so well known and 

 much dreaded by sailors as the harbingers 

 of a storm, and to whom the soubi-iquet. of 

 Mother Carey's Chicken has been given, 

 are the least of all the web footed birds, 

 being only about six inches in length. The 

 bill is half an inch long, hooked at the tip ; 

 the nostrils tubular. The upper parts of 

 the plumage are black, sleek, and glossed 

 with bluish reflections ; the brow, cheeks, 

 and under parts, sooty brown ; the rump, 

 and some feathers on the sides of the tail, 

 white : legs slender, black, and scarcely an 

 inch and three quarters in length, from the 

 knee joint to the end of the toes. In the 

 length of its wings, and the swiftness of its 

 flight, it resembles the Chimney Swallow. 

 It is met with on every part of the ocean, 

 diving, or swimming over the surface of the 

 heavy rolling waves of the most tempestuous 



sea, quite at ease, and in security ; and yet 

 it seems to foresee and fear the coming storm 

 before the seaman can discover any appear- 

 ance of its approach ; flocking together, and 

 making a clamorous piercing cry, as if to 

 warn the mariner of his danger. They feed 

 on small marine animals and seeds of sea- 

 weeds, and appear very fond of fat or grease, 

 for which, and for the animals put in motion, 

 they will follow in the wake of ships for 

 great distances. They breed in the fissures 

 of rocks, and the female lays two eggs. They 

 fly rapidly, and generally close to the water; 

 und, when in pursuit of food, they suspend 

 themselves by extending their wings, and 

 appear to run on the surface of the waiter. 

 There are four species, which are so closely 

 allied as to be often confounded. C. Buo- 

 napartt?, who paid much attention to this 

 genus of oceanic birds, designates them as 

 follows : Thalassidroma Wilsonii (Stormy 

 Petrel) ; deep sooty black ; tail even ; wings 

 reaching a little beyond its tip ; tube of the 

 nostrils recurved ; tarsus one and a half 

 im:h long. T Le.nchh (Forked-tailed Pe- 

 trel) ; brownish black ; tail forked ; wings 



FORK-TAILED PETRKI,. 



(THALASSIDROMA LEAOHII.) 



not reaching beyond the tip ; tube of the 

 nostrils straight ; tarsus one inch long. Our 

 figure represents this species : it is copied 

 from the great work of Audubon ' The Birds 

 of America.' T. pelagica ; sooty black ; 

 tail even ; wings reaching a little beyond it ; 

 tube of the nostrils almost straight ; tarsus 

 seven-eighths of an inch long T. oceanica ; 

 brownish black ; tail slightly emarginate ; 

 wings reaching more than an inch beyond 

 it ; tube of the nostrils recurved ; tarsus 

 nearly one and three-fourths of an inch long. 

 "Whisking with the celerity of an arrow 

 through the deep valleys of the abyss, and 

 darting away over the foaming crest of some 

 mountain wave, they attend the labouring 

 bark in all her perilous course. When the 

 storm subsides they retire to rest, and are no 

 more seen." [For Sooty Petrel, see PUFFI- 



KUS.] 



PETRICOLA. A genus of Conchifera, 

 found in various parts of the world, in rocks, 

 corals, &c., but most abundant in America. 

 They are delicate, white, and radiated ; and 



XX 3 



