PfiOCKLLARIA. BIRDS. 313 



breast formed of brown spots ; bill of the shape and size of that 

 of the Larus canus ; the two middle tail-feathers much elongated, 

 slender, and pointed at the extremities ; a few warts on the hind- 

 er part of the tarsus, which measures 1 inch 7 lines. 14 or 15 

 inches long ; the long tail-feathers 3 to 5 more. Inhabits Northern 

 Europe. Shaw, xiii. pi. 23. 



Gen. 7. PROCELLARIA, Lin. 



Bill as long as, or longer than the head, very hard, edged, de- 

 pressed, and dilated at the base ; the tip compressed and 

 arched ; both mandibles channelled, and abruptly inflected 

 towards the extremity ; nostrils prominent, at the surface of 

 the bill, united and concealed in a tube, which either forms 

 a single opening, or exhibits two distinct openings ; legs mid- 

 dle-sized, often long, slender, the tarsi compressed ; the three 

 front toes entirely webbed and long, and the hinder repre- 

 sented by a pointed claw ; wings long. 



This genus is composed of a number of species, of which many are but little 

 known to naturalists. All the species are semi-nocturnal, or seek their food in the 

 morning or evening twilight, and conceal themselves in fissures of rocks, caverns, or 

 holes during the day. They chiefly frequent those portions of the ocean that are 

 the abodes of cetaceous animals, and are seldom seen along the shores, or at a dis- 

 tance from the sea. unless driven by violent gales from their ordinary stations. They 

 feed on the flesh of the morse and whale, and on such mollusca, insects, and worms, 

 as float on the surface of the ocean. They breed in the crevices of rocky cliffs, or 

 the deserted burrows of quadrupeds, discharging a sort of oily liquid from their nos- 

 trils on those who attack them or their young. The female is rather smaller than 

 the male, but not otherwise distinguishable ; and the young are not so unlike the 

 mature birds as in the two preceding genera. Temminck divides the genus into 

 three sections, according to the structure of the nasal tube. 



1. PETRELS. Bill thick, hooked, gibbous towards the point; nos- 

 trils united in a tube or furrow on the surface of the bill ; tail 

 rounded or conical. 



P. glacialis, Lin. Fulmar Petrel. Plumage whitish ; back hoary ; 

 bill and feet yellowish ; nostrils composed of two tubes, lodged 

 in a common sheath. 16 inches long. Inhabits Arctic Circle. B. 

 ~Shaw, xiii. pi. 27- 



2. PUFFIN PETRELS. Bill generally longer than the head, slen- 

 der, much compressed at the point ; nostrils opening in two tubes 

 approaching the surface of the bill. 



P. puffinus, Lin. (P. cinerea, Gmel.) Puffin or Cinereous Petrel. 

 Bill depressed at the base, channelled above, compressed and tur- 

 gid at the tip ; nostrils consisting of two openings under a com- 

 mon sheath; bill two inches long; tarsi 1 inch 10 lines; tail 

 conical. 18 inches long. Inhabits all seas Tern. Man. 805. 



P. Anglorum, Tern. Manks Petrel. Bill very slender, 1 inch and 

 7 or^8 lines in length ; tail rounded, the wings projecting a little 

 beyond its extremity ; length of the tarsus 1 inch 9 lines. 13 

 inches long. Inhabits Isle of Man, &c. Shaw, xiii. pi. 26. 



