152 ALLEN s NATURALIST'S LIBRARY. 



THE FULMARS AND SHEARWATERS. FAMILY 

 PUFFlNUXdE. 



According to Mr. Osbert Salvin, this family of Petrels 

 is distinguished by the following characters : " Nostrils 

 united, or nearly so, above the oilmen ; margin of the 

 sternum uneven ; distinct pterygoid processes ; manubrium of 

 furcula very short ; coracoids short, wide at the base and. 

 divergent ; first primary the longest, or not shorter than the 

 second." 



These birds are of larger size and stouter build than the 

 Storm- Petrels, and are divided into two sub-families, the 

 Fulmarin&i or Fulmars, and the Puffinince, or Shearwaters. 



THE FULMARS. SUB-FAMILY FULMARIN^E. 



The Fulmars are distinguished from the Shearwaters by the 

 lamellae which are more or less distinctly developed on the 

 sides of the palate. Five genera are included by Mr. Salvin 

 in this sub-family, the Giant Fulmar (Osstfraga) being as large 

 as some of the smaller Albatroses. The Cape Pigeons 

 (Daption) also belong to this group, as well as the Fulmars 

 \Fulmarus\ and the pretty little Blue Petrels of the Southern 

 Ocean, Priori and Halobxna. 



THE TRUE FULMARS. GENUS FULMARUS. 



Fulmarus, Stephens in Shaw's Gen. Zool. xiii. p. 233 (1826). 



Type, F. glacialis (Linn.). 



In the Fulmars the feet and bill are very strong. The latter 

 is stout, with the rami of the mandible strong and having a 

 bare inter-ramal space. The nasal tube is short, but well 

 developed, large and high at the base, equal to the width of 

 the latericorn (cf. Salvin, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxv. p. 422). The 

 tail-feathers are fourteen in number. 



The three species of Fulmarus are found distributed over 

 the North Atlantic and North Pacific Oceans. 



