526 TUBE-NOSED BIRDS. 



pure white species of the size of a pigeon, with a short and weak bill, The " Cape 

 hen " (Majaqucus cequinoctialis) and the spectacled petrel (M. conspicillatus) are 

 larger southern species, of the size of the fulmar, with blackish brown plumage. 

 The beak is longer than in the latter, with shorter nasal tubes, of which the two 

 apertures look directly forwards. While the Cape hen is wholly blackish brown, 

 the spectacled petrel has characteristic white bands across the head and throat. 



Nearly cosmopolitan in their distribution, the numerous group of 

 medium -sized dark-coloured petrels, known as shearwaters and 

 included in the genus PwffLnu8 t are characterised by the length and slenderness of 

 their beaks, in which the short and depressed nasal tubes open by two separate 

 orifices, generally directed obliquely upwards. The wings are long and pointed, 

 with the first quill the longest ; the graduated tail consists of twelve feathers ; 

 and the first toe is rudimentary. 



Shearwaters may be divided into two groups, according as to whether the 

 under-parts are white, or are dusky like the back. Among the better-known 

 representatives of the former group we may mention the cinereous shearwater (P. 

 kuhli) of the Mediterranean, Western Europe, and the East Atlantic, characterised 

 by its stout beak, circular nostrils, and brownish grey upper plumage. The great 

 shearwater (P. major), of the Atlantic Ocean generally, which measures 18 inches 

 in length, and is an occasional autumn visitor to the British Islands, is a member of 

 the same group, distinguished by its more slender beak, in which the nostrils form 

 longitudinal ovals ; the general colour of the upper-parts being sooty greyish brown, 

 with paler tips to the feathers of the back. The commonest British representative 

 of the group is the smaller Manx shearwater (P. anglorum), which measures only 

 14 inches in length, and has a uniformly blackish upper plumage, without pale tips 

 to any of the feathers; it frequents the whole of the North Atlantic, although 

 more abundant on the eastern than on the western side. Another species of this 

 group is the dusky shearwater (P. obscurus), which is smaller than the last, with a 

 more slender beak, and a deeper black to the upper plumage. Common to both 

 the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, this species has been obtained from such widely 

 remote regions as the Bahamas, the Galapagos Islands, and New Zealand. Lastly, 

 we may take the sooty shearwater (P. griseus) as an example of the second group. 

 This species, which may attain a length of 18 inches, is of a uniform dusky tint 

 above and slightly paler beneath ; its range being nearly or quite as extensive as 

 that of the preceding species, and stragglers occasionally reaching the British Isles. 

 CappedPetreiand Allied to the shearwaters is the genus (Estrelata, as represented 

 Buiwer's Petrel, by the capped petrel (CE. hcesitata) and certain other species. It is 

 characterised by the great compression of the rather short beak, in which the 

 terminal curved " nail " is of very large size, and the short and very prominent 

 nasal tubes. The long and pointed wings extend when folded considerably beyond 

 the graduated tail, and the hind-toe is small and elevated. This species inhabits 

 the warmer parts of the Atlantic, straying occasionally to England and France. 

 While the forehead, the sides of the head, the neck, the upper tail-coverts, and the 

 base of the tail are white, the crown of the head has an isolated black cap, and the 

 upper-parts are bistre-brown; the whole length being 16 inches. The uniformly 

 blackish brown Buiwer's petrel (Bulweria columhina) is a much smaller bird of 



