168 AVES. 



Apt. patagonica, Gm. (The Great Penguin. ) Is the size of a Goose, 

 slate-coloured above, white beneath; a black mask surrounded with a lemon- 

 coloured cravatte. Found in large troops near the straits of Magellan, and 

 as far as New Guinea. The flesh, though black, is eatable. 



CATARKHACTES, Briss. 



The Gorfus(\] have the bill stout, but little compressed, pointed, 

 rounded on the backhand its point somewhat arcuated; the groove which 

 arises from the nostril terminates obliquely on the inferior third of its edge. 



FAMILY II. 



LONGIPENNES. 



This family includes those birds of the high seas, which from their 

 immense strength of wing are to be met with in every latitude. 

 They are known by the freedom or nullity of the thumb, by their 

 very long wings, and by their bill which is not notched but hooked 

 at the point in the first genera, and simply pointed in the others. 



PEOCELLARIA, Lin. 



The Petrels have a bill hooked at the end, the extremity of which seems to 

 consist of a distinct piece articulated with the remainder. Their nostrils are 

 united and form a tube laid on the back of the upper mandible; there is a 

 nail planted in the heel, but no thumb. Of all the Palmipedes, these re- 

 main most constantly at a distance from land, and when a tempest super- 

 venes, they are forced to seek shelter on reefs and ships, from which 

 circumstance they derive their name of Storm Birds: that of Petrel Little 

 Peter has been given to them on account of their habit of walking on the 

 water, which they effect by the aid of their wings. They make their nests 

 in holes of rocks, and eject on those who attack them an oily fluid with 

 which their stomach seems to be always filled. The greater number inhabit 

 the Antarctic Seas. 



Proc. gigantea, Gm. (The Giant Petrel) is only found in the South 

 Seas. It is the largest of all the species, surpassing the Goose in size. Its 

 plumage is blackish, though there are some varieties in which it is more or 

 less white. 



Certain small species, with a somewhat shorter bill and rather longer legs 



(1) Gorfu, a corruption of goirfugel, the name of the Great Auk in the 

 Feroe Islands. Catarrhactes is the Greek name of a very different bird, 

 which could fly well, and precipitated itself from a height on its prey. It 

 was most probably a species of Gull. 



