1 1 o The Albatrosses and Petrels 



seven inches in length. Of the remaining species we may only mention the Spec- 

 tacled Albatross (D. melanophrys\ which is so called from the presence of a 

 distinct grayish stripe on the sides of the head and about the eyes. It is a small 

 species, being only about thirty inches long, and is found in the southern oceans, 

 straying occasionally to the coast of California. A single fossil species has been 

 described from the recent deposits of England. 



The second genus (Thalassogeron), which is perhaps doubtfully distinct, is 

 distinguished by the fact that the upper division of the bill is narrow, and of 

 equal width from the middle of the culmen to the base. The six species are, 

 with one exception, confined to the Southern Ocean, the exception being the 

 Albatross (T. eximius] of Gough Island in the South Atlantic. The only species 

 casually reaching the Pacific coast of South America is the Yellow-nosed Alba- 

 tross (T. culminatus], a bird about thirty-six inches long, of a uniform dark 

 brownish slate above, with the rump, upper tail-coverts, and lower parts white. 

 The peculiar common name arises from the presence of a yellowish stripe along 

 the edge of the lower mandible. 



The Sooty Albatross (Phozbetria fuliginosa) is the sole representative of the 

 remaining genus and is distinguished at once from all the others by the presence 

 of a distinct longitudinal groove on the sides of the lower mandible, which extends 

 the entire length of the lateral division, and by its wedge-shaped tail. In the 

 adult the plumage of the neck, back, and lower parts is pale smoky gray, becom- 

 ing deep sooty on the sides of the head, chin, and throat, while the bill is deep 

 black with the grooves whitish and the feet pale 'reddish. Its home is in the 

 southern seas, though coming occasionally as far north as the coast of Oregon. 



THE PETRELS 



(Family Procellariida) 



The Petrels take their name from the fact that they often appear to walk on 

 the surface of the water, as the Apostle Peter is said to have tlone, the word 

 being derived from the Latin petrellus, meaning literally "little Peter." They 

 of course do not actually walk on the water, but the bodies of some species are 

 so small and light that they are able, with only the slightest seeming exertion, 

 to keep the moving feet just touching the water, and then they may seem to be 

 walking on its surface. 



The Petrels constitute a large, well-marked group of birds embracing upward 

 of twenty genera and one hundred species, of which number more than thirty 

 have been found in North America. They are strictly birds of the ocean, never 

 venturing near the land except at the breeding season, and even then they seem 

 in haste to be gone. "None of the Petrels," says Professor Newton, "are en- 

 dowed with any brilliant coloring sooty black, gray of various tints (one of 

 which approaches to and is often called "blue"), and white being the only hues 



