1 20 The Albatrosses and Petrels 



body, and tail bluish ashy, except the lower part of the breast and abdomen, 

 which are white; the tail is very dark at the tip and appears fan-shaped in flight. 

 Of their habits as observed on Kerguelen Island, Kidder says: "This Petrel is 

 strictly crepuscular in habit when near its breeding place, none having been 

 seen by daylight except when disturbed from the nest. The birds are at this 

 season perfect balls of nearly fluid fat." 



White-faced Petrel. Another handsome bird is the White-faced Petrel 

 (Pelagodroma marina], also of the southern seas. Its plumage is in general 

 slate-color except the forehead, a stripe over the eye, and the lower parts, which 

 are pure white. Its habits are similar to those of Leach's and the Stormy Petrel. 



THE DIVING PETRELS 



(Family Pelecanoididce) 



While the Albatrosses and Petrels thus far considered are probably all able 

 to rest upon the water, very few of them are able or at least accustomed to dive 

 beneath the surface. There are, however, a small number of Petrels inhabiting 

 the southern seas that are especially known for their expert power of diving, 

 whence they are appropriately called the Diving Petrels. In these birds the bill 

 is shorter than the head, the nostrils distinct and opening upward on either side 

 of the middle of the base of the culmen, while the wings are quite short and the 

 first or hind toe wanting. The best-known species (Pelecanoides urinafrix), 

 found in the Australian and New Zealand seas, as well as those about Cape Horn 

 and the Falkland Islands, is about eight inches long, shining black above and 

 white below, with the sides of the neck grayish. This species, according to Buller, 

 is very common in the seas surrounding New Zealand, congregating in flocks 

 often of large size and feeding on medusas and other marine life. Its flight 

 consists of a rapid fluttering movement along the surface of the water, and it 

 dives through the waves with amazing agility. Another species called the Diver 

 (P. exsul] is found in the Southern Ocean from theCrozette Islands to Kerguelen, 

 where of its habits Dr. Kidder says : "On the first landing of our party at Kergue- 

 len Island, this bird was one of the two most commonly heard at night and seen 

 fluttering about the hillside. Its note is somewhat similar to the mew of a cat, 

 with a marked rising inflection of sound. It cannot rise from level ground in 

 flight, but, once in the air, flies strongly and rapidly, with a rapid fluttering 

 motion of the wings, very like the flight of the common English Sparrow." Its 

 single egg is placed in a burrow. The remaining species ( P. garnoli] is found on 

 the west coast of South America, and is distinguished principally by its greater 

 size, being some nine and one half inches long. 



