PROCELLARIID^ — THE PETRELS — OSSIFRAGA, 



363 



15. Oceanites. Tail forked, the feathers broad and nearly truncate at the end ; tarsus much 

 longer than the middle toe and claw (about two and a half times the length of the 

 culiaen) ; a white rump patch. 



16. Cymodroma (cjen. nov.). Tail even, the feathers exceed'ngly broad, with truncated 

 tips ; tarsus about twice as long as the middle toe without the claw (more than two and 

 a half times as long as the culmen). 



Genus OSSIFRAGA, Hombron & Jacquinot. 



Ossifraga, Homb. & Jacq. Compt. Rend. XVIII. 1844, 356 (type, Proccllaria gigantca, G.MEL.). 



Char. Size very large (equal to the smaller Diomedew) ; bill very robust, longer than the 

 tarsus ; nasal tubes very large and long, occupying the greater part of the culmen, the external 

 orifice of the nostrils simjjle, the septum commencing far back. Tail-feathers 16. 



0. gigantea, dark phase. 



Only a single species of this genus is known. It much resembles in size and general appearance 

 the smaller Albatrosses, but may be at once distinguished by the very different form of the bill. 



Ossifraga gigantea. 



THE GIANT FULMAR. 



Procellaria gigantea, G.mel. S. N. I. ii. 1788, 5(53. — Nutt. Man. II. 1834, 329. —Arn. Om. Biog. 



V. 1849, 330 ; B. 4m. VII. 1844, 202. — Lawr. in Baird's B. N. Am. 1S5S, 825. — Baikp, 



Cat. N. Am. B. 1859, no. 634. 

 Ossifraga gigantea, Reiuhenb. Syst. Av. 185, pi. 20, fig. 332. — Bonap. Consp. II. 1856, 186.— 



CouEs, Pr. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phil. 1866, 32; 2d Check List, 1882, no. 813. — RiDGW. Norn. N. 



Am. B. 1881, no. 704, 

 Fulmariis gigantcus, CouES, Key, 1872, 327 ; Clieck List, 1873, no. 581. 

 ? Proccllaria brasiliana, Latu. Ind. Orii. II. 1790, 821, no. 2. 



