PROCELLARIIDiE — THE i'ETRELS — OCEANITES. 



415 



Oceanodroma Hornbyi. 



HOENBY'S PETREL. 



Thalassidroma Hornhiji, Gray, P. Z. S. 1853, 62. — Lawii. in liaird's B. N. Am. 1858, 829. — 



Baiui), Cat. N. Am. B. 1859, no. 641. 

 Oceanodroma Hornbyi, Bonap. Con.si). II. 1856, 195. — CouES, Pr. Ac. Nat. Sci. PliiUid. 1804, 75 ; 



Key, 1872, 329 ; Check List, 1873, no. 592 ; ed. 2, 1882, no. 827. — Kidgw. Norn. N. Am. B. 



1881, no. 727. 



Hab. North Pacific Ocean (coast of Alaska). 



Sp. Char. Adult : " Front, cheeks, throat, collar round hind part of the neck, breast, and 

 abdomen, pure white ; crown, hind-head, a broad band in front of neck, bend of wing and lesser 



wn'ng-coverts, sooty gray ; upper part of back gray ; lower part of back and tail ashy gray ; greater 

 wing- coverts brownish gray ; tertiaries and quills deep black. 



" Total length, 8^" ; bill from gape, 10^'", from front, 8|"' ; tail (outer feather), 3|" ; tarsus, 

 1" ; middle toe, 1" '' (Gray). 



This rare species continues unknown to American collections. 



This species Avas described by G. R. Gray, and the example from which its descrip- 

 tion was taken had been procured on the northwest coast of Xorth America. In its 

 general appearance and peculiarities it is said to correspond most nearly with 0. 

 furcata. We know nothing in regard to its specific habits or distribution. It lias 

 not been met with by any of the parties who have visited or explored the r.^gions 

 whence this species is said to have been obtained. 



Genus OCEANITES, Keysekling and Blasius. 



Oeeanites, Keys.& Blas. Wiib. Eur. I. 1844, p. xciii (type, Thalasaidroma JFilsoni, B'P.,^= Proccl- 

 laria oceanica, Kuul). 



Char. Size very small ; tail more than half the wing, forked, the feathers very broad at the 

 ends ; tarsus much longer than the middle toe and claw (about two and a half times as long as 

 the culmen) ; plumage dusky, with a white rump-patch. 



This genus is represented by a single .species — the well-known Wilson's Stormy Petrel 

 (0. oceanicus). 



