OOLOGY. 



13 



OSSIFRAG-A GIGANTEA, {Gm.) Eeick. (p. 23.) 



Lays a single egg on open, rather elevated ground, at some distance 

 (half a mile) from the sea. There was no vestige of an artificial nest when 

 the young were found, January 2. These were then nearly fledged, and 

 quite as large and heavy as the adults, occupying natural hollows 

 between mounds of azorella. They are exceedingly filthy birds, eject- 

 ing the contents of their stomachs for two or three feet from their bodies, 

 and seeming to have a limitless supply to draw upon. When disturbed, 

 they are soon surrounded by a puddle of vomited matters, and are, in 

 this condition, by no means pleasant birds to collect. Among the ejecta 

 were noticed many Pengain feathers. In the same neighborhood was 

 a young bird of an earlier brood, fully fledged, but not yet able to fly. 

 These Petrels must therefore be among the earliest in laying. The down 

 of the young bird is entirely gray in color, the head is partly naked, and 

 the bill, tarsi, and feet are colored nearly as in the adult, but somewhat 

 paler. The first fully-formed feathers are similar to the adult plumage. 



Majaqueus ^quinoctialis, (Linn.) Reich, (p. 25.) 



Nests in very deep burrows in hill-sides, generally under a mound of 

 herbage. Near the entrance to the burrow, there is always, so far as 

 observed, a small pool of fresh water. Egg is single, regularly ovoid, 

 and white, without shell-markings of any kind. It is generally, how- 

 ever, much soiled by secretions from the oviduct and dirt from the bur- 

 row. The shell is thin, homogeneous, and compact in structure, very 

 smooth to the touch, but under the lens is seen to be marked by small 

 pits and shallow linear depressions. 



The measurements are as follows : — 



Smithson. No. 



Orig. No. 



Measurements. 



17105 



189a 



3. 00 X 2. 10 



17106 



189& 



3. 08 X 2. 12 



17107 



189c 



3. 18 X 2. 19 



17108 



imd 



3. 17 X 2. 17 



17109 



189e 



3. 32 X 2. 13 



17110 



189/ 



3. 14 X 2. 20 



17111 



189^ 



3. 26 X 2. 17 



No young birds were identified as of this species. 



