PROCELLAEINiE. 825 



the largest of all living birds. They appear never to rest except 

 when feeding, and often accompany ships for some days. 



Sub-fam. Peocellaein^e. 



Hind toe generally present. 



Petrels are divided by Bonaparte into several sections. 



A. Fulmar e<2. — With long wings, short tail, and small feet. The 

 Flying Petrels. 



In these birds the bill is rather short and thick, well hooked at 

 the tip ; the lower mandible truncated. The group contains some 

 very large species, P. gigantea and P. glacialis, and the well-known 

 Cape-pigeon, Dap Hon capensis. Like the Albatrosses, these birds 

 are much on the wing ; and the upper mandible has a few short 

 lamellaa on its inner margin. 



B. JEstrelatece. — With moderate wings and large feet. The 

 Swimming Petrels. 



In these the upper mandible has no lamella?. This section com- 

 prises a good many Petrels of moderate size, chiefly from the 

 Antarctic Seas. In some the tail is lengthened and graduated. One 

 genus, Pterodroma, Bonap., has the bill short, well curved, and 

 much compressed, with the tail cuneate or rounded. 



C. Prionece, Blue Petrels. 



These are a group of neatly plumaged small Petrels well known- 

 to all who have sailed round the Cape or to Australia. They have a 

 weak bill, and lamella? in the upper mandible. The colour is blue- 

 grey and white, and they are most abundant in Southern Seas. 



D. Procellariea, Stormy Petrels. 



The Stormy Petrels are well-known birds of small size, with a 

 slender compressed bill and lengthened tarsus. The nostrils are 

 contained in one tube or sheath, which is divided by a septum, 

 showing two distinct orifices. They are found in all seas. 



E. Puftneat, Puffin Petrels, or Shearwaters. 



Bill lengthened, slender, straight ; both mandibles arched and 

 hooked at the tip ; nostrils tubular with two openings ; wings long 

 and pointed ; tail rounded ; tarsus moderate ; a claw in place of 

 the hind toe. 



PART II. 5 M 



