052 BLUE PRION i 



feathers instead of one, proceeding out of every root, 

 and lying within one another, forming a very com- 

 pact and warm covering. 



These birds abound in the southern hemisphere, 

 and, like the rest of the group to which they belong, 

 burrow in the ground and under the roots of trees, 

 or take refuge in the clefts of the rocks : they make 

 a noise like the croaking of frogs. They do not 

 appear on shore in the day-time, but towards the 

 morning they are very active, and commence diving 

 in search of food at an early hour, and remain out at 

 sea nearly the whole day. 



BLUE PRION. 



(Pachyptila caerulea.) 



Pa. cano-ccerulescens corpore subtus rectricibusque ajrice albis, 

 fascia pectoris alarum que expansarum obscuris. 



Hoary-bluish Prion, with the body beneath and tip of the tail- 

 feathers white, a band on the breast and on the wings, when 

 expanded, white. 



Piocellaria caerulea. Gmel. Syst. Nat. 1. 560. Lath. hid. Orn. 

 2. 827. 



Blue Petrel, font. Voy. I. p. 91. Lath. Gen. Syn. 6. 415. 

 Lath. Gen. Hist. x. 19G. 



One foot in length : beak blue, with its tip black, 

 and a yellow stripe in the middle, and about an inch 

 and a quarter long: the upper parts of the plumage 

 are pale blue-grey : the under parts white : under 



