782 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS.— L0NGIPENNE8—TUBIN ABES. 



longest, 3d nearly equal, 1st longer than 4th. The general plumbeous or bluish-ashy cast 

 of the plumage is quite different from the sooty shade of C. melcena, approaching the condition 

 seen in species of Oceanodroma. Length about 7-25 ; wing about 5.00; tail 3.25, forked 0.60; 

 tarsus 0.90; middle toe and claw the same; bill 0.50; gape 

 0.75 ; height or width at base 0.20; nasal tubes 0.24. Faral- 

 loue Islands, Cala. ; another rare and little known species. 



328. OCEANO'DROMA. (Gr. 'Q.K€av6s, Okecmos, Lat. Oceanus, 

 the divinity of the sea ; 8p6p.os, dromos, running.) Gkay 

 Fork-tail Petkels. Bill small, weak, much compressed. 

 Wings short; 2d and 3d primaries equal and longest, 1st shorter 

 than 4th. Tail long, deeply forked, with broad medium and 

 narrow external feathers. Feet as in Cymochorea. Colora- Fig, 526. —Black Petrel, nat. 

 tion pecuhar ;' bluish or grayish, and white. s'^^- (Ad nat. del. E. C.) 



826. O. furca'ta. (Lat. furcata, forked.) Gray Fork-tailed Petrel. Bluish-ash, paler 

 or whitish below and on tire greater wing-coverts, dusky about the eyes ; lesser wing-coverts 

 sooty ; qtulls and tail brownish, the primaries pale or white on their inner edges, outer web 

 of outer tail-feather white ; bill and feet black. Length about 8.00; wing G.OO ; tail 4.00, 

 deeply forked; bUl 0.60; tarsus 0.87; middle toe and claw the same. N. Pacific coast, 

 C(jmnion. 



837. O. horn'byi. (To Admiral Hornby, R. N.) Hornby's Fork-tailed Petrel. Front, 

 cheeks, tliroat, collar round neck, breast, and abdomen, ]iuro wliite; crown, hind head, a broad 

 Ijaud in fi-ont of neck, bend of wing and lesser wing-coverts, sooty-gray ; upper part of back 

 gray; lower part of back, and tail ashy-gray ; greater wing-coverts brownish-gray; tertiaries 

 and ciuUls black. Length 8.25 ; tail 3.75 ; tarsus 1.00; middle toe about the same; bill along 

 culmen 0.60; along rictus 0.90. N. W. coast. I have never seen this rare species, of wliich 

 there are not to my knowledge any specimens in tliis country. 



329. OCEANI'TES. (Gr. 'aKeavirris, Okeanites, scju of the sea.) WiLSONlAX Stormy Petrels. 

 Very different from any of the foregoing " stormy " petrels in great length of the legs, lilie 

 stilts. Bill short, weak, compressed, not -J- as long as head, about | the tarsus, witli sides 

 a little concave, hook small, and nasal tubes perfectly horizontal. Wings very long, 2d 

 primary much the longest; 1st and 3d about equal; 4th much shorter. Tail moderate, about 

 sc|uare (as in Procellaria) ; ample, with featliers broad to their very tips. Tibia denuded an 

 incli or more. Tarsi presenting the character, remarkable if not unique among water birds, 

 of being covered in front and on sides by a continuous plate or "boot," as in a thrush, tire 

 ordinary scutella being fused. Toes, though long, only about t the greatly lengtliened tarsi ; 

 hind toe so minute as to be liable to be overlooked. CUra'S broad, flat, obtuse. There are 

 several species of this notable genus. 



838. O. ocea'nlcus. (Lat. oceaniciis, oceanic.) Wilson's Stormy Petrel. Ccdoratiun umch 

 as in P. xielagica or C leucorrhoa ; dark sooty-brown, pale gray on the wiug-co\-erts, black 

 on wings and tad; the upper tail-coverts, and frequently the crissum and sides of rump and 

 base of tail, white; bill and feet black, but webs witli a yeUow spot; iris brown. Lengtli 

 7.00-8.00; extent about 16.00; wing about 6.00; tail 3.00, nearly even; tibia bare 1.00; 

 tarsus 1.30; middle toe and claw 1.10; bill 0.50. One of the commonest and best known 

 species, widely dispersed over the globe ; said to breed on our N. Atlantic coast. Nest in 

 burrows in the ground ; egg single, white. 



330. FREGET'TA. (Ital. fregata, a frigate.) Stilt Stormy Petrels. Resembling Oceanites 

 in the great length of leg, flat obtuse claws, and other characters. Bill stout, about as high 

 as broad at base, half as long as head, with long liigli nasal tube. Wings moderately long, 

 folding just beyond the tail; 3d primary longest ; 3d nearly equal; 1st between 3d and 4th. 

 Tail ample, square, with broad feathers, square-tipped. Tibije bare an incli or more ; tarsus 



