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 Order — Tubinares. Tube-nosed Swimmers. 



General Description. Tireless fliers of the deep sea, of various sizes from the large 

 Albatross to the small Petrel. Usually dull and evenly coloured birds. 



Distinctions. Nostrils are encased in tubes laid on top of the bill proper (Figure 11, 

 p. 19). 



Field Marks. General flight habits and coloration. Familiarity with the various 

 species is necessary to recognize members of the order. 



Nesting. On the ground or in burrows in out-of-the-way localities, often on rocky 

 islets far out at sea to which they find their way in some mysterious manner that we cannot 

 explain. 



Distribution. As a family, they are birds of the southern hemisphere, for it is there 

 that they reach their fullest development in numbers of individuals and species. How- 

 ever, some inhabit the north far into the Arctics. 



The Tube-nosed Swimmers are essentially marine, using the land 

 only for breeding purposes. The whole ocean is their home and its lonely 

 waste is sufficient for all their needs except that of rearing their young. 

 They, therefore, as a class, rarely come into shallow water and are most 

 commonly seen by the deep-water sailor, the offshore fisherman, or the 

 ocean voyager. There are two families of the order: the Albatrosses, 

 Diomedeidce; and the Fulmars, Shearwaters, and Petrels, Procellariidm; 

 that are here called for convenience the Lesser Tube-nosed Swimmers 

 owing to their inferior size. As there are no Albatrosses regularly on our 

 east coast we are concerned only with the Procellariidm. 



Economic Status. Owing to their pelagic habitat they are of little if 

 any known economic interest. 



FAMILY PROCELLARIID..E. LESSER TUBE-NOSED SWIMMERS. FULMARS, 



SHEARWATERS, AND PETRELS. 



Subfamily — Fulmarinse. Fulmars. 



General Description. See previous description of order. 



Distinctions. Lesser Tube-nosed Swimmers are smaller than the Albatrosses and are 

 the only members of the order regularly found on our eastern coast. 



Field Marks. General coloration and flight habits. Wings stiffly held straight out 

 from the body and long steady glides on motionless wings (Fulmars and Shearwaters), 

 or gently flitting close to the surface up one side of a wave and down the other with feet 

 occasionally paddling along as if running on the surface (Petrels). 



Distribution. The family is distributed over the oceans of the world from pole to pole. 

 Though many species are regularly confined to the southern hemisphere they are great 

 wanderers and the list of stragglers on our northern coast is comparatively large. Of 

 many species very little is known and our knowledge of several of them is confined to 

 single or a few individual specimens that have found their way into collectors' hands. 

 Other species than those here listed may be found on our coasts or even occasionally on 

 the Great Lakes, but their identification should be made with the greatest caution. 



Economic Status. Though feeding almost entirely on fish and offal, 

 their deep sea habitat renders them of little economic importance. 



