284 



BRANCH CHORDATA 



is about half-way between the base and the tip of the bill. The 

 bill is hooked like that of a bird of prey. "All are deep-water 

 birds, strong of wing, and brave spirited beyond all other birds. 

 The range of the order is worldwide. The most of them are 

 found in the southern oceans." 



To this order belong the petrels, " Mother Carey's chickens," which one 

 sees hundreds of miles out on the ocean. The stormy petrels are the smal- 

 lest of web-footed birds, being no larger than catbirds. Their note is shrill, 

 and their flight butterfly-like. 



The wandering albatross, with an expanse of wing from 10 to 14 feet, 

 is also a member of this order. It is a wonderful flyer, sailing for hours with- 

 out resting, always with rigid, motionless wings, rising, descending, or turn- 

 ing without a vi.sible movement of them. It has been made immortal by 

 Coleridge's " Rime of the Ancient Mariner." 





Fig. 232.— A little corner of Pelican Island. (Year-book U. S. Dept. 



Agricul., 1905.) 



Order IV. Steganop'odes. — The members of this order have 

 the four toes connected by a web. The bill has no lanidlo'. 

 The nostrils are small or A\'anting and the throat is usvially 

 pouched. Here belong such large aquatic birds as the frigate 

 or man-of-war bird, the cormorant, and the pelican. 



