2o6 British Birds, with their Nests and Eggs. 



ORDER TUBINARES. 



THE term Tubinares, here retained chiefly as a matter of convenience, was 

 employed in 1811 by Illiger, to describe the Petrels, which he found to 

 possess tubular passages to the nostrils, disposed symmetrically upon the surface 

 of the upper mandible. The researches of Garrod, W. A. Forbes, and Dr. Gadow, 

 have proved that the Petrels differ widely in structure from all other birds, and 

 that they have only a superficial resemblance to the Gulls (Laridce) with which 

 they are popularly associated. While Gulls frequent rocky coasts, construct bulky 

 land-nests of an open character, and produce numerous coloured eggs, the Petrels 

 live a purely pelagic life (except when incubating eggs) ; they chiefly nidificate 

 by burrowing under ground on lonely islands ; they lay single eggs, usually white ; 

 the first plumage of the young, instead of differing widely from that of the adult, 

 is virtually identical with the dress of maturity — except in the case of the 

 Albatroses (Diomedeida) which, like the Gulls, build large, open nests. But the 

 morphological distinctions which . characterize the Tubinares are deep-seated and 

 of profound significance. They will be found set forth with great clearness in 

 the late Mr. W. A. Forbes' report on the Tubinares (" Challenger Reports," 

 Zoology, Vol. IV, pp. 1-64). 



It is for the student to follow up the various points of interest in the structure 

 of the Tubinares, such as the structure of the hallux, the form of the stomach, 

 the disposition of the pectoral muscles, the characters of the cseca, the presence 

 or absence of the ambiens muscle, the form of the shoulder girdle, and many 

 osteological details which cannot be mentioned here. It is only necessary to offer 

 a warning, lest the superficial resemblance of the Oceanitida to the other small 

 forms of Petrel, should lead any one to overlook the structural differences which 



