PKOCELLAEIIDa; OSSIFBAGA 483 



Description. Adult male. — Uniform chocolate-brown throughout, 

 the centres of the feathers rather darker than the edges ; below 

 often a little paler than above. 



Iris hazel ; bill pale sea green ; legs brownish-black. 



Length 36*0 (a female measured in the flesh 33-0) ; wing 20-0 ; 

 tail 6'5 ; culmen 5'0 ; tarsus 8'5 ; middle toe 5'0. 



The sexes are alike, the young birds paler than the adults ; the 

 size of the bill varies a good deal ; in two examples in the South 

 African Museum the culmen only measures 3'75, as against the 

 more usual 5'0. 



Fig. 149. — Head of Ossifraga gigantea. x -^ 



White and nearly white individuals are not uncommon. The 

 nestling is covered with long grey down, when fledged they are 

 dark brown mottled with white. 



Distribution. — Throughout the Great Southern Ocean from about 

 the Tropic of Capricorn to the Ice Barrier and the Antarctic Con- 

 tinent, where it was seen in considerable numbers by the members 

 of the Southern Cross Expedition, the Giant Petrel appears to be 

 everywhere abundant. Like other Petrels it resorts to oceanic 

 Islands to nest and rear its young ; among others the Falklands, 

 South Georgia, Tristan da Cunha and Gough Island in the Atlantic, 

 Prince Edward and the.Crozet Islands, and Kerguelen in the Indian 

 Ocean, may be mentioned as breeding places. 



The Giant Petrel is found about the South African coasts during 

 the greater part of the year ; it is common enough in Table Bay, 

 and has been obtained on the western coast as far north as Mossa- 

 medes in 15° S. lat. 



