930 LEAST PETREL. 



pure white, but generally with numerous minute dots of dull red at the 

 larger end, sometimes forming a circular band. 



Stormy Petrel, Thalassidroma pelagica, Nutt. Man., vol. ii. p. 327. 

 Least Petrel, Thalassidroma pelagica, Aud. Orn. Biog-., vol. iv. p. 310. 



Male, 5§, 13-|-. 



Not uncommon on the Banks of Newfoundland. Not observed to breed 

 on the American coast. 



Adult Male. 



Bill shorter than the head, slender, compressed towards the end, straight, 

 with the tips curved. Upper mandible with the nostrils forming a tube at 

 the base, beyond which, for a short space, the dorsal line is nearly straight, 

 then suddenly decurved, the sides declinate, the edges sharp, the tip com- 

 pressed and acute. Lower mandible with the angle rather long, narrow, and 

 pointed, the dorsal line beyond it very slightly concave and decurved, the 

 sides erect, the edges sharp, the tip slightly decurved. 



Head of moderate size, roundish, anteriorly narrowed. Neck short. 

 Body rather slender. Feet of moderate length, very slender; tibia bare at 

 its lower part; tarsus very slender, reticulate; hind toe extremely minute, 

 being reduced, as it were, to a slightty decurved claw; anterior toes rather 

 long and extremely slender, obscurely scutellate above, connected by striated 

 webs with concave margins. Claws slender, arched, compressed, acute. 



Plumage very soft, blended, the feathers distinct only on the wings, which 

 are very long and narrow; primary quills tapering, but rounded, the second 

 longest, the first three and a half twelfths, the third a twelfth and a half 

 shorter; secondaries short, the outer incurved, obliquely rounded. Tail 

 rather long, broad, slightly rounded, of twelve broad rounded feathers. 



Bill and feet black. Iris dark brown. The general colour of the upper 

 parts is greyish-black, with a tinge of brown, and moderately glossed; the 

 lower parts of a sooty-brown; the secondary coverts margined externally 

 with dull greyish-white; the feathers of the rump and the upper tail-coverts 

 white, with the shafts black, the tail-coverts broadly tipped with black. 



Length to end of tail 5| inches, to end of claws 5i, to end of wings 6%; 

 extent of wings 13^; wing from flexure 5^-; tail 2|-; bill above \ 7 , along the 

 edge of lower mandible -§; tarsus ^; middle toe and claw ^-; outer toe nearly 

 equal; inner toe and claw ^?. Weight A\ drachms; the individual poor. 



Adult Female. 



The female resembles the male. 



A male bird, from Nova Scotia, examined. The upper mandible inter- 

 nally has a longitudinal median ridge; the palate is convex, with two lateral 



