LEAST PETEEL. 
113 
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. 32?. 
Least Petrel, Thalassidroma pelagica, Aud. Orn. Biog., vol. iv. p. 310. 
Male, 5f, M. 
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 slightly 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 6J ; 
extent of wings ljlj ; wing from flexure ; tail 2i ; bill above 4 / ; along the 
edge of lower mandible I ; tarsus f ; middle toe and claw g ; outer toe nearly 
equal ; inner toe and claw f 1 . Weight 41 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 
Vol. VIII.— 15 
