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BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 
SECTION 1. 
Descriptions of Additional Species, Etc. 
OCEANITES OCEANICUS (Kuhl.). 
Wilson’s Petrel. 
Description. 
“Dark sooty-brown, pale gray oil the wing-coverts, black on wings and tail; the 
upper tail coverts, and frequently the crissum and sides of rump and base of tail, 
white; bill and feet black, but webs with a yellow spot; iris brown. Length 
7.00-8.00; extent about 16.00; wing about 6.00; tail 3.00, nearly even ; tibia bare 1.00; 
tarsus, 1.30; middle toe and claw, 1.10; bill, .50.”— Cones' Key. 
Habitat .—Atlantic and Southern oceans. 
Wilson’s Petrel, according to Cones' Key, is said to breed on our northern Atlantic 
coast. “Nest in burrows in the ground; egg single, white.” Besides feeding on 
different kinds of animal substances, particularly oily matter, which floats on the 
water’s surface, Wilson’s Petrels, some writers assert, have been seen flitting about 
rocky hillsides adjacent to their chosen oceanic retreats, capturing small insects 
witn almost the same ease and grace of a swallow. A single bird of this species— 
the only well-authenticated instance known to the writer of its occurrence in Penn¬ 
sylvania—is in the possession of Mr. Charles H. Eldon, Williamsport. This speci¬ 
men was taken about 250 miles northwest of Philadelphia, along the West Branch of 
the Susquehanna river, in June, 1887, by Mr. William Geist, shortly after a severe 
storm. The slightly rounded or nearly square tail, together with the long legs, and 
the oblong spaces of yellow on interdigital webs (as noted on page 27) will, with 
the small size, readily enable one to distinguish this bird from either of the other 
smaller petrels which are occasionally driven within our borders. 
Widgeon. 
ANAS PENELOPE Linn. 
Description. 
Very similar to the American Widgeon (see page 37). The markings of the head 
and neck as explained in the following analysis from Cones' Key show very clearly 
the difference between the two birds : 
“ A. penelope: Head and neck cinnamon-red, scarcely varied; with mere traces 
of green, if any ; top of head creamy or brownish-white. 
A. americana: Head and neck grayish, speckled with dusky, the sides of the 
head with a broad patch of green, the top white or nearly so.” 
Habitat. — Northern parts of the Old World. In North America breeds in the 
Aleutian Islands, and occurs occasionally in the Eastern United States. 
Stragglers of this species are said to have been taken along the Delaware river 
near Philadelphia. 
