PETRELS. 
523 
order. All the members of this family differ from the albatrosses by the nasal 
tubes being laid side by side upon the top of the beak. Generally the wings are 
long, but the number of quills does not exceed thirty-nine, and is usually about 
thirty, although occasionally reduced to twenty. The bind toe, although sometimes 
minute, is generally present; and there are usually basipterygoid processes on the 
rostrum of the inferior aspect of the skull. The giant petrel is distinguished from 
all the other members of the family by its large size, and by the length of the beak 
THE GIANT PETREL. 
exceeding that of the metatarsus. The beak is very stout, and has the nasal tubes 
of great length, and its outer sheath so produced as to reach beyond the proper 
apertures of the nostrils, thus giving the appearance of a single nostril. The tail 
is characterised by the presence of sixteen feathers. In general appearance and 
size this bird is not unlike some of the smaller dark-coloured albatrosses, its total 
length being about 32 inches, and the span of the wing 66 inches. Although 
pale-hued individuals are far from uncommon, the general colour of the plumage is 
typically dull slaty brown, becoming paler on the face, throat, and under-parts, and 
some of the feathers of the upper-parts tinged with chocolate, while those of the 
