Plate CCXCIX. Male.
Bill light blue, the tips black; outside of tarsus and toes
indigo-black, inside and webs pale yellowish flesh-colour; upper parts
sooty-black, lower pure white.
_Male_, 11, 26.
Abundant during summer in the Gulf of Mexico, and off the coast
eastward to Georgia. Some wander as far as Long Island.
Puffinus obscurus, Bonap. Syn. p. 371.
Dusky Petrel, Nutt. Man. v. ii. p. 337.
Dusky Petrel, Puffinus obscurus, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. iii. p.
620.
GENUS V. THALASSIDROMA, Vigors. PETREL.
Bill shorter than the head, slender, as high as broad at the base,
extremely compressed at the end; upper mandible with the nostrils
dorsal forming a tube on its ridge at the base, on which the dorsal
line is concave and ascending, then abrupt, afterwards, for a short
space, straight, and lastly decurved, the sides separated by a groove,
convex, the edges sharp and inflected, the tip decurved, slender,
acute; lower mandible with the angle rather long, narrow, and pointed,
the dorsal line beyond it decurved, the sides erect, the edges sharp,
the tip decurved, acute. Head of moderate size, rounded above; neck
short; body rather slender. Feet rather long, slender; tibia bare at
its lower part; tarsus slender, reticulate; hind toe minute, with a
conical deflected claw; anterior toes of moderate length, slender,
scutellate, webbed, the third and fourth about equal. Claws slender,
arched, compressed, acute. Plumage very soft and blended, the feathers
distinct only on the wings, which are very long, with the primaries a
little incurved toward the end, the second longest, the first and
fourth about equal; tail emarginate or even, of twelve feathers.
Tongue much flattened, tapering to a horny point; œsophagus wide,
within the thorax enormously distended, and with the proventriculus
forming an ovate sac, which is recurved; stomach very small; intestine
short, of moderate width; cœca small; cloaca globular.
467. 1. Thalassidroma Leachii, Temm. Leach's Petrel.--Fork-tailed
Petrel.
Plate CCLX. Male and Female.
Tail forked; bill and feet black; plumage dark greyish-brown; quills
and tail brownish-black; smaller wing-coverts and inner secondaries
light greyish-brown; rump, sides of abdomen, and outer lower
tail-coverts white; upper tail-coverts also white, but with a terminal
black band.
_Male_, 8, 18-1/2.
Common on the Banks of Newfoundland, and at times off the coast of
Massachusetts, Maine, and Nova Scotia. Breeds on the shores of
Baffin's Bay.
Thalassidroma Leachii, Bonap. Syn. p. 367.
Fork-tailed Stormy Petrel, Thalassidroma Leachii, Nutt. Man.
v. ii. p. 326.
Forked-tailed Petrel, Thalassidroma Leachii, Aud. Orn. Biog.
v. iii. p. 434.
468. 2. Thalassidroma Wilsonii, Bonap. Wilson's Petrel.--Mother
Carey's Chicken.
Plate CCLXX. Male and Female.
Tail even; bill and feet black, but the webs yellow, unless at the
margin; plumage dark greyish-brown; quills and tail brownish-black;
outer secondary wing-coverts and some of the secondary quills light
greyish-brown, and tipped with white; rump, sides of abdomen, and
outer lower tail-coverts, white.
_Male_, 7-1/4, 15-3/4.
Wanders from the Gulf of Mexico, off the whole Atlantic coast to
Baffin's Bay, and often almost across the ocean towards Europe. Breeds
in vast numbers from Maine to Baffin's Bay.
Stormy Petrel, Procellaria pelagica, Wils. Amer. Orn. v. vii.
p. 90.
Thalassidroma Wilsonii, Bonap. Syn. p. 367.
Wilson's Stormy Petrel, Nutt. Man. v. ii. p. 322.
Wilson's Petrel, Thalassidroma Wilsonii, Aud. Orn. Biog. v.
iii. p. 486; v. v. p. 645.
469. 3. Thalassidroma pelagica, Linn. Least Petrel.--Mother Carey's
Chicken.
Plate CCXI.
Tail slightly rounded; bill and feet black; general colour of the
upper parts greyish-black, with a tinge of brown; lower parts
sooty-brown; secondary coverts margined externally with dull
greyish-white; feathers of rump and upper tail-coverts white, with the
shafts black, the tail-coverts broadly tipped with black.
_Male_, 5-3/4, 13-1/2.
Not uncommon on the Banks of Newfoundland. Not observed to breed on
the American coast.
Stormy Petrel, Thalassidroma pelagica, Nutt. Man. v. ii. p.
327.
Least Petrel, Thalassidroma pelagica, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. iv.
p. 310.