Bill not longer than the head, much compressed, generally very high,
in the species approaching the next family rather slender. Nostrils
small, linear, basal, and submarginal. Head large, broadly ovate,
anteriorly narrowed; neck short and thick; body full, compact, ovate,
or somewhat elongated. Feet short, rather stout, placed far behind;
tibia bare for a short space; tarsus very short, compressed,
anteriorly scutellate; toes three, of moderate length, scutellate,
webbed. Claws strong, arched, acute. Plumage dense, blended, soft.
Wings small, narrow, pointed. Tail very short. Tongue slender,
trigonal; œsophagus very wide, within the thorax extremely dilated;
stomach rather large, muscular, with the epithelium dense and
longitudinally rugous; intestine long and wide; cœca of moderate
size. Trachea simple, with a single pair of inferior laryngeal
muscles. Egg generally single.
GENUS I. MORMON, Illiger. PUFFIN.
Bill about the length of the head, nearly as high as long, exceedingly
compressed, at the base as high as the head, obliquely furrowed on the
sides; upper mandible with a horny dotted rim along the basal margin;
its dorsal line decurved from the base, the ridge narrow, at the base
rounded, the sides rapidly sloped, with three or four curved oblique
grooves, the edges sharp, their outline nearly straight, the tip
deflected, very narrow, but obtuse; lower mandible with the angle very
narrow, and so placed, that the base of the bill is inflected beyond
the perpendicular, the dorsal line a little convex at first, towards
the end ascending, and nearly straight, the sides perpendicular, the
edges sharp; the tip very narrow, obliquely truncate; gape-line
extending downwards a little beyond the base of the bill, and
furnished with a soft corrugated extensile membrane. Nostrils
marginal, linear, direct, in the horny part of the bill. Head large,
roundish-ovate; neck short and thick; body full and rounded. Feet
short, rather stout, placed far behind; tibia bare for a short space;
tarsus very short, little compressed, anteriorly with a series of
small scutella; toes three, connected by entire webs, the outer and
middle toes nearly equal. Claws strong, of moderate length, arched,
acute, that of the inner toe much curved. Plumage close, blended,
soft. Wings short, narrow, curved, acute; the first quill longest;
secondaries short and rounded. Tail very short, slightly rounded, of
sixteen feathers.