Page:The birds of America, volume 7.djvu/278

202 compressed, reticulated with angular scales; hind toe a slight prominence with a conical claw; fore toes long, slender, scutellate, connected by striated even webs; fourth toe slightly shorter than third. Claws moderate, arched, compressed, rather acute. Plumage full, close, elastic, rather compact above. Wings very long, narrow, the first quill longest. Tail short, or of mode- rate length, of from twelve to sixteen feathers.

A specimen of the Gigantic Fulmar, shot at some distance from the mouth of the Columbia river, has been sent to me by Mr. Townsend, along with those of other species of the same genus described in this volume, and which it resembles in form and proportions. The great size of this bird gives it at first sight the appearance of an Albatross. It is described as frequent in the southern seas, gliding silently over the surface of the waters, and subsisting on carcasses of cetacea, seals, birds, and other animal matter; the sailors distinguishing them by the name of "Mother Carey's Geese." Gigantic Fulmar, Procellaria gigantea, Aud. Orn. Biog., vol. v. p. 330.

Length, 36; tail, 7£; bill, 4.

Off the Columbia river.

Bill longer than the head, robust, straight, moderately compressed, with the tip decurved. Upper mandible with the nostrils on the ridge, separated only by a thin septum, covered by a broad elongated horny case, of which the ridge is nearly straight and carinate, and the base striated; the sides erect and convex, separated by a groove from the nasal plate, as well as from the unguis, which is remarkably strong, curved, laterally convex, and acute, the edges blunt, direct, slightly recurved, along the unguis sharp and de- curved. Lower mandible with the angle long and narrow, the sides sloping a little outwards and nearly flat, with a longitudinal seam near the edges,