Page:The birds of America, volume 7.djvu/322

230 pure white, but generally with numerous minute dots of dull red at the larger end, sometimes forming a circular band.

Stormy Petrel, Thalassidroma pelagica, Nutt. Man., vol. ii. p. 327.

Least Petrel, Thalassidroma pelagica, Aud. Orn. Biog-., vol. iv. p. 310.

Male, 5§, 13-|-.

Not uncommon on the Banks of Newfoundland. Not observed to breed on the American coast.

Adult Male.

Bill shorter than the head, slender, compressed towards the end, straight, with the tips curved. Upper mandible with the nostrils forming a tube at the base, beyond which, for a short space, the dorsal line is nearly straight, then suddenly decurved, the sides declinate, the edges sharp, the tip com- pressed and acute. Lower mandible with the angle rather long, narrow, and pointed, the dorsal line beyond it very slightly concave and decurved, the sides erect, the edges sharp, the tip slightly decurved.

Head of moderate size, roundish, anteriorly narrowed. Neck short. Body rather slender. Feet of moderate length, very slender; tibia bare at its lower part; tarsus very slender, reticulate; hind toe extremely minute, being reduced, as it were, to a slightty decurved claw; anterior toes rather long and extremely slender, obscurely scutellate above, connected by striated webs with concave margins. Claws slender, arched, compressed, acute.

Plumage very soft, blended, the feathers distinct only on the wings, which are very long and narrow; primary quills tapering, but rounded, the second longest, the first three and a half twelfths, the third a twelfth and a half shorter; secondaries short, the outer incurved, obliquely rounded. Tail rather long, broad, slightly rounded, of twelve broad rounded feathers.

Bill and feet black. Iris dark brown. The general colour of the upper parts is greyish-black, with a tinge of brown, and moderately glossed; the lower parts of a sooty-brown; the secondary coverts margined externally with dull greyish-white; the feathers of the rump and the upper tail-coverts white, with the shafts black, the tail-coverts broadly tipped with black. Length to end of tail 5| inches, to end of claws 5i, to end of wings 6%; extent of wings 13^; wing from flexure 5^-; tail 2|-; bill above 7, along the edge of lower mandible -§; tarsus ^; middle toe and claw ^-; outer toe nearly equal; inner toe and claw ^?. Weight A drachms; the individual poor.

Adult Female.

The female resembles the male.

A male bird, from Nova Scotia, examined. The upper mandible internally has a longitudinal median ridge; the palate is convex, with two lateral