CHAPTER III

NEORNITHES CARINATAE

BRIGADE I–LEGION I (COLYMBOMORPHÆ). ORDERS: ICHTHYORNITHES–COLYMBIFORMES–SPHENISCIFORMES– PROCELLARIIFORMES

(C) The NEORNITHES CARINATAE, or birds which, with few exceptions, have a keel to the sternum, include all the remaining members of the Class. It is unnecessary to recapitulate the distinctions between these forms and the Ratitae, to be found on p. 26, but it may be well to reiterate that it is the sum of all the characters that constitutes the difference, and to point out that in one or more of the items several of the Carinatae agree with the members of the aforesaid group, though totally at variance with them in the aggregate. Claws on the manus are found on the pollex and index in certain of the Anseres, Cathartae, and Accipitres, and on the pollex alone in some Anseres, Accipitres, and Galli, with individual instances in other birds.

[Illustration: FIG. 14.–Head of _Ichthyornis_. (From Geikie, after Marsh.) × ½.]

ORDER I. ICHTHYORNITHES.

Enough has already been said with regard to the position of the Order Ichthyornithes, with its sole Family ICHTHYORNITHIDAE; but it remains to discuss the several members. _Ichthyornis victor_, _I. dispar_, and the other species were small forms of about the size of a Partridge, with the habits and appearance, it is presumed, of Terns or Gulls.[48] The head was extremely large {49}in proportion to the remainder of the skeleton; the beak was long and pointed, with entirely separate rami to the mandible; the sharp teeth, fixed regularly in distinct sockets, were inclined backwards, and occupied the whole of the lower and at least the posterior half of the upper jaw; the keel of the sternum was large and broad; the dorsal and cervico-dorsal vertebrae were biconcave, as in _Archaeopteryx_, and perhaps to some extent in _Enaliornis_; the quadrate articulated to the skull by one knob, as in the Neornithes Ratitae and Neornithes Odontolcae; the metatarsus was short and the whole foot small; a furcula was probably present; the wings were well developed, indicating great powers of flight; while the tail was comparatively short, and ended in a pygostyle. It will be observed that of these characters the formation of the jaw and its teeth, the biconcave vertebrae, and the articulation of the quadrate, are those that chiefly distinguish the Order from the rest of the Carinatae. _Apatornis celer_, also from the Cretaceous deposits of Kansas, is probably to be placed here, but other genera described from the same strata cannot yet be certainly classified.[49]

ORDER II. COLYMBIFORMES.

The Colymbiformes constitute a very archaic Order of Birds, and hold a somewhat isolated position. Older writers combined them with the Alcidae as a group Pygopodes, but recent anatomical investigations make it clear that Auks have more affinity to Gulls, which again trend to the Limicoline alliance. As regards structure, the two Sub-Orders COLYMBI and PODICIPEDES, with their Families _Colymbidae_, or Divers, and _Podicipedidae_, or Grebes, may be here treated together. They are all water-birds with webbed or lobed toes and extraordinarily flattened metatarsi. The sternum in the Colymbidae is much longer than broad, in the Podicipedidae short and wide, while the furcula is Y-shaped; the neck is more or less elongated; the bill in the former Family is strong, straight, acute, and compressed, in the latter moderate and sometimes recurved, being either slender, as in _Aechmophorus_, or very stout, as in _Podilymbus_. The scutellated metatarsi are set very far back, and are fairly long, the procnemial process of the tibia being remarkably elongated, though Grebes alone have a distinct patella; the hallux is very small and has a small membrane, {50}but whereas Divers have the anterior toes fully webbed, their allies have them surrounded by large lobes of skin, connected only at the base. The claws are abnormally broad and flat in Grebes, the outer margin of the third being serrated. In the Colymbidae the wing is short, narrow, and pointed, with eleven primaries and about twenty secondaries; in the Podicipedidae it is still shorter and concave in form, with twelve primaries but rarely twenty secondaries; in the latter no true rectrices can be distinguished, though a tuft of downy feathers exists, while in the former they are normal though much reduced, and number from eighteen to twenty. Grebes have bare lores, and are frequently adorned in the breeding season with crests or tippets of a golden or brownish colour; the dense glossy plumage being more commonly used for decorative purposes than the duller coats of Divers. The tongue is always long and pointed, the syrinx is tracheo-bronchial, the nostrils are pervious, an aftershaft is present, and both adults and young are uniformly downy. Fossil remains from the Oligocene of France and southern England, indicating a genus intermediate between the two Families, have been named _Colymboïdes_.[50]

Fam. I. COLYMBIDAE.–_Colymbus septentrionalis_, the Red-throated Diver of the Arctic and sub-Arctic parts of both worlds, is brownish black in summer, with white under-parts and white specks above; the head and neck are lead-coloured, except the nape, which is black with white streaks, and the mid-throat, which is reddish-chestnut. _C. arcticus_, the Black-throated Diver, found in the same regions though with a different distribution, as for instance in Scotland, is blacker, with white bars as well as spots; the crown and hind neck being ashy grey, the sides of the latter striped with black and white, and the throat purplish-black, interrupted by a semi-collar of white with vertical black lines. _C. pacificus_ of western North America is barely separable. _C. glacialis_, the Great Northern Diver, has a much more restricted range, breeding in Iceland, Greenland, and the Fur Countries as far west as the Great Slave Lake, where it meets _C. adamsi_ (hardly differing except in the yellowish-white bill), which extends thence to Northern Asia, and possibly to Spitsbergen and Jan Mayen. The former is black above, with belts of white spots making a "chess-board" pattern; the lower surface is {51}white, and the throat is crossed by two bands of white with longitudinal black bars, while the head and neck are black with a purplish gloss, changing to green below. In winter most Divers are found down to the northern tropic, at which season the throat becomes white, as it is in the young, in which the feathers of the upper parts are duller with whitish edges. The sexes are similar; the bill is normally black, and the feet are bluish or greenish grey. The downy chicks are sooty above.

[Illustration: FIG. 15.–Great Northern Diver. _Colymbus glacialis._ × ⅛.]

Divers are not usually gregarious, and unless driven by stormy weather to inland waters, are essentially marine, except during the breeding season, when they ascend the rivers and seek their customary nesting-sites on the moors, the Black-throated species showing a somewhat greater preference than the rest for islands in the lakes they frequent, but the Red-throated often selecting small pools, or even "flows," among the heather. The two eggs, greenish- or reddish-brown in hue, with blackish and grey blotches and spots, are laid on a mere depression in the grass or sand close to the water's edge, or upon a mass of green vegetation which is occasionally semi-natant. Incubation is said to last four weeks. As a rule the female performs this duty, lying flat upon her eggs, and gliding or scrambling off when disturbed, whence a distinct track is often visible upon the turf. On leaving the land a dive is taken {52}to a considerable distance, then both parents swim towards the intruder with the body partly submerged, and finally, if thoroughly scared, they rise heavily on the wing to circle round with outstretched neck before betaking themselves with rapid but laboured flight to some neighbouring lake, from which they return at intervals until the coast is clear. They descend from aloft noisily and with great impetus, the splashing plunge being followed by a gliding movement, leaving a broad furrow behind, while on land they move with difficulty, and rest on the metatarsus. Their croak, or loud, clear, melancholy cry is often heard before storms, whence the Red-throated Diver is called Rain-goose in Scotland; the food consists chiefly of fish, brought to the surface and swallowed with a jerk, but crustaceans, molluscs, and perhaps aquatic insects vary the diet. The young take to the water readily, but the female occasionally carries them on her back.

Both Divers and Grebes swim strongly, the flat of the metatarsus meeting the water during the back stroke, and the thin edge on the return. When submerged they do not use the pinions.

[Illustration: FIG. 16.–Little Grebe. _Podicipes fluviatilis._ × ¼.]

Fam. II. In the PODICIPEDIDAE both sexes are mainly dusky brown or blackish grey above, and silvery white below, often with some white on the wing; so it will only be necessary to note hereafter the distinctive ornaments or bright colours which are invariably lost in winter. _Podicipes fluviatilis_, the Little Grebe or Dabchick, ranging over Europe, Africa, and Asia to the Malay Countries and North Australia, has rich chestnut cheeks, throat, and sides of the neck, horn-coloured bill, and greenish feet. In winter the chestnut fades to buff with a white chin. Count Salvadori[51] considers _P. gularis_ of Australia and Papuasia and {53}_P. tricolor_ of the Moluccas separable, _P. pelzelni_ of Madagascar being hardly so. _P. dominicus_, extending from the southern United States to Patagonia, differs in its black throat. The Little Grebe breeds commonly in Britain, while _P. cristatus_, the Great Crested Grebe or Loon, only nests on our largest waters, covering, however, a wide range in Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. It has a bifurcate crest of brown, a chestnut ruff tipped with black round the cheeks and throat, a red base to the bill and greenish feet. _P. griseigena_, the Red-necked Grebe, which wanders to our shores, but breeds in the north of the Palaearctic and Nearctic Regions, and perhaps occasionally in Morocco, has the foreneck chestnut, a line above the cheeks white, and the base of the bill yellow. Some writers denominate the North American and East Asiatic form, _P. holboelli_. _P. auritus_, the Slavonian Grebe of the sub-Arctic portions of both worlds, has a tuft of golden chestnut feathers on each side of the head, an ample black ruff, rufous chest and flanks, black bill and greenish feet; _P. nigricollis_, the Eared Grebe, of Central and Southern Europe, Africa, temperate Asia, and western North America, has merely golden ear-tufts, with a black chest. Both visit us at certain seasons. Finally, _P. nestor_ inhabits South Australia; _P. rufipectus_ New Zealand; _P. caliparaeus_, _P. rollandi_, and _Aechmophorus major_ America south of Peru and Brazil; _Ae. occidentalis_ western North America; _Podilymbus podiceps_ nearly all the New World: and _Centropelma micropterum_ Lake Titicaca only. The first two have white hair-like filaments on the head, the third and fourth elongated ear-coverts of golden brown or black and white; while _Podilymbus_ is remarkable for its stout whitish bill with median black band and its black throat, _Centropelma_ for its aborted wings and flightless condition. _Podicipes taczanowskii_, of Lake Junin in Peru, differs from _P. caliparaeus_ in its longer and lighter bill and feet, and grey-brown ear-coverts. Grebes in the down are streaked with white or buff on a dusky ground, while some have a naked red space on the crown.

These migratory birds frequent reedy streams and stagnant waters in summer, being companionable, though not gregarious; hard weather, however, drives them to the sea. They walk fairly well, though awkwardly, and sit upon the whole metatarsus; but the chicks progress on "all fours," using the wings almost {54}as forefeet.[52] They fly straight and rapidly, with head and feet extended, but have difficulty in leaving the water; they dive at the slightest alarm, their quick sight enabling them to vanish below the surface at the flash of a gun, to reappear, with hardly a ripple, at a distance. Frequently it requires much patience to obtain a second view, as their bodies can be submerged to any extent, and at times the bill alone is exposed. In swimming they jerk the head and often rise vertically to shake their wings. They descend from the air with a splash and a glide, while in diving the feet alone act as oars, the young soon equalling their parents in this respect. The note is a harsh croak in the larger forms, a softer sound or whit-whit in the smaller; the food consists of fish when procurable, but small reptiles, amphibians, molluscs, crustaceans, insects, and vegetable matter are frequently added, and feathers of some size are constantly found in the stomach. The nest, a pile of aquatic weeds or rushes of varying bulk, is fixed among reeds, sedges, semi-natant masses of herbage, or, more rarely, upon low branches of trees or bushes verging upon the water. Should this rise higher, fresh materials are added. From three to six bluish-white eggs with a smooth chalky covering are laid in a slight depression above, but being covered with wet weeds by the female on leaving, soon become stained with brown. The bill is used in concealing them, nor does an invader's presence usually hinder the operation. Incubation lasts from twenty-one to twenty-four days. Both sexes are said to assist, and the mother carries the nestlings on her back, or even dives with them in that position.

ORDER III. SPHENISCIFORMES.

The Order Sphenisciformes, with its Sub-Order SPHENISCI, contains only those remarkable marine birds the Penguins (Fam. SPHENISCIDAE), the life of which is chiefly spent on the stormy waters of the Antarctic seas. Coupled by former writers with the Auks, their northern analogues, it has now been shown that the slight external similarity of the two groups is utterly misleading, the nearest allies of the primitive forms here treated being the Petrels on the one hand and the Divers and Grebes on the other. Their unique structure is correlated with very peculiar habits.

{55}The horny sheath of the maxilla is composed of from three to five more or less distinct pieces, while the powerful bill may be long, thin, and slightly decurved, as in _Aptenodytes_ and _Pygosceles_; shorter and pretty broad, as in _Eudyptes_; or very stout, short, and compressed, as in _Spheniscus_, where the prominent hook of the culmen overhangs a truncated mandible. The three metatarsals are not completely fused as in other birds (p. 10), the scutellated metatarsus itself being shorter and broader than in any other Family, except the Fregatidae; the legs are set far back, the tibia is hardly visible, and the short thick toes are directed forwards, the small hallux alone having no web. Even more striking are the wings, which are totally devoid of normally-developed quills, though the number of feathers is very large, the primaries themselves amounting to about thirty-six; these flippers or paddles have highly compressed bones with no power of flexure, but work freely from the shoulder in rotatory fashion, requiring a corresponding increase of strength in the muscles of the neighbouring parts. The numerous rectrices are fairly long and stiff in _Aptenodytes_, _Pygosceles_, and _Eudyptes_, but shorter in _Spheniscus_, having considerably reduced vanes. On the body we find no naked tracts, but a uniform covering of small scale-like feathers, with or without barbs, and an equally uniform distribution of down both in adults and young; the moult, moreover, is accomplished in an exceptional manner, the plumage being shed in masses, and that of the wing gradually flaking off above the new coat. The process apparently occupies about ten days.[53] Long superciliary crests occur in _Eudyptes_, the mandible is more or less feathered in _Aptenodytes_ and _Pygosceles_, and the metatarsi are clothed besides in _A. forsteri_. The furcula is U-shaped, the syrinx tracheo-bronchial, the tongue rudimentary, an after-shaft is present, and the plentiful subcutaneous fat produces a marketable oil.

Penguins[54] have been said to derive their name from the Latin _pinguis_ (fat) or the English "pin-wing," _i.e._ pinioned wing, but such nautical appellations are usually obscure. The French term them "Manchots." These birds rest on the whole metatarsus, the bill usually pointing upwards; their gait on land is ludicrous, but often fast, a vertical position being generally preserved, while they endeavour to waddle along on their toes with constant flapping of the pinions, every now and then partially losing their balance {56}and regaining it by the aid of their flippers. Several species are called Rock-hoppers, from their manner of hopping upon the boulders. They are, however, rarely seen on land, except in the breeding season, though equally gregarious at all times, swimming in "schools" and resorting in vast numbers to their "rookeries." When submerged, the wings act as paddles with alternating rotatory action, and the feet as rudders; but on the return to the surface the latter naturally become the propellers. The note is a croak, a scream, a murmuring sound, or, in the young, a whistle. The food of crustaceans, cephalopods, and other molluscs, is varied by fish or a little vegetable matter, and accompanied by a mass of pebbles, often ejected near the breeding places. The nest of grass and leaves–more rarely of twigs, pebbles, clay or rubbish, when herbage is scarce–may be in burrows, among tussocks, under stones, in caves, or in the open; the two coarse-flavoured eggs being white or greenish-white, with a variable amount of chalky incrustation. The male is said to assist in incubation, which lasts about six weeks; the parents sit very closely and feed the blind young for an exceptionally long period, by inserting their bill in that of the nestling. Pugnacious and thievish towards one another, Penguins are usually fearless on land, though, when they are irritated, the beak can inflict a very severe bite.

The range extends southwards from the Galápagos round Cape Horn to the Falkland Islands, a few stragglers reaching Brazil; thence breeding stations are found eastwards in Tristan da Cunha, off the Cape of Good Hope, in the Crozets, Marion, and Amsterdam Islands, Kerguelen Land, and so on to the south of Australia and New Zealand, with the Antarctic regions as far as man has penetrated. The largest form is _Aptenodytes forsteri_, and the smallest _Spheniscus minor_, about 36 and 19 inches long respectively; the sexes are alike in colour, or the female may be a little duller and resemble the young. The bill and feet are usually reddish-brown, black or grey, but the latter may be whitish. The nestling in down is blackish- or yellowish-brown with white lower parts.

_A. forsteri_, the Emperor Penguin of Victoria Land and the adjacent seas, is blackish-grey, with white breast and belly and an oval yellow spot on each side of the head. It is particularly tame, and moves at a marvellous rate by lying on the snow and propelling itself with its feet.[55] _A. pennanti_, the King Penguin of {57}Kerguelen Land, the Falklands, Crozets, Auckland, Macquarie, Campbell, and other southern islands, apparently confounded with the last-named under the title of _A. patagonica_, is distinguishable by the longer bill, more orange chest, and lack of feathers on the sides of the mandible and metatarsus. The crowded breeding grounds are flat spaces of hard soil covered with slime, and are often quite apart from the general quarters. When disturbed the birds utter a loud "urr-urr-urr," and run to the sea at a great pace, maintaining an upright position; while they pass to and from the water singly, and not in flocks, as do other species.[56] The pyriform eggs are sometimes held up by the parents' feet. _Pygosceles taeniata_, the "Gentoo," of similar but more restricted range, is bluish-black above and on the throat, having the lower parts, the margins of the flippers, and a band across the crown white. Dense colonies are found both near the sea and several miles inland, a regular path being often beaten down by the birds traversing it in company; the nests consist of a little herbage in a hollow, or are small conical mounds of stones and clay, lined with feathers and down, the oval eggs being frequently of unequal size. The note is an unmelodious bark.[57] _P. adeliae_ inhabits the icy regions of the far south.

_Spheniscus demersus_, the Cape Penguin or Jackass, ranging from western South America to South Africa, has bluish-black upper parts and throat, and white lower surface crossed by a blackish band–or two in the variety _magellanicus_. The note is a harsh bray; the eggs are either deposited in burrows–presumably dug by the parent itself–or, as on rocky islands near the Cape, in nests of pebbles and rubbish, commonly placed under large stones.[58] _S._ (_Eudyptula_) _minor_ is a bluer species with white throat, that part being dark coloured in the whole Family except here and in _Eudyptes antarcticus_; it occupies the south of Australia and the New Zealand area. The note is a loud croak or growl, and the oval but somewhat pointed eggs are laid on a bed of leaves and grass in an excavation in the soil or a crevice among rocks.[59] _S. mendiculus_, the only tropical form, occurs in the Galápagos.

{58}The genus _Eudyptes_ contains the crested "Maccaroni" Penguins or Rock-hoppers, of which _E. chrysocome_, figured below, extends southwards and eastwards from the Falklands through the Indian Ocean and Antarctic seas to the coasts of New Zealand and the neighbouring islands. It is bluish-black with white breast and belly, and a fine orange crest on each side of the crown, from which a broad golden streak passes over the eye to the base of the maxilla.

[Illustration: FIG. 17.–Rock-hoppers. _Endyptes chrysocome._ (From Thomson's _Atlantic_.)]

_E. chrysolophus_, a rarer bird of somewhat similar range, has the forehead yellow instead of black. _E. chrysocome_ nidificates on elevated slopes, usually near fresh water, in which it delights to bathe, the nest being either a mere depression in the bare earth or a slight structure of plant-stems and leaves. This is at times perfectly exposed, but is not unfrequently among boulders or under the shade of tussocks of grass as high as a man's head, the filthy breeding-places being intersected by beaten pathways formed by the constant passage of troops to and from the sea. The parent is said to sit almost perpendicularly, with the eggs closely applied to a naked space in the centre of the abdomen, but it should be mentioned that some observers state that the breast is lowered until it nearly touches the ground, though there seems to be little doubt that the position is at least half upright in the case of Penguins generally. Like other species, Rock-hoppers swim chiefly below the surface of the sea, coming into view only {59}from time to time to breathe; but they have a most curious habit of stretching out the legs below the tail, laying their wings flat to their sides, arching their necks forward, and then making a sudden spring clear out of the waves. An occasional croak is heard while the birds are in the water, but on land the barking noise is perfectly deafening, nor do the severe bites with which the intruder is greeted make matters more tolerable.[60] Among other species recognised by different writers are _E. antarcticus_ of the Falklands, South Orkneys, South Shetlands, and New Georgia; _E. antipodum_ of New Zealand and Campbell Island, with an almost yellow head; _E. atratus_ of the Snares Islands, entirely of a blackish hue, and possibly a melanistic form; _E. schlegeli_ of Macquarie Island, _E. vittatus_ and _E. pachyrhynchus_ of New Zealand, _E. sclateri_ of the Auckland Islands, and _E. serresianus_ of Tierra del Fuego.

_Palaeeudyptes antarcticus_[61] is a fossil form nearly 7 feet high, from the Eocene of New Zealand, while Señores Moreno and Mercerat record _Paraptenodytes antarcticus_, _Palaeospheniscus patagonicus_, _P. menzbieri_, and _P. bergii_ from the Miocene of Patagonia.[62]

ORDER IV. PROCELLARIIFORMES.

The Procellariiformes, or Petrels, are archaic ocean forms with great powers of flight, often placed near the Laridae on account of a supposed external resemblance, though the structure of the internal parts shews this to be misleading, and indicates rather a position between the Sphenisciformes and Ciconiiformes.

The single Sub-Order TUBINARES, with the Family _Procellariidae_, may be subdivided into the Sub-families: (1) _Diomedeinae_, or Albatroses; (2) _Oceanitinae_ and (3) _Procellariinae_, or Fulmars, Shearwaters, and Petrels proper; and (4) _Pelecanoïdinae_, or Diving Petrels.[63]

Fam. PROCELLARIIDAE.–In the larger species the bill is long, stout, and frequently compressed, with a strong sharp hook overhanging the truncated mandible; its size gradually diminishing throughout the Sub-Families in very much the above order. The {60}horny sheath is separated by grooves into more or less distinct plates, and the mandible may also be grooved, as in _Phoebetria_; while _Prion_ is especially remarkable for the curious fringe of transverse lamellae on the margins of the broad maxilla, which recall those of the Duck tribe, traces of the same being exhibited by _Ossifraga_, _Fulmarus_, _Daption_, and _Halobaena_. The most striking peculiarity, however, is the tubular structure of the impervious nostrils, which trenchantly divides the Petrels from all other Birds; these tubes are far apart in the Diomedeinae, and lie laterally towards the back of the culmen; in the remaining groups they are fused together and are situated dorsally. In the Oceanitinae the single aperture looks forwards and upwards, but in the Procellariinae the septum is produced to the front, showing clearly the double nature of the formation; in _Pelecanoides_ again the distinct openings are almost vertical, an arrangement as well adapted to the diving habits as are the long sternum and the compressed wing-bones. The rows of retroverted spines found on the palatal membrane in most of the family no doubt aid in the retention of slippery prey, as do the lamellae in _Prion_. The lower portion of the tibia is bare; the metatarsus varies in length and stoutness according to the species, though often decidedly slender, and is much compressed in _Puffinus_ and its nearest allies. It is usually covered with hexagonal scales, but _Oceanites_ and _Cymodroma_ show but one long anterior scute (_ocrea_), while _Garrodia_ and _Pelagodroma_ have a series of oblique plates instead. The hallux is absent in _Pelecanoides_, and consists of only one phalanx elsewhere, being quite rudimentary in the Diomedeinae; it is slightly above the level of the anterior toes, which are connected by large webs. The claws are, as a rule, sharp, curved, and compressed, but are blunt and much flattened in _Pelagodroma_, _Pealea_, and _Cymodroma_, showing a similar tendency in others of the Oceanitinae. The wings are normally long, and are very narrow and pointed in the Diomedeinae, where the expanse is vast, but in _Pelecanoides_ they are decidedly short: the primaries are eleven in number; the secondaries are ten or less in the Oceanitinae, thirteen of more in the remaining forms, and amount to more than thirty in some of the Diomedeinae. The tail is rarely long, as in _Phoebetria_, and may be even, rounded, graduated, or emarginated; the above species, _Bulweria_, and some forms of _Puffinus_ have it wedge-shaped, while {61}a distinct fork occurs in _Oceanodroma_. Sixteen rectrices are found in _Ossifraga_, fourteen in _Fulmarus_, _Priocella_, and _Daption_, twelve elsewhere. The small tongue is somewhat triangular, being rather larger in _Ossifraga_ and _Prion_; the syrinx is tracheo-bronchial; and an after-shaft is present, though in some cases rudimentary.

The soft, dense plumage shows various patterns of black, brown, grey, and white; the bill and feet may be black, brown, flesh- or horn-tinted, yellow, orange, or parti-coloured, but in _Prion_ and _Halobaena_ the latter are bluish. Light and dark phases are not uncommon, as in _Fulmarus_ and _Ossifraga_; the sexes are invariably similar; and the nestlings, which long remain helpless, are clad in thick down of a black, brown, grey, or white hue, through which the feathers appear gradually. Some white Albatroses have intermediate dusky stages of plumage, and do not gain the adult coloration at once, as most of the Family seem to do.

_Diomedea exulans_ is one of the largest birds that fly, exceeding a goose in size, while the smaller Petrels are hardly bigger than Finches. The range of the Order is world-wide, though a majority of species frequent the desolate tracts and islands of the southern oceans; but even Albatroses breed in the North Pacific.

Though the members of this Family can hardly be called gregarious, flocks of Shearwaters, Fulmars, and so forth are by no means an uncommon sight from shipboard, and settlements are formed in the breeding season, which is almost the only occasion on which they voluntarily seek dry land. Albatroses, Fulmars, the "Cape Pigeon" (_Daption_), and other allied forms are observed most commonly in the daytime, whereas those that nest under cover are to a great extent nocturnal during incubation, and are generally seen or heard after dusk. While the whole group is oceanic, there is a wide difference between the powerful Albatros and its smaller and weaker relations in that respect, the latter journeying but little from the immediate neighbourhood of their homes, and not accompanying ships for long distances in the same way as the former. In the larger species the flight is strong and graceful,[64] accompanied by circling, soaring, or sailing movements, the feet being extended below the tail; Shearwaters skim the waves in a curious twisting fashion, and the lesser Petrels flit with greater action of the wing close to the {62}surface, upon which they paddle to assist themselves. The Diving Petrels–and their allies to a limited extent–plunge through or beneath the billows, while all species may be noticed at times resting or swimming upon the water. Equally at home in storm or calm, they pass the greater part of their lives upon the ocean, and it seems impossible to doubt the fact that they sleep there also. Great difficulty is experienced in rising from a level surface, whether it be the deck of a ship or a grassy flat; the birds scrambling along with flapping wings and occasional aid from the bill, until some slight declivity or broken edge enables them to obtain a start. When taken from a nest in a burrow, they either drop to the ground like stones, or flutter off in a dazed condition, which lasts for several seconds, and renders them absolutely helpless. The cry is said in various cases to resemble a bray, a croak, a harsh cackle, a diabolical scream, a puppy's whine, or a soft whistle, while the twittering or "singing" of _Procellaria_, _Oceanodroma_, and _Oceanites_ in their holes is well known to those who have visited a Storm Petrel's colony. The food consists of fish, crustaceans, cephalopods and other molluscs, jellyfish, and the like, Albatroses and Fulmars being said to force other species to part with their booty after the manner of Skuas, or even to devour nestlings. Herbage is rarely found in the stomach, but blubber of dead animals and scraps thrown from shipboard are eagerly swallowed, so that many of the largest forms are captured by concealing a hook in a piece of pork and trailing it in the water on a cork, when the bait is often greedily contested by every individual in the vicinity. Albatroses and other members of the Family which will take food from the surface of the sea descend upon it with elevated wings, to rise again with the morsel obtained, or to float upon the waves while enjoying it; Shearwaters commonly dash down with considerable impetus, and disappear after their prey for the moment; while the Diving Petrels procure their nourishment at a much greater depth. When handled, and perhaps especially when taken from a nesting-hole, the birds bite severely, and eject a quantity of amber-coloured or greenish oil from the beak, followed as a rule by semi-digested food, the fluid possessing a strong smell of musk, which is also perceptible in the feathers and the eggs. The nest of the Albatros is usually a truncated cone or cylinder of mud, grass, leaves, and moss, with a slight {63}depression on the top, colonies being formed on cliffs, rocky slopes, or bare hill-tops above the limit of trees; the Giant Petrel makes a similar structure at no great elevation; Shearwaters and their nearest allies collect a mass of grass and rubbish in a burrow scraped in a bank, among boulders, or in holes and crevices of rocks, accommodating themselves to little stone huts, provided by the fishermen, in the Canary and Salvage Islands.[65] Fulmars scrape a cup-shaped hollow on ledges of precipices, adding little or no lining, while most of the remaining forms utilise small burrows, or crannies among the scattered stones which collect upon the shores or at the base of cliffs. A single lack-lustre white egg is deposited, frequently marked with a ring of rusty spots towards the larger end, especially in the case of the lesser species. Adult and young Shearwaters are eaten by the natives of the Canaries, the islands of Scotland, Ireland, and elsewhere, _Puffinus brevicauda_ being the "Mutton-bird" of Australia, and _P. anglorum_ being termed "Fachach" in the Hebrides and North Ireland. In the case of _Pelagodroma_, we have positive evidence that both sexes incubate;[66] and before the eggs are laid the parents are not uncommonly found together in the hole when such a site is chosen. Incubation lasts from twenty-five to sixty days.

Sub-fam. 1. _Diomedeinae._–This contains two genera, _Phoebetria_ and _Diomedea_, of which the former has one member, _P. fuliginosa_, of a sooty grey colour, distinguished from its allies by the sulcated mandible and cuneate tail. It frequents the South Seas, while straying to Oregon, as does _Diomedea culminata_; and has similar manners to other Albatroses. _Diomedea exulans_, the Wandering Albatros, or "Cape Sheep," of the Southern Oceans generally, is white with narrow dusky undulations above and almost black wings; and particulars of the habits having been already given, it only remains to refer to the majestic flight, described by Professor Hutton as follows: "With outstretched, motionless wings he sails over the surface of the sea, now rising high in the air, now with a bold sweep, and wings inclined at an angle with the horizon, descending until the tip of the lower one all but touches the crests of the waves as he skims over them. Suddenly he sees something floating on the water and prepares to alight; but how changed he now is from the noble bird but a moment before, all grace and symmetry.

{64}[Illustration: FIG. 18.–Wandering Albatros. _Diomedea exulans._ × ⅑.]

He raises his wings, his head goes back, and his back goes in; down drop two enormous webbed feet straddled out to their full extent, and with a hoarse croak, between the cry of a Raven and that of a sheep, he falls 'souse' into the water. Here he is at home again, breasting the waves like a cork. Presently he stretches out his neck, and with great exertion of his wings runs along the top of the water for seventy or eighty yards, until, at last, having got sufficient impetus, he tucks up his legs, and is once more fairly launched in the air."[67] _D. regia_, of the New Zealand seas, has no undulations on the back; the similar _D. chionoptera_, of the Southern Indian Ocean, has nearly white wing-coverts; and _D. albatrus_, of the North Pacific, has buff crown and nape. Of the smaller forms, or Mollymauks (p. 65), _D. irrorata_, of West Peru, is sooty-brown with plentiful white mottlings and white head; _D. nigripes_, of the North Pacific, is the same colour, but shews white only at the base of the tail {65}and bill, and near the eye; _D. immutabilis_, found from Laysan to Japan, is darker, with white head, neck, rump, base of tail, and lower parts; _D. melanophrys_, of the southern oceans, which has occurred in California, and in summer in England as well as at the Faeroes,[68] is white, with a blackish band on each side of the eye, slaty back, brownish-black wings, and grey tail; _D. bulleri_, of the New Zealand seas, is greyish-brown, with white rump and lower surface, and ashy or whitish head; _D. culminata_ and _D. chlororhyncha_, of the southern oceans, _D. cauta_ of Tasmania, _D. salvini_ of the New Zealand Seas, and _D. layardi_ of those of the Cape, have similarly coloured plumage; the last five being distinguished by some writers as _Thalassogeron_, and having a strip of naked skin between the plates of the maxilla towards its base. _D. bulleri_ has red, _D. chlororhyncha_ flesh-coloured, and the others yellow feet; the amount of yellow on the bill varying with the species.

Sub-fam. 2. _Oceanitinae._–The genera recognised are _Cymodroma_, _Pealea_, _Pelagodroma_, _Garrodia_, and _Oceanites_; they are sooty- or slaty-black birds, of small size, having in some cases the rump, under parts, nuchal collar, forehead, superciliary streaks, or margins to the feathers of the dorsal region white. Their range extends over different portions of the southern seas, whence _Oceanites oceanicus_, Wilson's Petrel, has strayed to Labrador and Great Britain, and _Pelagodroma marina_ to the latter and Massachusetts, while breeding in the Salvage Islands south of Madeira and the Cape Verds. The habits do not seem to differ appreciably from those of the Storm-Petrel.[69]

Sub-fam. 3. _Procellariinae._–As here arranged, this comprises three groups typified by the Fulmars, Shearwaters, and Storm-Petrels respectively. Of the first, _Ossifraga gigantea_, the Giant Petrel, or "Nelly" of the southern seas, recorded also from Oregon, is dark brown, often with white on the head when immature, and sometimes almost entirely white. _Fulmarus glacialis_ of the North Atlantic, the Fulmar of St. Kilda, and the true Mollymauk of sailors, which is represented in the North Pacific by the barely separable _F. glupischa_ and _F. rodgersi_, is bluish-grey with dusky quills, white head, neck, and lower parts; the dark phase being uniform dusky grey. It is smaller {66}than _Ossifraga_, yet equal to a medium-sized Gull, though easily distinguished by its light gliding flight with little motion of the wings; in rough weather it skims very near the waves, while the croaking note is seldom heard. _Daption capensis_, the Cape-Pigeon, ranging from Ceylon and Peru throughout the southern oceans, is black and white above and nearly white below; it is well known as a constant companion of ships, especially off South Africa, hovering or swimming around, uttering its harsh cackle, or plunging into the water to fight for scraps thrown overboard. _Halobaena caerulea_, extending from lat. 40° to 60° S., is grey-blue above and white below, with a little white on the head, scapulars, and tail; the habits resembling those of _Prion_, a genus of four species, remarkable for the fringe of lamellae on the bill, and having blue-grey upper parts varied with black, white under parts and superciliary streak. These forms are found throughout the southern seas, while _P. ariel_ has occurred in Madeira. _P. desolatus_, the Whale-bird of sailors, is frequently seen flitting round vessels, uttering its whistling or cooing note, or taking food from the water upon the wing; the slight nest is formed in an extremely small burrow.

Little object would be served by describing in detail the twenty members of _Puffinus_ (Shearwater) or the thirty of _Oestrelata_, the main constituents of our second group of Procellariinae. The former are sooty-brown or greyish, commonly with white below, and in some cases with white or pale edges to the feathers above; all are much alike except the uniform species, but it should be carefully noted that Petrels are often best distinguished by the colour of the bill and feet. The habits of these birds, which are distributed throughout the greater part of the world, have been already sufficiently treated. _P. anglorum_, the "Manx" Shearwater, breeds along the west of Great Britain, in the Orkneys, Shetlands, and Ireland, _P. major_ or _gravis_, _P. griseus_, _P. obscurus_, _P. assimilis_, and _P. yelkouanus_, the âme damnée of the Bosphorus, being occasional visitors to our shores. In _Oestrelata_ the coloration is grey, brown, or blackish, with a decided tendency to lighter margins on the upper feathers, and in a few of the members more or less white on the tail, wing, or head; the under parts, moreover, being frequently white. The various forms reach from the southern temperate regions to Japan and also to Britain, where _Oe. haesitata_ and _Oe. brevipes_ {67}have each been recorded once. The latter breeds on mountain-tops in islands, and of its other congeners some at least do likewise, many having an extremely limited range at all seasons.

_Priofinus cinereus_, the "Night-hawk," perhaps more noisy at night than even certain Shearwaters, is greyish-brown above and white below; it inhabits the southern oceans. _Thalassaeca antarctica_, restricted to the Antarctic regions, is brown with white lower parts and some white on the wing, tail, and their coverts. _Priocella glacialoïdes_ of the southern seas, which ranges northwards to Washington State in the Pacific, and seems to have the habits of a Fulmar, resembles that bird in its pearl-grey hue, with nearly white head, neck, and under surface. _Majaqueus aequinoctialis_ of the regions south of lat. 30° S., known as the "Cape Hen," is sooty-black with a white chin, _M. parkinsoni_ of New Zealand being uniform in tint. The cry is a soft whistle, but the manners are in other respects as in Shearwaters, except that a conical nest is constructed in a burrow, whence a curious cackling noise issues during the period of incubation.[70] _Pagodroma nivea_, of the icy regions of the south, is pure white with black bill and yellowish feet; it remains on the wing until late at night, and resembles _Prion_ generally in its ways. _Bulweria bulweri_, met with once in England, inhabits the temperate parts of the North Atlantic and the North Pacific, and breeds as near us as the Desertas; it is almost uniform sooty-brown, and has the habits of a Storm-Petrel rather than of a Shearwater, being bold but wary, and rapid in flight, with a loud, cheerful quadruple note. It lays its pure white eggs without any nest in crevices of rocks, breeding as late as June near Madeira. _B. macgillivrayi_, with stouter bill, is known from the Fijian waters.

Our third group includes the true Storm-Petrels (_Procellaria_) and their close allies the Fork-tailed Petrels (_Oceanodroma_), as well as _Halocyptena microsoma_, a dark blackish bird from Western America, between California and Panama. _P. pelagica_ of the Mediterranean and North Atlantic from Greenland to South Africa, which breeds in Scotland, Ireland, and the West of England, is sooty-black with the tail-coverts white, except at the tips, and a little white on the wing-coverts. Named Mother Carey's Chicken by sailors, who look upon it with superstitious dread, it is often seen paddling along the waves in {68}stormy weather, thus gaining the name of "Petrel" from the Apostle Peter; while it may be heard singing among the boulders towards the end of June in Scotland, where it breeds more than a month later than the "Lyrie" or Manx Shearwater. The note is shrill and the flight somewhat butterfly-like. _P. tethys_, of the Galapagos and Western Central America, has entirely white tail-coverts. _Oceanodroma_ contains ten members inhabiting the northern hemisphere, and ranging southwards to Peru and St. Helena, all being sooty-black except _O. furcata_, which is chiefly ashy-grey, and _O. hornbyi_, which is brown, with white collar, forehead, and under surface, and blacker head and wings. _O. leucorrhoa_ (Leach's Petrel) and _O. cryptoleucura_ possess white tail-coverts tipped with black; the former having some breeding stations in Britain at St. Kilda and a few islands on the west of Scotland and Ireland, and the latter as far north as Madeira, though it extends to St. Helena, the Galapagos, and the Sandwich Islands, and has recently occurred in England. The other species are apparently met with only in the Pacific north of Panama, while in habits the genus is not dissimilar to _Procellaria_.

[Illustration: FIG. 19.–Storm-Petrel. _Procellaria pelagica._ × ⅖.]

Sub-fam. 4. _Pelecanoïdinae._–These Diving-Petrels include _Pelecanoïdes urinatrix_, of the vicinity of Australia, New Zealand, Cape Horn, and the Falkland Islands, a glossy black bird with white under parts, some grey on the sides of the neck, and grey and white on the scapulars; _P. exsul_, of the Southern Indian Ocean, with grey throat; and _P. garnoti_ of Western South America, {69}which is larger and quite white below. Of the first Darwin says[71] that it "never leaves the quiet inland sounds. When disturbed it dives to a distance, and, on coming to the surface, with the same movement takes flight. After flying by the rapid movement of its short wings for a space in a straight line, it drops as if struck dead, and dives again." The egg is deposited in a small burrow; the note is a cackle or moan.

Fossil remains are recorded from the Pacific, Australia, and New Zealand, which are referred to the genera _Puffinus_, _Ossifraga_, and _Diomedea_, and probably belong to existing species; _Puffinus conradii_ is from the American Miocene, _P. cyermani_ from Tavolara, off Sardinia; but a much more remarkable fact is the discovery in the Suffolk Red Crag of portions of a distinct form, named _Diomedea anglica_ by Mr. Lydekker.[72]

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