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Show 410 AVES. ter on a vessel, it may be considered as the forerunner of a hurricane.( 1) We separate, with Brisson, under the name of PuFFINus, Or Puffins those in which the end of the lower mandible is curve d d ownw' ar ds along with that of the upper one, and in w.h ich the nostrils, although tubular, do not open by one co.mmon or1fice, but by two distinct holes. Their bill also is proportiOnally longer. Proc. pu.f!inus, Gm.; Puffin cendr~, Enl. _962. Cinereo~s above; whitish beneath; wings and tall black1sh: the. young 1s darker. Its size is that of a Crow. Very common m almost every sea.(2) . . Th ere is a species, long confounded With the. precedmg. o.n e, which is not larger than a Woodcock, and wh1ch breeds m.Im-ense numbers on the northern coasts of Scotland and the ne1gh· mbo UI·ing islands, whose inhabitants :t 1 . . ~alt them or t 1e1r wmter provision. It is black above and wh1te underneath,. the Procel-laria .!lnglorum, Tem. Edw., 359. . Navigators occasionally speak of some birds of the Antarct1c seas by the name of Petrels, which may constitute two separate genera. They are the PELECANomEs, Lacep.-HALODROMA, Illig., ,..., vVhich have the bill and figure of the Petrels, with a dilatable throat like that of the Cormorant, and are without the vestige of a thumb like the Albatross. Such is Procellaria urinatrix, Gm. p AOHYPTILA, Illig. Or the Prions, Lacep., which, similar in other respects to the Petrels have separate nostrils like a Puffin, the bill widene~ at base an' d its edges furnished internally with very d e I"1 ca t e, ve rt1ca 1 · and 'p ointed laminre, analogous to those o f D uc k s. Such are the Blue Petrels, Proc. vittata and crerulea, Forst. (1) The fig. Enl. 933 is a closely allied species of the South Seas (Proc. ~ ica, Forst. )-Add Proc. Leachii, Tem. Act. de phil., VI, pl. 9, f, 1 ;-~· fresonii, Ch. Bonap.; Wils. VII, lxx, 6, Id. Act. de phil. VI, pl. 9, f. 2;- roc. gatta, Lath., Uochef., Antill., p. 152;-Proc. marina, Vieill. G~l. 292. li 'f1084t (2) Add Proc. obscura, Vieill. Gal. 301;-and Proc. pacifica,. 0~ fiEudg1 89 . White, 252, ·w hich perhaps does not differ frotn the p roc. aJqu'· noct,alu ' w., PALMIFEDES. 411 DIOMEDEA, Lin.(l) The Albatross is the most massive of all aquatic birds. The large, strong and trenchant bill is marked with sutures, and is terminated by a stout hook, which seems to be articulated with it. The nostrils resemble short rolls laid on the sides of the beak; there is no thumb, not even the small nail that is observed in the Petrels. They inhabit the South seas, and feed on Mollusca, &c. D. exulans, L., Enl. 237; Vieill. Gal. 293, is the species best known to navigators, who, on account of its size, white plumage, and black wings, and because it is particularly common beyond the tropic of Capricorn, have called it The Cape Sheep. The English also style it the Man of War Bird, &c. It is the great enemy (j)f the Flying-fish. It constructs a high nest of earth, and lays a number of eggs, which are considered good food. The cry of this bird is said to be as powerful as that of the Ass.(2) Various Albatrosses., more or less brown or blackish, have been observed; but whether they form varieties of the exulans, or are distinct species, has not yet been ascertained.(3) LARus, Lin.(4) The Gulls have a compressed, elongated, pointed bill, the superior mandible arcuated near the end, and the inferior forming a salient angle beneath. The nostrils, placed near its middle, are long, narrow, and bored quite through; their tail is full, their legs tolerably long, and their thumb short. They are cowardly and voracious (1) Diomedea, the ancient name of.certain birds <lf the Island of Diomedes, near Tarentum, which were said to receive the Greeks favourably, and to attack the barbarians. As to the word .8lbatro88, I find that the early Portuguese navigators c~ed the lloobies and other oceanic birds .lllcatros, or .IJ.lcatrass. Dampier applied th1s name to the present genus, Grew changed it into .lllbit1·osa, and Edwards into ./llhatrosa. (2) The cry of the Albatross has been quite as much exaggerated as its size. 1 ?•~e .repeatedly heard it when within a hundred yards of the bird, and fi·om various IndiVIduals, some of large size, and coneequootly adults-it is a piping kind of clang, deeper than that of a Goose, but something like it. .11m. Ed. (~) Such is the Diom. spadicea-Add D. brachyura, Tem. Enl. 963;-D. melanophria, T. Col. 456;-D. chlororltynckos, Lath. V, pl. xciv, Col. 468;-D. fuli'girwsa, Col.469. (4) La1'U8, the Greek name of these birds, Gavia in latin, whence Gabian in Provence; they are called Mauves, or Mouettes, in French, from thci1· German name Mreve. |
