The adult is dark leaden black, rather more sooty below; upper tail coverts white; tail sooty black and deeply forked. Length 8 in.; wing 6 in.
STORM PETREL
Procellaria pelagica
(right)
LEACH’S PETREL
Oceanodromas leucorrhoa
(left)
MADEIRAN FORK-TAILED PETREL
Oceanodroma castro (Harcourt)
An example of this bird was picked up dead in Kent in December 1895.
The home of this species is the islands lying off the west of Africa, viz. Cape Verde, Madeira, Desertas, Salvages, and Canaries, from whence individuals occasionally wander to Europe.
This species very closely resembles Leach’s Petrel, but the tail is hardly forked; the upper tail coverts are white tipped with black; and the bases of the tail feathers are white. Length nearly 8 in.; wing 5·9 in.
WILSON’S PETREL
Oceanites oceanicus (Kuhl)
This bird is almost cosmopolitan in distribution, but perhaps the South Atlantic is its main home, and it is commoner up the North American coast than on this side. Several examples have been shot in this country. The legs and wings are longer than in the preceding species and the webs of the feet are yellow at their bases. The general colour above and below is sooty brown with white on upper tail coverts and thigh patches, and also at the base of the outer tail feathers. Length 7 in.; wing 6 in.