469. 3. Thalassidroma pelagica, Linn. Least Petrel.—Mother Carey's Chicken.
Plate CCXI.
Tail slightly rounded; bill and feet black; general colour of the upper parts greyish-black, with a tinge of brown; lower parts sooty-brown; secondary coverts margined externally with dull greyish-white; feathers of rump and upper tail-coverts white, with the shafts black, the tail-coverts broadly tipped with black.
Male, 53/4, 131/2.
Not uncommon on the Banks of Newfoundland. Not observed to breed on the American coast.
Stormy Petrel, Thalassidroma pelagica, Nutt. Man. v. ii. p. 327.
Least Petrel, Thalassidroma pelagica, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. iv. p. 310.
Bill not longer than the head, much compressed, generally very high, in the species approaching the next family rather slender. Nostrils small, linear, basal, and submarginal. Head large, broadly ovate, anteriorly narrowed; neck short and thick; body full, compact, ovate, or somewhat elongated. Feet short, rather stout, placed far behind; tibia bare for a short space; tarsus very short, compressed, anteriorly scutellate; toes three, of moderate length, scutellate, webbed. Claws strong, arched, acute. Plumage dense, blended, soft. Wings small, narrow, pointed. Tail very short. Tongue slender, trigonal; œsophagus very wide, within the thorax extremely dilated; stomach rather large, muscular, with the epithelium dense and longitudinally rugous; intestine long and wide; cœca of moderate size. Trachea simple, with a single pair of inferior laryngeal muscles. Egg generally single.