Chapter IV: Introduction (3)

{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.

_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}

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_.

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]

{70}CHAPTER IV

NEORNITHES CARINATAE _CONTINUED_

BRIGADE I–LEGION II (PELARGOMORPHAE). ORDERS: CICONIIFORMES–ANSERIFORMES– FALCONIFORMES

ORDER V. CICONIIFORMES.

The Order Ciconiiformes is a somewhat unwieldy assemblage consisting mainly of Water-birds, which may be classed under the Sub-Orders STEGANOPODES, ARDEAE, CICONIAE, and PHOENICOPTERI. Of these the first contains the _Phaëthontidae_ or Tropic-birds, the _Sulidae_ or Gannets, the _Phalacrocoracidae_ or Cormorants and Darters, the _Fregatidae_ or Frigate-birds, and the _Pelecanidae_ or Pelicans; the second the _Ardeidae_ or Herons and Bitterns, and the _Scopidae_ with the Umbrette; the third the _Ciconiidae_ or Storks and Wood-Ibises, and the _Ibididae_ or true Ibises and Spoon-bills; while the fourth comprises the _Phaenicopteridae_ or Flamingos, and the extinct genus _Palaelodus_, for which Dr. Gadow recognises a separate family _Palaelodidae_. Among these the greatest affinity to the _Procellariiformes_ is exhibited by the _Steganopodes_, whereas the _Phoenicopteri_ are so closely allied to the _Anseriformes_ that not a few writers prefer to include them in that Order.

The STEGANOPODES are aquatic and chiefly marine birds, so far homogeneous in structure that the details may well be set forth in common; while in some points they bear a great resemblance to the _Cathartidae_.[73] Each Family contains a single genus, except the _Phalacrocoracidae_, where _Phalacrocorax_ and _Plotus_ may be considered the equivalents of Sub-families.

The sternum is long, especially in _Sula_, while the large head and short thick neck of _Phaëthon_ and _Fregata_ may be contrasted with the small head and remarkably long neck of _Phalacrocorax_, and still more of _Plotus_; _Sula_ and _Pelecanus_ being moderate in {71}both respects. The bill, which is more or less compound, is long, pretty straight, and generally compressed: in _Phaëthon_ and _Sula_ it is strong, conical, and pointed; in _Phalacrocorax_ either stout with a long hooked nail, or less robust with the hook at the tip shorter, the sides being scabrous; in _Fregata_ similar, in _Plotus_ slender and tapering, in _Pelecanus_ weak, much flattened, hooked, and scaly. The maxilla is furrowed in _Sula_, _Pelecanus_, and _Phalacrocorax_, with the median part concave in the latter, while the cutting edges of both mandibles are serrated in _Phaëthon_, _Sula_, and _Plotus_. The legs are placed far back, especially in _Phalacrocorax_, the tibiae being partly bare in _Phaëthon_ and _Pelecanus_, but feathered in the other forms, of which _Fregata_ has the clothing continued to the toes. The metatarsus is short, stout, and compressed, that of _Fregata_ being extremely abbreviated, as in the Spheniscidae; it is entirely covered with hexagonal scales, becoming almost reticulated behind, while the toes exhibit distinct transverse scutes in _Phalacrocorax_, and have a similar tendency elsewhere. The hallux, which is somewhat elevated in _Phaëthon_, is turned inwards or forwards, and is connected with the remaining toes by full webs, except in _Fregata_, where the membranes are excised to about half their extent; this unique "Steganopodous" foot giving the name to the whole group. The stout curved claws–weaker in _Fregata_–are of medium length, that of the middle digit being serrated on the inner side in the last named, _Sula_, and _Phalacrocorax_. The wings are long and pointed, reaching their maximum in _Fregata_, their minimum in _Phalacrocorax_, and having a very ample spread in _Sula_ and _Pelecanus_. There are eleven primaries, and from fifteen to twenty-nine incurved secondaries, which may even exceed the former. In _Pelecanus_ the short, broad, roundish tail consists of from eighteen to twenty-four soft acute rectrices, but in the remaining genera the feathers are strong and stiff, being particularly rigid in _Phalacrocorax_ and _Plotus_: _Phaëthon_ has sixteen, which are moderate and graduated, with a long filiform median pair in the adult; _Sula_ and _Phalacrocorax_ from twelve to fourteen in a more or less wedge-shaped formation; _Fregata_ twelve, arranged in a fork; while _Plotus_ has the same number, forming a fan, the webs being very broad and showing curious transverse corrugations in mature birds, found also on the scapulars. The tail is fairly long in the four last {72}mentioned, except in some members of _Phalacrocorax_. The V-shaped furcula ancyloses with the sternum in some of the Sub-Order, but _Fregata_ differs from all other ornithic forms in the fact that the furcula also coalesces with the coracoids at its extremities, while the coracoids again unite firmly with the scapula, producing an almost rigid framework, considered by Professor Newton to be connected with the power which the bird possesses of sustaining itself nearly motionless in the air.[74] The peculiar angular articulation of the long eighth cervical vertebra in _Plotus_, which causes the Z-shaped "kink" in the neck, must also be noticed here.[75] The tongue is rudimentary; the nostrils are pervious in _Phaëthon_, impervious elsewhere, being practically obliterated in adults; the syrinx is tracheo-bronchial, except in _Sula_ and _Pelecanus_, where the usual muscles are entirely absent. The subcutaneous air-cells of _Sula_ are most remarkable. The newly-hatched young are blind and helpless, being naked and covered with blackish skin in _Sula_, _Phalacrocorax_, _Plotus_, and _Pelecanus_, though they soon acquire a white downy coat; in _Phaëthon_ and _Fregata_ they are similarly clothed on breaking the shell. The down of the adults is uniformly distributed, the aftershaft is diminutive or wanting. The gular sacs, horny excrescences on the beak, crests, and so forth, are noted below.

Fam. I. PHAETHONTIDAE.–_Phaëthon aethereus_, _P. flavirostris_, and _P. rubricauda_ are chiefly found in the tropical regions of the south; but the first two species breed about as far north as the tropic of Cancer, while they frequent the West Indies, and occasionally stray to the Eastern United States, or even Newfoundland.[76] The third inhabits the southern seas and the Indian Ocean. All these Tropic- or Boatswain-birds, as they are denominated, have satin-like white plumage–often with a tinge of pink–varied by blackish bars or patches above, and black marks near the eye; the bill is red, or in _P. flavirostris_ yellow, the metatarsi yellowish and the toes chiefly black. In _P. rubricauda_ the long stiff median rectrices are dull red with black shafts and very narrow webs, in _P. flavirostris_ they are pinkish with similar shafts, and in _P. aethereus_ entirely white. The sexes are alike, the young being more irregularly marked and having no long tail-feathers.

The members of this Family are true denizens of the ocean, {73}often met with many hundred miles from land; they will then hover constantly about a vessel, or even alight fearlessly on the rigging. They traverse the air with rapid sweeping flight, accompanied by constant quick pulsations of the wings; at one time soaring aloft to wheel in circles, at another plunging into the water from an immense height, though appearing again in a moment to float upon the surface. Their gait on land is shuffling, while they can hardly rise from level ground; the note is a harsh croak or chatter; the food consists of fish, squids, and other produce of the sea. No nest is made, but a single reddish-brown or buff egg, with spots and frecklings of red-brown, purplish or grey, is deposited in a hole or crevice in a cliff, among rocks, or even in a cavity in a rotten tree, both sexes assisting in incubation.[77] The parents sit very closely, screaming, pecking, and snapping when disturbed; in some places they are habitually caught while breeding, and deprived of the long tail-feathers, which are used for decorations.

Fam. II. SULIDAE.–_Sula bassana_, the Gannet or Solan Goose, which nests at several stations off the west of Great Britain, in Ireland, and on the well-known Bass Rock, extends thence to Iceland, and down the American coast to Nova Scotia, while it strays to Greenland, and in winter reaches the Gulf of Mexico and northern Africa. The plumage is white, with a buff tinge on the head and neck, and black primaries; the bill is whitish, the feet dusky, and the naked skin round the eye and down the centre of the throat blackish-blue. _S. capensis_ of South Africa and _S. serrator_ of Australia are similar to the above, but the former has the rectrices black, the latter the four median feathers blackish-brown.

{74}

The remaining species, often called "Boobies," have the whole lower jaw and throat bare. Of these _S. cyanops_, common in the South Pacific and ranging through the intertropical seas to the Bahamas in summer, is white with sooty-brown remiges, the wing-coverts and the lateral portion of the tail being partly of the same colour; the bill is yellow, the feet are reddish, and the naked parts bluish. _S. leucogaster_, extending from tropical and sub-tropical America over the Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic Oceans,[78] has the upper parts and chest brown, the remaining lower surface, and occasionally the head and neck, white; the bill is yellow, the feet are greenish or yellowish, the bare skin is tinged with red or yellow. _S. piscator_, also of the intertropical seas, resembles _S. bassana_, but has slate-grey wing-quills, purplish-grey bill, reddish feet and naked parts. _S. variegata_, of the shores of Chili and Peru, is dark grey-brown with white head, neck, and under parts, and white markings above. _S. abbotti_, of Assumption Island, north of Madagascar, is allied to _S. cyanops_. In this Family the sexes are alike, while the young are usually dusky with white streaks and spots; but those of _S. cyanops_ are white below, and those of _S. leucogaster_ and _S. piscator_ chiefly sooty-brown, with {75}grey head, neck, and under surface in the latter. It apparently requires six years to attain the full adult plumage.

Gannets are oceanic birds, only frequenting the land in stormy weather; they traverse very great distances, and the northern species move southward in winter. The flight is easy and powerful, with alternate flapping and sailing motion, the head being carried in a line with the body and the feet drawn up. The food consists of surface-swimming fish, squids, and the like, while the young obtain their nutriment by thrusting their bills into those of the parents, though it is disgorged for them when newly hatched. The prey is chiefly captured by diving, the plunge being made with great velocity from a considerable height and the body being submerged for several seconds; on coming to the surface the bird generally remains quiescent for a short period before again taking to the air, but occasionally swims for a longer period. When diving the wings are kept open until the last moment, and are then quickly closed. Gannets find the same difficulty in rising from a level spot as do Tropic-birds, and are less prone to perch than many other sea-birds. The note is a hoarse reiterated sound or, less commonly, a plaintive cry, much noise being often made by the large colonies when breeding. The nest is a mass of sea-weed and grass, placed on a ledge of some high cliff, on the top of a stack, or even on a low tree; while the eggs–never more than two in number–are occasionally deposited on the bare sandy beach, and are greenish-blue, thickly coated with a white chalky substance, which soon becomes soiled. Incubation lasts about six weeks. The adults, especially in the case of the Boobies, are often absurdly fearless on land, while the female, when on the nest, grunts at an intruder, and pecks or bites sharply. They are frequently caught on shipboard by fixing bits of fish on floating pieces of wood, in which the beak is transfixed by the violence of the plunge; they do not, however, afford palatable food, though in Scotland the Solan Goose is half-roasted and so preserved for eating.

Fam. III. PHALACROCORACIDAE.–The genus _Phalacrocorax_ includes the Cormorants and Shags, birds of similar coloration, which differ chiefly in the brilliancy of their metallic hues and the proportion of white to black or brown in the plumage, the following examples giving a fair idea of the whole.

{76}

_P. carbo_, the Common Cormorant, with fourteen rectrices, has the head and neck glossy blue-black, interspersed with white hair-like feathers, the remaining upper parts bronzy-black, the throat white, the bill and feet grey-black. In spring a slight crest adorns the occiput and white patches appear on the thighs. In common with its congeners this species has naked lores, orbital and gular regions, which are here of a yellow colour, becoming redder below the eye; the iris is emerald-green. The skin of the throat is dilatable and forms a pouch for food. It breeds on most of the British coasts, except between the Humber and the Thames, and occasionally inland; while it ranges to Greenland northwards, and thence down the Atlantic to New Jersey in the west, and to North and even South Africa on the east, as well as through Europe and Asia. The Australian and New Zealand _P. novae hollandiae_ is doubtfully distinct. _P. dilophus_, of which several forms occur on the shores and in the interior of North America as far south as Mexico, is not unlike _P. carbo_, but has a tuft of long narrow recurved plumes on each side of the crown in the nuptial dress, which are black, white, or particoloured according to the locality. The bare loral region and gular sac are orange, and no white is visible on the throat or flanks. The splendid _P. pelagicus_, on the contrary, has white flank-patches in addition to white filaments on the neck and rump, the head and {77}neck are violet-black, and a bronzy-purple tinge extends thence to the wings, the naked areas being brownish-red. It ranges from Kamtschatka to Western Mexico, and even winters in North Japan. _P. urile_, of the extreme north of the Pacific, is very similar, but has the gular pouch bluish with red hinder margin, the lores, orbits, and an additional strip of bare skin on the forehead being orange. _P. perspicillatus_, of Bering Island, now considered extinct, is another close ally, in which the filamentous feathers are yellowish and the orbits white. _P. graculus_, the Green Cormorant or Shag, breeding in Britain chiefly on the western side, and occurring rarely on our inland waters, is found in many places along the coasts of West Europe to Morocco and the Mediterranean; it is dark green with black remiges and twelve black rectrices, and metallic hues on the head, neck, and under surface, the irides being green and the bill and feet black, as are the naked regions, which are spotted with yellow. In spring a recurved crest overhangs the forehead. _P. lucidus_, of South, East, and apparently West Africa, differs from the last in having a brown head and nape, and grey tints on the mantle and tail, while the chin and most of the lower parts are white. _P. africanus_ occupies South and East Africa. _P. varius_, of New Zealand, is greenish-black above with grey middles to the dorsal feathers, white cheeks and under surface; the bill is horn-coloured, the feet black, the orbits bluish, the gular skin yellow, with an orange spot before each eye. _P. carunculatus_, of New Zealand, has, according to Sir W. L. Buller,[79] no crest and a white band on the back, but otherwise resembles the crested _P. onslowi_ of the Chatham Islands, and _P. imperialis_ of Chili and Patagonia,[80] two fine iridescent species with the under surface and an alar bar white, the bare papillose skin in front of the eyes, orange-red, and the bill and feet brownish. _P. featherstoni_ of the Chatham Islands, which is remarkable for possessing both an occipital and a frontal crest, is greenish-black and brown above with white filoplumes on the nape, and greyish-white below; the beak being dark brown, the feet orange-yellow, and the naked parts bluish. Similar tufts are met with in _P. punctatus_ of New Zealand, wherein the upper plumage is mainly brown with terminal black spots on the {78}feathers, the thighs show a few white markings, and a broad white stripe reaches from above the eye down each side of the neck, where the coat is somewhat elongated and silky. _P. pygmaeus_, the Pigmy Cormorant, which breeds across South-East Europe and South Asia to Java and Borneo, as well as in North Africa, is greenish-black with greyer mantle, reddish-brown head and neck, and small white spots on the lower surface, the naked parts being black. The sexes in _Phalacrocorax_ are alike, or nearly so. The young are browner above–with little of the characteristic gloss–and brown, or white mottled with brown below, the bill and irides often differing in colour from those of the adult.

The members of this family as a rule frequent salt water, yet not uncommonly breed on inland lakes and swamps, especially in the proximity of trees; they are often to be seen in companies, and are decidedly shy and cautious in most cases. The heavy flight is strong, steady, and rapid, bearing a certain resemblance to that of the Duck-tribe, while the birds experience considerable difficulty in starting, and laboriously flap their wings until fairly launched in the air, when they rise to some height, or skim the waves, as fancy dictates. They swim and dive to perfection, remaining a long time submerged, and indulging in many a turn and twist as they pursue their slippery prey, both wings and feet lending their aid to the performance. Ordinarily a spring precedes the plunge from the surface, but in presence of danger they disappear more quietly. Though the gait on land is an awkward waddle, Cormorants perch with ease on rocks, posts, and limbs of trees, where their upright posture gives them the appearance of black bottles or objects hung out to dry; they are stated, moreover, to be able to cling to the face of a cliff, and certainly can climb among thick vegetation, as in the case of _P. pygmaeus_. Not unfrequently they roost in trees, with the head drawn back upon the shoulders. The food, normally of fish, is varied by crustaceans, or even frogs and newts; the young are fed by regurgitation, and, when old enough, thrust their heads into their parents' bills to help themselves.[81] The note, comparatively seldom heard, is a harsh guttural croak, while the female hisses during incubation, in which she is said to be assisted by the male. The nest, placed {79}in caves, on ledges of cliffs, tops of stacks, or low islands, and less commonly on trees, bushes or reeds, is a mass of sticks, grass, seaweed, rushes and the like, according to situation; the smaller species constructing a slighter platform when the trees are chosen, and a lining of green leaves being occasionally added. Early in spring colonies, often of very large dimensions, are formed by many–but not all–of the species for breeding purposes, the stench from the remains of decaying fish at such spots being decidedly unpleasant. Incubation lasts about four weeks. Cormorants were of old used in England for catching fish, and this has been a regular business from time immemorial in China and Japan; but with us it is a mere sport, the chief exponent of which is now Captain F. H. Salvin, whose chapters on "Fishing with Cormorants" will be read with pleasure by those interested in the subject.[82] The bird rises to the surface to swallow its prey, but a strap round the neck allows it to dispose of the smallest only of its captures, while it is forced by its master to disgorge the remainder before it is rewarded with a portion of the catch.

_Plotus anhinga_, the Snake-bird or Darter of tropical and sub-tropical America, ranging northwards to West Mexico and South Carolina, is glossy greenish-black with beautiful silvery-grey markings on the scapulars and wing-coverts, a broad brown tip to the tail, which becomes white terminally, and long whitish hair-like feathers on the sides of the occiput and neck, merging into a black mane on the nape. The filoplumes are absent in winter, and are inconspicuous in the female, which differs, moreover, in having a grey-buff head, neck, and breast, the latter being divided from the belly by a chestnut band. The young resemble the mother-bird, but are duller and lack the chestnut tint. The peculiar long thin neck and corrugated rectrices have been mentioned above; the plumage is unusually close, and is chiefly composed of small soft feathers of very uniform distribution; the lores, orbits, chin, and throat are naked, the two former being apparently greenish, and the latter, which is moderately dilatable, orange. The bill is olive above and yellow below, the feet mainly olive with yellow webs. Three other species are recognised, but the variability in the amount of rufous in all makes their validity somewhat questionable. They are _P. novae hollandiae_ of Australia, New Zealand, and New Guinea, with a {80}white stripe on the sides of the head and a white border to the gular sac; the almost identical _P. melanogaster_ of the Indian Region, extending to Celebes; and _P. levaillanti_ of the Ethiopian Region–described also from Antioch as _P. chantrii_–which has a rufous crown, buff throat, and chestnut greater wing-coverts.