. Birds of America;. Birds -- North America. 8o BIRDS OF AMERICA FULMARS, SHEARWATERS, AND PETRELS Order Tiihiiiarcs; family ProceUariidcc. HE Fulmars, Shearwaters, and Petrels are the family Procellariidcc and with the Albatrosses form the order of Tube-nosed Swimmers. As the name of the order indicates, its chief point of difference from all other orders is the tubular form of the nostrils. Other characteristics are: the bill, hooked and enlarged at the tip and with the upper section longer than the lower and with the covering in several horny sections; the tail, rather short with twelve or
. Birds of America;. Birds -- North America. 8o BIRDS OF AMERICA FULMARS, SHEARWATERS, AND PETRELS Order Tiihiiiarcs; family ProceUariidcc. HE Fulmars, Shearwaters, and Petrels are the family Procellariidcc and with the Albatrosses form the order of Tube-nosed Swimmers. As the name of the order indicates, its chief point of difference from all other orders is the tubular form of the nostrils. Other characteristics are: the bill, hooked and enlarged at the tip and with the upper section longer than the lower and with the covering in several horny sections; the tail, rather short with twelve or fourteen feathers; the wings, usually long and pointed; and the hind toe, either small or lacking, and, if present, elevated. The plumage is compact and oily and shows a tendency toward uniformity in coloration. Often the bodies of the birds in this family are so fat that they can be used for illumination. Over the oceans of the world are distributed nearly one hundred members of this family. About thirty-five are of regular or accidental occurrence in North America. Not a member is ever found inland unless driven there by a storm. Neither do any of them frequent the shores except for the purpose of reproduction. They spend practically all their time on the wing, and gather their food of marine animals and oily matter from the surface of the water. So far as is known, the members of this group lay only a single egg. The Fulmars nest in colonies, like the Gulls, on the small islands near the shores of the North Pacific and North Atlantic. Of the nesting habits of the Shearwaters, very little is known; some breed on the islands of the North Atlantic, and it is probable that others breed on the islands of the southern hemisphere, coming north as the southern winter sets in. Some of the Petrels breed in the northern hemisphere and others in the southern. The species in this group concerning whose nesting habits we do know something usually deposit the lone egg in a burrow or a cavi
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Keywords: ., bookauthorpearsont, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, bookyear1923
