Part 34

Nasal tube obliquely truncate, its partition thick.

75. PUFFINUS LEUCOMELAS Temminck.

SIEBOLD'S SHEARWATER.

Puffinus leucomelas Temminck, Pl. Col. (1836), pl. 587; Ridgway, Man. North Am. Bds. (1887), 62; Salvin, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1896), 25, 370; Sharpe, Hand-List (1899), 1, 123; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 19.

Luzon (Cuming). Japan and Korea south to Australia.

"Adult male.--Upper surface brown, feathers of body and wings with paler dusky edges; anterior portion of crown, forehead, sides of head, and neck white, each feather with a dark disk, which is narrow on the forehead and sides of the head and neck, giving a streaked appearance; entire under surface white; under wing-coverts white, interior ones with dark shafts, those near the edge of wing with dark disks; axillars pure white; tail brown, the inner webs of the lateral rectrices near the base white; primaries black throughout. Bill horn-color; feet flesh-color, the outer toe a little darker. Length, about 480; wing, 330; outer rectrices, 102; central rectrices, 142.

"Female.--Similar to the male." (Salvin.)

"Lower parts white; top and sides of head white, spotted and streaked with blackish. Wing, 286 to 318; tail, 149 (graduated for about 46); culmen, 47; tarsus, 47; middle toe with claw, 33." (Ridgway.)

The only record of this species for the Philippine Islands is based on the specimen collected by Cuming.

Order LARIFORMES.

TERNS AND GULLS.

Nostrils pervious, the opening linear or oval; wings long, strong, and pointed; first primary longest; legs and feet moderate; hind toe small and elevated; anterior toes fully webbed. Plumage of the adult simple in color, being white, black, and pearl-gray, rarely brown, usually in large areas. Young gray or mottled, very different in color from the adult. Usually found in flocks and never far from water. Eggs two to four, highly colored; nests usually on the ground or on cliffs; young downy at birth and fed in the nest for some time.

Family LARIDÆ.

Characters same as those given for the Order.

Subfamilies.

a1. Tail more or less forked (except in Anous); bill slender; terminal portion of culmen straight or but slightly curved; angle of lower mandible not prominent. ... Sterninæ (p. 86) a2. Tail even; bill stouter; terminal portion of culmen decidedly curved; angle of lower mandible distinct. ... Larinæ (p. 95)

Subfamily STERNINÆ.

The members of this subfamily afford no very tangible characters to distinguish them from the gulls other than those already mentioned. However, the terns are, as a rule, of more slender form and more airy and graceful flight. The wings, bill, and tail are proportionately longer and the body smaller than these parts in the gulls.

Genera.

a1. Tail more or less forked.

b1. Tail but little more than one-third of wing, its outer feathers broad and rounded. ... Hydrochelidon (p. 86) b2. Tail much more than one-third of wing, its outer feathers narrow and pointed. ... Sterna (p. 88)

a2. Tail graduated; plumage sooty brown. ... Anous (p. 94)

Genus HYDROCHELIDON Boie, 1822.

Bill short and slender; legs and feet small; webs between the toes deeply emarginate; wings long, when closed, exceeding the tail; tail short, nearly square.

Species.

a1. Black or dark gray below (adults in summer).

b1. Upper tail-coverts and tail white; under wing-coverts black. ... leucoptera (p. 86) b2. Upper tail-coverts and tail gray; under wing-coverts white. ... hybrida (p. 87)

a2. White below (adults in winter and young).