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The Giant Petrel.
(Ossi fraga gigantean.)
The Petrels (of which the Stormy Petrel is the most familiar) are birds of the sea, belonging to the family of Tube-nosed birds, their nostrils being prolonged into tubes on the surface of the beak. The horny sheathing of the Petrel's beak is composed of several distinct pieces, separated by grooves. The Giant Petrel, an inhabitant of the Southern Ocean, is familiar to those who have sailed to and from Australia. The Petrels were so termed from their habit of flying close to the water with their legs dangling in such a way as to suggest they are walking on the waves like the apostle Peter, the word Petrel being a diminutive form of Peter.