Least Petrel

Very closely related is the Least Petrel (Halocyptena micro-soma), found along the Pacific coast from Lower California to Panama, the sole representative of its genus. It is only about five and three quarters inches long, and differs from the last mainly in possessing a rounded tail and in the absence of the white rump. It is a rare bird, and but little is known of its habits beyond the fact that it nests on San Benito, a small rocky island some fifty miles off the coast of the peninsula, placing its pearly white egg on the bare rock, in the crevices of rocky ledges, or among the loose stones.