PROCEEDINGS OP SOCIETIES. 95 



mentions the P. cinereus to be similar in colour to P. gigantea, being of a dirty 

 black. He saw hundreds of thousands of them behind the Island of Chiloe, flying 

 for several hours in one direction ; and when part of the flock settled on the water 

 the surface was blackened. They are frequent in the Antartic regions, and 

 numerous on the great banks of Newfoundland, attendant on the fishing vessels. 

 The are equally numerous with the Fulmar Petrel (Procellaria glacialis), and 

 recorded in the birds of Greenland by Captain Sabine, now Colonel Sabine, R.A. 

 The whale-fishers of the Arctic Seas term them, with the Fulmar Petrel, Malle- 

 mucks, and, when a series of visiting is carried on by the captains of the whale 

 ships when together, it is termed Mallemauking. 



The manner in which the Irish specimens were described as captured on hooks 

 when hake-fishing, puzzles me, as hake-fishing is carried on with hand-lines, at a 

 depth of 20 to 30 fathoms, and these birds, with long acuminate wings, are by no 

 means adapted as divers ; so I wrote to my friend, Mr. Chute, to obtain the informa- 

 tion of their capture from our fishermen. These shearwaters arrived in Dingle 

 Bay about the end of September last (1854), and left early in November. They 

 appeared in thousands in mild, foggy weather, and during that time were exceed- 

 ingly bold, approaching near to the canoes engaged in hake-fishing, and seizing on 

 all refuse thrown to them. They were then easily captured with a baited hook, 

 the line and the bait always floating, and any number could have been taken by the 

 canoe-men in that manner. Their appearance always indicates a successful fishing 

 season, particularly of hake. They seemed in pursuit of sprats ; and, except some 

 odd birds, they had not appeared in such numbers for seven years before. It was 

 then in the month of February, and at that time the glasson, or black pollock, 

 fishing was most successful ; and the fishermen recollected a man to have caught, in 

 one day, nine score of pollock, and to have killed with a rod three score of the 

 shearwaters. Had I been aware of these facts last year I could have obtained any 

 number of the birds. The men who had been in American vessels had noticed 

 these birds all across the Atlantic. Like all the petrels, they are weak on the legs, 

 but untiring on the wing, treading the surface of the billows ; hence the French 

 name, Petit Pierre. Like the gannet, however, when settled on the water, they 

 are unable to rise in flight, or do so with great difficulty, in calm weather. They 

 have not as yet been traced to breed on the Irish coast. 



To note the peculiar flight of marine birds is a study of interest to the orni- 

 thologist. The Greater Shearwater, from its long and pointed wings, speeds rapidly 

 and steadily, skimming the surface of the billows, while the storm petrel, swallow- 

 like, darts into the hollow, and over the crest of the wave. 



" From the base of the wave to the billow's crown, 

 Amidst the flashing and feathery foam, 

 The storm petrel finds a home; 

 And only seeking her rocky lair 

 To warn her young, and teach them to spring 

 At once o'er the waves on their stormy wing." 



Captain Lyon, when in H.M.S. Griper, off Hatton's Headland, in Hudson's 

 Straits, and running in rather a heavy sea, saw large flocks of rotages, or rotche, 

 the little auk (Alca alle), fly directly against the steep sides of a wave and bury them- 

 selves headlong in a moment, a most singular mode of diving, which their short 

 wings assisted. 



I now turn to another point of interest, the description of a beautiful little gull, 

 which has been entrusted to me by Mrs. Baker, of Grafton-street, and I only wish 

 that she had placed it in abler hands, as I cannot at present, without the opportu- 

 nity of comparison with an authenticated specimen, satisfy myself on several points 

 relative to its distinctive characters. I may here be permitted to remark, and I do 

 so with much pleasure, on the intelligence, industry, and acuteness of observation 

 which Mrs. Baker possesses in the avocation she is engaged in. Her prompt atten- 

 tion to the wishes of those who place any objects of natural history in her hands for 

 preservation, and the amount of intelligence displayed in carrying out such objects, 

 I cannot speak too highly of. The beautifully-preserved specimens of shearwater, 

 this evening exhibited, prove to some extent the success of her manipulation. The 

 specimen of the beautiful little gull before the meeting has been submitted to me as 



