LETTRRS OF AN ORNITIIOLOCJIST. 21<'> 



to have reared them; but they were very sensitive to cold. One morning I 

 found them both stiff, and apparently lifeless, but the fire recovered them. 

 Last Saturday night, however, was a wintry night; it hailed, and the north 

 wind blew hard; the high hills were covered with snow; and the spirits of 

 the Stormy Petrels departed amidst the roaring Equinoctial vstorm. 



P, S. — On Monday night was another gale, of course, as there were two Petrels. 



LETTER VIII. 



lona, October 26th., 18o2. 



I WAS disappointed to hear of the Petrels arriving in such bad condition, 

 as I hope! that the post would have taken them quickly enough to prevent 

 their being spoiled. I got another young one from the burrows on the 18th. 

 of this month at Soay Island. It is quite free of down in the upper parts, 

 but underneath he still retains a considerable amount, giving him the appear- 

 ance of a bird sitting in a nest of wool. The pale bar across the wing is 

 very distinctly marked. He is very active, and can fly perfectly well. At 

 night his wings are in perpetual motion during his endeavours to escape from 

 the box in which he is confined, — so much so that he spoils the appearance 

 of his quill feathers and tail very much; and so I want to send him off as 

 soon as possible, though I should like to keep him till he is quite free of 

 down. I give him a good deal of liberty, allowing him to ramble about the 

 table the whole evening, the favourite time of activity. His habits are 

 similar to those of the pair I last described, except that he is stronger, and 

 capable of more extended flights. When let out of his box he performs a 

 curious exercise — putting his wings into such rapid motion that they cease to 

 be discernible; and although he does not rise into the air, yet he becomes 

 so buoyant that his feet retain no hold of the slippery surface of the table, 

 so that he goes sliding about, backwards and forwards, and round and round, 

 in a very ludicrous manner. This comical minuet generally terminates by his 

 incautiously approaching the edge of the table, and disappearing suddenly 

 backwards. 



If you take him up in your hand he always runs up your arm with great 

 swiftness, fanning with his wings till he attains your shoulder or head; this 

 is in accordance with his instinctive propensity to scramble up every obstacle 

 he meets, and never to rest until he has attained the highest elevation within 

 his reach; when this is done he rests contented for a short time, and then 

 throws hims3lf off into the air. I have fed this one almost exclusively on 

 cod-liver oil, which it takes off the end of a feather. His ordinary position, 

 when at rest, is kneeling dowa, the tail half-expandeJ, and the wings very much 

 crossed over the back. He generally shufiles about upon his knees, and cannot 

 easily retain his position erect upon his feet, without the assistance of his wings. 



As to the quadrupeds of lona, the list is so short that they are scarcely 

 worthy of much notice. 



