OFF CHATHAM BARS 



191 



them following us up astern, and then flitting and twittering 



around the vessel. As far as I could tell, they were all the 



antarctic Wilson's Petrels — with yellow webs instead of black, 



and tails rounded instead of forked. What restless, stirring 



bits of animation they are ! They are seldom seen to alight 



on the water, saxe for an 



instant. Toss out a bit of 



liver just astern and a 



petrel flutters down and 



seizes it, without alighting. 



It keeps fluttering its wings 



and pattering its feet on the 



surface, seeming to walk 



on the water, like Peter of 



old, hence its name. They 



are hard indeed to photo 



graph, so constant is their 



activity and so rapid the 



beating of their wings. I 



was snapping away plates 



at them with my reflex camera and found that an exposure 



of one one-thousandth of a second was none too quick. With 



one five-hundredth, at close range, the wings would blur. 



The farther off we sailed, the more birds appeared. Now 

 and then a Parasitic Jaeger followed us up, and finally a large 

 Pomarine Jaeger, tempted by the bribes of rich, fat liver we 

 were offering, flew up several times close astern and gave 

 me some fine chances with the camera. A few shearwaters, 

 too, began to show themselves, and by the time we had 

 reached the " Crab Ledge," some eight miles out, we decided 

 to " lie to " again and feed the birds. " Chickens " were as 

 plenty as ever, and came again for rations. A couple of jaegers 

 took the leavings, as they drifted off a little way from the 



'N s 11 IRELS 



