LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. Ill 



qiiiries about Basse Terre but without much success. Finally we made a trip 

 together high up into the hills of Matouba to visit an old Negro called Fere 

 Lowuisky living on the slopes of the Soufrifire. This old man in his early 

 youth had often hunted Diablotins and had joined several of the large parties 

 which had camped on the Nez Cass6 to dig out the diablotins from their bur- 

 rows. Since Pere Lownisky had spent his entire life in Matouba he knew all 

 the old breeding grounds of the black-capped petrels. He told us that the dia- 

 blotins formerly bred on the north and northeast slope of the Nez Cass6. The 

 Ijirds arrived in late September and the period of incubation for the colony as 

 a whole extended through November and December. The young birds remained 

 in the nest until March. He asserted positively, however, that no diablotins 

 had been heard or seen since the great earthquake of 1847. The old Negro 

 remembered that earthquake for during it the whole side of Nez Cass^, on 

 which the petrels bred, had collapsed and fallen into the valley. Pex-e Lownisky 

 ended his exposition by dramatically raising his withered hand, exclaiming 

 again in his " Creole " French that the diablotins had not been heard of for 

 nearly seventy years, " Jamais ! Jamais ! " 



Undoubtedly the volcanic disturbances in these islands have done 

 much toward reducing the numbers of these petrels and the intro- 

 duction of the mongoose has carried the work of destruction still 

 further. Perhaps it is doomed to extinction within a few years, but 

 I doubt if this has yet been accomplished. Mr. John T. Nichols 

 (1913) reported seeing a specimen in the vicinity of the West Indies 

 as recently as January 25, 1913 ; I quote from his notes, as follows : 



On January 25, 31° 48' North 75° 58' West (250 miles east of Savannah), 

 on blue water, alternating sunny and showery with a little lightning, the 

 steamer butting into a brisk southwesterly breeze, a sharp lookout was kept 

 for Pujffinidae, as they had been seen near this latitude the year before. Once 

 or twice thin vanishing vertical shadows against the myriad horizontal wave 

 shadows of the distance led me to believe there w^ere some of these birds about, 

 and as I stood by the port side, forward, looking toward the bow, a black- 

 capped petrel {Aestrehita hasitaia) darted away to the eastward above the 

 weaves, and I had a splendid view of its long, narrow, stiff w'ings, blackish cap 

 and back, black tail, white side of neck, underparts, lining of wings and upper 

 tail coverts. First one. then the other wing uppermost, it was shooting across 

 the wind with almost unbelievable speed and soon out of sight among the dis- 

 tant seas. An Audubon's shearwater, which appeared in the trough of a sea 

 near the vessel almost Immediately, was noticeably smaller than the first bird. 

 Two or three other birds, obviously Piifflnidae, were seen later in the day, but 

 these were the only ones which came within fair binocular range. The flight 

 and appearance of the black-capped petrel were very much like those of the 

 greater shearwater. The distinguishing large amount of white over the tail 

 was conspicuous. 



The black-capped petrel has a well established claim to a place 

 on the North American list, for it has repeatedly been taken, as a 

 straggler, on our continent and often well inland, at various times 

 during the summer, fall, and winter months. Dr. J. A. Allen (1904) 

 has tabulated ten such records which are substantiated by eleven 

 specimens. 



