LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 121 



and Pacific Oceans with breeding stations in both oceans. It was 

 originally described in 1828 from a specimen taken near Madeira 

 and sent to Sir W. Jardine by Doctor Bulwer, for whom it was 

 named. Our claim to it as a North American bird is based on its 

 supposed accidental occurrence in Greenland; Mr. Howard Saun- 

 ders (1889) says: "An example in the Leiden Museum is said to 

 have come from Greenland, but Reinhardt informed Mr. P. E. 

 Freke that he thought it might be from one of the Moravian settle- 

 ments in Labrador." 



Nesting. — Godman (1907) says: 



Bulwer's fulmar breeds, according to Doctor Heineken, in the Madeira and 

 Canary groups of islands ; the birds arrive in March and begin to lay early 

 in June. The young are hatched in .Tuly, and after September but few are 

 seen till the following spring. These birds are purely nocturnal in habits and 

 although very rarely found in floclis lilce shearwaters, remain almost con- 

 stantly at sea, except during the breeding season; they may then be found in 

 considerable numbers on the Desertas, whence many eggs, now in the British 

 Museum, were procured by Padre Schmitz. 



He had previously written elsewhere (1872) : 



I found Bulwer petrel breeding in considerable numbers on the small De- 

 serta. It appears so nocturnal in its habits that I never once saw it flying 

 about in the daytime, though there were plenty of another, smaller species. 

 The nests I found were for the most part low down at the foot of the cliffs 

 under the fallen rocks, where the birds were easily caught with the hand 

 while sitting on their eggs. 



Mr. David A. Bannerman (1914) writes of the nesting habits of 

 this petrel on Montana Clara Island in the Canaries: 



This was the only small island on which we found Bulwer's petrel breeding. 

 Here, however, they were quite common, although their numbers seemed 

 scant in comparison with those of the large shearwaters. By far the most 

 attractive in appearance of all the petrels, these somber-colored little birds 

 were breeding all round the island under the large boulders which had fallen 

 from the cliffs. They were most common in the actual neighborhood of my 

 camp, where many of their nesting sites were under rocks only just beyond the 

 reach of the waves. Holes were sometimes utilized, and we found two close 

 together about 40 feet up the side of the cliff, each containing a bird. We 

 dug these holes out and found the birds sitting about 2 feet from the entrance. 

 In no case was there anj' attempt at a nest, the single egg being deposited on 

 the bare stone. At the time of my visit all the birds had laid. In one case a 

 fisherman brought in two eggs, which he assured me he had found in tht. 

 same " nest " lying side by side, doubtless the product of two females. All 

 the eggs were freshly laid, and I gathered from the fishermen that the birds 

 had not long come to land. 



Bulwer's petrel is almost entirely nocturnal iu its habits, and we never saw 

 any flying in the neighborliood of the island during the day. If pulled out of 

 their holes these birds seemed very dazed, but invariably attempted to escape 

 by crawling under stones. In one case, however, a bird which we had placed 

 on a rock in the brilliant sunlight waddled to the edge and immediately flew 

 out to sea. 



