Among the Water-Fowl 



a " square " tail and yellow webs. They are hard 

 to distinguish at any distance, and thus one might 

 overlook the rarer, though very similar. Stormy or 

 Least Petrel, which I have never certainly identified. 

 Leach's Petrel breeds from the coast of Maine 

 northward, while the other goes with the Shear- 

 waters to the mysterious far south. During sum- 

 mer, when our northern Petrel is breeding, it is 

 usually the southerner that we meet off our coasts. 

 All that I have identified off Cape Cod at that sea- 

 son were of the latter kind. In the autumn we find 

 both kinds intermingled. As for winter, it has 

 never been my fortune to meet any Petrel at that 

 season, though they may occur further off shore. 



Out of the very many trips that I have made 

 into the haunts of the ocean wanderers, mostly off 

 Chatham, I will cull out some of the more note- 

 worthy incidents that will illustrate the habits of 

 these unique and interesting birds. One that stands 

 out in my memory was the second of August, away 

 back in 1883, when I met for my first and only 

 time a certain rare bird. As usual, I was with a 

 fisherman off Chatham, well out to sea. Among 

 the many Shearwaters — ** Hags " or " Haglets," as 

 the fishermen call them — I noticed an individual 

 resembling the Greater Shearwater, but lighter in 

 colour in the back, and with a large, conspicuous 

 yellow bill. I had not the least idea what it was, 

 and my naturalistic ardour rose to white heat. 

 Fortunately there was a gun in the cabin. I made 

 ready, and when, at length, the strange bird again 

 flew past, I tumbled it into the water. Luffing the 

 boat up to it, I laid down the gun, and was about to 



102 



