116 



WITH NATURE AXD A CAMERA. 



on the jacket-sleeve of his right arm. He took one 

 or two photographs of this individual bird at very 

 close range, but, unfortunately, they turned out to 

 be failures on account of her having stirred slightlv 

 whilst the plate was exposed. 



I believe that Fulmar Petrels are popularly sup- 

 posed to squirt oil at their enemies from their 

 tubular nostrils, but this is certaiidy not the rule. We 

 saw it ejected from the throat somewhat in the form 

 of a vigorous expectoration, and according to our 



observation it is not propelled 

 to nearly the distance stated 

 in some ornithological works. 

 It is surprising to find that 

 one authority who visited the 

 rocks and studied the species 

 say he never saw the Ijird 

 squirt oil at its enemies. We 

 saw this done several times 

 at dogs when they approached 

 tlie more accessible nooks 

 and ledges on which l)irds 

 were brooding. Again the same observer records 

 that '' the Fulmar breeds on the face of the highest 

 precipices, and only on sucli as are furnished 

 with small grassy shelves." We rej^eatedly found 

 eggs on shelves and in corners where there was not 

 a single blade of grass alive or dead ; the nest, if such 

 it could by any stretch of courtes\" be called, simply 

 consisting of a slight hollow lined witli pebbles 

 and rock clappings, and in some cases of a shallow 

 declivity in tlic })are peat witliout a lining of any 

 kind whatsoever. It may Ije, of (course, tliat the 

 bird has changed its ])reeding habits as well as its 

 breeding (quarters ; for I tliink there is every reason 

 for believing that it formerly nested in tlie Hebrides, 



MARTINS FULMAR. 



