COMMON STORxM-PETREL. 465 



have not enabled me to present a full account of them. This 

 deficiency, however, is supplied by other observers. 



Mr. Martin, who visited St. Kilda in the summer of 

 1697, gives the following brief notice of it, accompanied by 

 a figure : — " The Assilag is as large as a Lint-White ; black 

 bill, wide nostrils at the upper part, crooked at the point 

 like the Fulmar's bill. It comes about the twenty-second of 

 March, without any regard to winds, lays its egg about the 

 tMentieth of May, and produces the fowl towards the middle 

 of October; then goes away about the end of November." 

 Brief as it is, this account is incorrect with regard to the 

 time at which the young is produced. 



Montagu's account of its habits is as follows : — " Stormy 

 Petrels fly in small flocks, and are the only species of the 

 feathered creation that dare venture so far from shore as the 

 middle of the Atlantic ocean, where they appear to find sub- 

 sistence, and only retire during the breeding season. In a 

 voyage to America we noticed two or three small congre- 

 gations, and these generally followed the ship for several 

 hours, flying round, and playing about in the manner of 

 Swallows, frequently stooping to pick up bits of biscuit 

 thrown over for the purpose. Fortunately, however, we 

 looked in vain each time for the accompanying tempest, 

 which these bewitched chickens of Mother Carey were sup- 

 posed to forbode. Sailors, naturally superstitious, have 

 always considered this little bird the forerunner of stormy 

 and tempestuous weather, as the appearance of the King- 

 fisher denoted fine weather, denominated the halcyon days 

 by the ancients. These auguries, however, may be founded 

 in fact ; for as the Kingfisher is only seen on the sea-shore, 

 or on the coasts of bays and estuaries in the temperate 

 months, so the Petrel, whose rapid wing outstrips the wind, 

 flies from the storm, and in its passage over the vast 

 Atlantic may truly warn the mariner of the approaching 

 tempest. 



" It is no uncommon occurrence to find birds of this 

 species dead in places contiguous to the coast, and some- 

 times remote. Such we have had brought to us several 

 times in the months of October and November. A specimen 



VOL. v. 2 H 



