BIRDS OF BERMUDA. 275 



got an opportunity of doing so the unfortunate bird died. He bad be- 

 come remarkably tame, following me about the house and garden, wad- 

 dling along awkwardly enough on his tarsi, and uttering a musical 

 " chirrup " the while. He used to sit under the table where I was writ- 

 ing, pecking away at my boots, and apparently extremely happy. I fed 

 him on fish, and gave him a salt-water tub occasionally, which he thor- 

 oughly enjoyed. He slept a great deal during the day, and usually got 

 behind an open door — the darkest place he could find — for his "siesta." 

 When I took him from the nest he was nearly able to fly, but still re- 

 tained the long nestling-down of the young bird, slate-colored on the 

 head and shoulders, light brown on the under parts ; the former soon 

 rubbed off, but the latter was more permanent, and was not got rid of 

 for some days. The nests were simple holes in the face of the rock — my 

 bird had barely room to turn round in his. There was no unpleasant 

 smell about the nests or young birds, the peculiar, and to me not dis- 

 agreeable, odor of the Shearwater tribe being alone distinguishable by 

 its presence. I saw nothing of the old birds, who were in all probability 

 far out at sea at the time. An egg of this species, kindly presented to 

 me by Mr. Bartram, is, of course, pure white ; it has a considerable polish, 

 and is about the size of a bantam's, but less elongated in form. Mr. 

 Bartram was good enough also to present me with two skins of the adult 

 bird. He tells me that the statement made by the old historians of Ber- 

 muda as to the capture of the "Cahow" at night is no exaggeration ; 

 for on visiting an island one night where there were several j)airs breed- 

 ing, he quickly caught half a dozen of them, the stujiid things settling 

 on his body as he lay on the ground, and allowing themselves to be 

 taken in his hand! I know of only one instance of a "Cahow" being 

 seen on the wing in the day-time in Bermudian waters : this was in 

 August, 1874, when one was shot crossing Castle Harbor, by Lieutenant 

 Hopegood, Ninety-seventh Regiment ; but I believe they are occasion- 

 ally observed by fishermen on the south side. 



With reference to the local names "Cahow" or "Cowhow," and "Pem- 

 blyco" or " Pimlico," Mr. Bartram writes to me on the 19th July, 1878: 

 "About twelve months ago I came across an old book called ^ A Com- 

 plete System of Geography,' printed under the name of Herman Moll, 

 &c., September 21, 1747, and the greater part of it professedly taken 

 from a much older work called ' Britannick in America.' After describ- 

 ing Bermuda and its animal, insect, and vegetable productions, it gives 

 the following account of the birds that were found on the islands at that 



