464 PROCEEDINGS OP THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. vol.56. 



At night it is much easier to take them, when guided by the voices 

 one may avoid exploring the imoccupied homes. It is thus that the 

 laborers and fishermen catch them abundantly, for the potoyunco is 

 valued for food in fresh or salted condition. 



If liberated they run rapidly over the ground flapping their wings, 

 but unable to rise except after a run of 10 or 20 feet. Then, with 

 exceedingly rapid movement of their short wings, they make for the 

 ocean with a queer zig-zag flight. Reaching the ocean they fly low 

 over the water a little distance, settle upon the surface, and then 

 swim away with short, shallow dives. 



When placed on the ground in my tent, the petrels displayed 

 peculiar movements. The body is covered with a very thick coat 

 of feathers so that lying on the ground the body seems to flatten 

 out remarkably, while the wmgs, pushed a little out on the sides, 

 increase the apparent width until the body has quite a turtle-like 

 form. As they crawl rapidly along, the legs are spread well out to 

 the sides and the body is barely, if at all, lifted from the ground. I 

 noticed that with some the body was slightly raised; with others not 

 at all. In any case the movement is a reptilian creep rather than a 

 walk. When I started one under my sleeping bag it began to burrow, 

 with strong backward sweeps of the feet, used alternately and send- 

 ing the dirt flying with great force. Two birds were placed outside 

 in holes in the ground, each secured by a line attached to the leg. 

 They made a little effort to burrow, but soon stopped. At 10 o'clock 

 at night I found them trying to go toward the water. Placing them 

 back in the holes I left them again, hoping to ascertain the rate of 

 excavation. Unfortunately, in the morning only the bones of the 

 legs remained, and the trades of gallinazos accounted for the dis- 

 appearance of the birds. 



Presumably both condors and gallinazos (buzzards) may be ac- 

 counted enemies of the potoyuncos, although their subterranean life 

 and nocturnal flights give them substantial protection from preda- 

 tory birds. Certainly the chief enemy is man. About the signs of 

 old campfires numberless wings of the potoyuncos were often ob- 

 served. For a while I v/as puzzled by the many signs of sacks 

 having been dragged down the hillsides, until it was observed that 

 these trails led in almost every case to the grounds where there were 

 burrows of potoyuncos, even to those near the very tops of the 

 peaks. The ground was not torn up as if guano had been the object 

 of search, and the abundant evidence of discarded wings of poto- 

 yuncos completed the story. The fishermen assured me that these 

 birds were very good when salted, and that the laborers on the 

 islands regularly brought back quantities of potoyuncos salted down. 

 The fishermen with me asked permission to take the birds for food. 

 This was refused; but with little effect, for I counted 21 birds drying 



