FULMARS, SHEARWATERS, AND PETRELS 



87 



On Three Arch Rocks off the Oregon coast, 

 we found both the Forked-tailed and the Kaeding 

 Petrels nesting. The latter birds, however, were 

 far more abundant than the former. One might 

 remain about these rocks for a month, climbing 

 over them every day, and not know that a I'etrel 

 is there, for they are never seen flying about the 

 rocks in daytime. 



We climbed to the grassy slope on the north 

 side of the outer rock. My first acquaintance 

 with these two birds was when I dropped on my 

 knees and dug out a single white egg. Then, 

 as I dug a little farther, 1 saw a Kacding's 

 Petrel that had crawled back in the extreme 

 corner to hide. 



The Petrel nestling is a fluffy ball of down. 

 One parent stays in the burrow with the nestling 

 during the day, while the other is far out on the 

 ocean. The parent feeds the young by thrust- 

 ing the beak down his mouth aiul injecting into 

 it a yellowish fluid. Both old birds are exi)erts 



at this. If you take one out of the burrow, he 

 will immediately " play Jonah " in your direction 

 with surprising power of projection. A dose of 

 rancid fish oil shot up your sleeve is not pleasing 

 to your nerves or your nostrils. 



I shall never forget the evening we made a 

 dangerous trip to the top of the rock and hid on 

 the north slope. As it grew dark, the Petrels 

 began coming in to the island like a swarm of 

 bats. Those in the burrows came chittering out 

 to meet them. The ground beneath seemed full 

 of squeakings and the air full of soft twittering 

 and whistlings until it felt uncanny. We fre- 

 quently felt the breath of swift wings, but it was 

 like a fantasy, for not a bird could be seen, nor 

 even a shadow. How one of these Petrels could 

 find his own home and his mate in an acre of 

 nesting holes hidden all about in the grass and 

 in the darkness of night is one of those mys- 

 terious things that we cannot solve. 



WlLLI.\M L. FiXLEY. 



STORM PETREL 

 Thalassidroma pelagica {Liinia-us) 



A. O. U. Number 



Other Name. — Mother Carey's Chicken. 



General Description. — Length. 5"/, inches. Color, 

 brownish-black. Leys, short; tail, sqiiarr. 



Color. — Glossy brownish-black, browner below ; 

 Hipper tail-covcrts, ichitc 'anth hlack tips: under tail- 

 coverts, streaked with white; bill and feet, black; iris, 

 brown. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nest : Holes excavated by the 

 bird under rocks. Eccs : One. white. 



Distribution. — Easterly parts of the Atlantic Ocean 

 south to the Mediterranean and west coast of Africa; 

 occasionally found on the Newfoundland Banks and 

 otf the coast of Nova Scotia: breeds on islands otT 

 Great Britain. 



LEAST PETREL 



Halocyptena microsoma Coucs 



A. O. V. Xumber 103 



Other Name.— Wedged-tailed Petrel. 



General Description. — Length, 6 inches. Color, 

 brownish-black. 'I'ail, rounded. 



Color. — Lustrous brownish-black, without any white, 

 darker on upper parts, blackening on wings and tail, 

 slightly grayer on greater wing-coverts ; bill and feet, 

 black; iris, brown. 



Nest and Eggs. — The single e.gg, white with a ring 

 of black specks at end, is laid in a crevice of rocks, 

 not in a burrow. 



Distribution. — Eastern Pacific Ocean ; breeds on 

 islands ofi Lower California; south in migration to 

 western Me.xico. Panama, and Ecuador ; occasionally 

 found north of breeding range. 



What the Wilson's and Leach's Petrels are to 

 the western waters of the Atlantic, the Storm 

 Petrel is to the eastern, and there is strong re- 

 semblance between the appearance and habits of 

 the three birds. The Storm Petrel appears only 

 occasionally ofif or near the American coast, and 

 then doubtless in most cases accidentally. 



Similar in its relation to the western coast is 

 the Least Petrel, a Pacific Ocean form, seen occa- 

 sionally off the coast of California, but essen- 

 tially a bird of the islands far from either shore 

 of that vast sea. This bird's h.abits are also 

 distinctly Petrel-like and need no separate de- 

 scrij)tion. 



