32 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAJL MUSEUM. 



live in its surrounding-s at any time, in the forbidding- climate of 

 the rugged, frozen north, but there it seems to live and flourish, rising 

 successful and triumphant over adverse conditions. 



Sj^ring. — On the north coast of Labrador late in the spring, and 

 even early in the summer, fulmars are often seen and are sometimes 

 quite abundant from the Straits of Belle Isle northward to Cape 

 Chidley. Mr. Lucien M. Turner, in his unpublished notes, writes: 



When the fog lifted great streams of this species could be seen moving 

 either southward or northward. Huge icebergs had their tops fairly alive 

 with these birds, riding slowly to the southward, to which direction they ad- 

 vanced until far enough, and then returning to repeat the trip if opportunity 

 occurred. 



These were probably migrating birds, for no breeding grounds 

 have yet been discovered on the Labrador coast, and Turner found 

 them very scarce after entering Hudson Straits. Audubon (1840) 

 mentions a migratory flight on the coast of Greenland, quoting the 

 remarks of Captain Sabine, as follows : 



Whilst tlie ships were detained by the ice in .Tacobs Bay, in latitiide 71° 

 from the 24th of June to the 3d of July, fulmars were passing in a continued 

 stream to the northward, in numbers inferior only to the flight of the passenger 

 pigeon in America. 



Nesting. — Probably the southernmost breeding colonies on the 

 western side of the Atlantic are those mentioned by Kumlien (1879), 

 as follows: 



I also procured a few that were ashy ; these I presumed were young birds ; 

 but in July, 1S7S, I found a few of these dark col(»red ones, darker than any I 

 ever saw in fall, breeding near Quickstep Harbor, in Cumberland, on some 

 small, rocky islands. When fresh these dark-colored birds have a bright olive- 

 green gloss, especially apparent on the neck and back. The bill is shorter, 

 stouter, and thicker, dusky brown instead of yellow. On Blue Momitain, Ovifak, 

 Greenland, these birds breed by myriads to the very summit of the mountain, 

 about 2,000 feet. Here I could see but few dark b.'rds; even the full-fledged 

 nestlings were white. 



In Exeter Sound and to the northward along the west shores of Davis; 

 .Straits and Baffin's Bay, the dark variety seems to predominate. Near Cape 

 Searle they are extraordinarily abundant, breeding by thousands on the Padlie 

 Island, and they are so tame about their nesting places that they can be killiMi 

 with a stick. The eggs, even after being blown, for many months still retain 

 the musky odor peculiar to the birds. Perfectly fresh eggs are quite good 

 eating but if a couple of days old the musky odor has so permeated them, even 

 the albumen, that they are a little too much for a civilized palate. 



Nelson (1883) writes that: 



It breeds abundantly on Bear Island (near Spitzbergen) on some of the 

 sloping clilTs not difficult of access. One case is mentioned where on May 26, 

 1876, the eggs were seen deposited directly upon the bare ice which covered 

 the rocks at the time. In one place a bird was found frozen fast by one leg as 

 it sat upon the eggs, in August, 1596, as recorded by one of the old Dutch 

 expeditions which touched tliat coast. On the northern half of Nova Zemla, 



