68 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



her course and making sure that they are properly placed at the next signal for 

 hauling the net. 



Besides refuse matter, shearwaters feed upon all sorts of surface 

 swimming life, such as small fish and squids. I'have found as many 

 as 24 of the horny beaks of squids in the stomach of one shearwater. 

 Mr. Eich adds : 



Apart from that furnished by the fishing industry, the food of the hag con- 

 sists of surface-swimming young fish of various species, a large amount of 

 squid, and the "sand eels," the later, no doubt, furnishing a considerable 

 portion in the menu. At the turn of the tide when the water is slaclc there is 

 great activity among the hags, the birds flying about constantly at a considerable 

 height — for them — sometimes fifty yards in the air, apparently searching for 

 these fish, the lancelets, which are said to school at the surface in vast numbers 

 at this time. I have seen vast schools of these "sand eels" with thousands of 

 hags, an occasional shark, and even whales pursuing them. 



Behavior. — The flight of the greater shearwater is extremely grace- 

 ful and very characteristic. With long sharply pointed, slightly 

 decurved wings they scale along close to the waves, sailing into the 

 teeth of the wind by skillfully taking advantage of the air currents 

 deflected upward from the surges. Now they turn on their side 

 with one wing just grazing the water, the other high in the air. 

 Again they take a few quick wing strokes and launch themselves 

 just above a breaker, but so close that one expects to see them over- 

 whelmed in the foam. One can not help noticing the shape of their 

 bodies, cylindrical and tapering posteriorly, a cigar shape well 

 adapted for rapid passage through the air without "dragging." 



Owing to the great length of their wings shearwaters need a strong 

 wind to rise from the surface of the water, and even then they 

 often make the surface foam as they climb up the waves paddling 

 vigorously with alternate feet. In perfect calms the advent of a 

 swift-moving steamer in the midst of a flock becomes for these birds 

 a matter of serious concern. They flap along the surface heavily, 

 using both feet and wings, and as they struggle they "lighten ship" 

 by vomiting up the contents of their crops and stomachs. Some, 

 unable to rise above the water, endeavor to hide themselves below 

 the surface by vigorous action of both wings and feet, but in this, 

 as in the case .of the proverbial ostrich in the sand, they are only 

 partially successful. Like petrels the shearwaters occasionally skip 

 along the surface of the water on their feet, using their wings to 

 balance and support them. 



The greater shearwater is on occasions an active diver, and is able 

 to swim well under water. It dives from the surface of the water on 

 which it first alights. Captain Collins (1884) says: " It is a common 

 occurrence for a number of these birds to chase a boat for half an 

 hour or more at a time, diving like a flash, every few minutes, after 



