LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 137 



ging out the burrows unci eating the eggs. Probably gulls do their 

 share also, as the burrows are often very shallow and in soft soil. 



Wi7ite>\ — This petrel seems to be a hardy species, wandering 

 northward during the fall months throughout Bering Sea, along 

 the coasts of Alaska and Siberia, and occasionally up some of the 

 rivers. Nelson (1887) says: "The Eskimo find them after the sea is 

 covered with ice. At such times tliey are usually near an air hole, 

 and in several cases were captured alive, being too weak from star- 

 vation to escape." The main winter home of the species, however, is 

 the north Pacific Ocean, where it is widel}^ distributed, between the 

 North American and Asiatic coasts. 



DISTRIBUTION, 



Breeding lange. — Northern and eastern portions of the Pacific 

 Ocean. From the Kurile and Commander Islands (Copper Island) 

 all along the Aleutian chain (Attn, Agattu, Tanaga, and: Atka 

 Islands, etc.), on islands off the coast of southern Alaska (Sanak, 

 St. Lazaria, and Forrester Islands, etc.), off the coast of Washing- 

 ton (Clallam County) and as far south as northern California 

 (Whaler Island, Del Norte County, and off Trinidad, Humboldt 

 County). Breeding grounds protected in Alaska, Washington, and 

 Oregon reservations. 



Range. — North Pacific Ocean, south along the coast to southern 

 California (Orange County), North throughout Bering Sea, along 

 both coasts, and through Bering Straits into Kotzebue Sound. 



Casual records. — Accidental in the interior of Alaska (Tanana 

 River, November). 



Egg dates. — Southern Alaska : Sixteen records, June 10 to July 15 ; 

 eight records, June 17 to 30. Washington and Oregon: Three rec- 

 ords, June 7, 9, and 17. Aleutian Islands: Two records, June 25 

 and 30. 



OCEANODROMA LEUCORHOA LEUCORHOA (Vieillot). 

 LEACH PETREL. 



HABITS. 



The most widely distributed and the best-known species of the 

 genus Oceanodroma on American coasts is the Leach petrel. It is 

 the only species known to breed on our Atlantic coast, in spite of 

 numerous reports to the contrary. It is distinctly a bird of northern 

 oceans, and its breeding grounds extend from the Aleutian Islands 

 nearly to the Pacific coast of the United States and from the coast 

 of Maine northward to Greenland on the Atlantic side. We ought to 

 know something about its life history, but our knowledge of even 

 this common bird is not complete. 



