PROCELLARIID^. 735 



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THE FRIGATE-PETREL. 



Pelagodroma marina (Latham). 



After a severe gale in November 1890, a number of sea-birds, 

 which had been washed up dead on the outside of Walney Island, 

 were taken to a local bird-stuffer at Barrow-in-Furness. Among 

 them was a Wilson's Petrel, and also an example of this species, 

 which was secured by the Rev. H. A. Macpherson, and sent up to 

 the late Mr. O. Salvin for identification (Ibis 1892, pp. 602-604). 

 On the ist of January 1897, after heavy gales from the south-w^est, a 

 young female was captured alive on the west side of the island of 

 Colonsay, and forwarded in the flesh to Edinburgh, where it was 

 identified by Mr. W. Eagle Clarke, and is now in the Museum of 

 Science and Art in that capital. 



The haunts of this species nearest to our shores are in the 

 volcanic Salvages islets, already mentioned. On nearing that group, 

 says Mr. Ogilvie Grant, numbers of these elegant birds were seen 

 flitting along, close to the surface of the sea, with their long legs 

 dangling beneath them, and just touching the wvater. After landing 

 on the Great Salvage, he found that large colonies of this Petrel 

 were breeding on the flat top of the island, in burrows dug out in 

 the sandy ground, which were partly concealed by close-growing ice- 

 plants. Beyond this interesting locality, the bird is known to occur 

 off the Canary Islands ; while it was long ago described by Latham 

 from the South Seas. Gilbert, one of Gould's best collectors, found 

 it nesting off Cape Leeuwin, the south-west point of Australia, as 

 well as on Wallaby Island, one of the Houtmann's Abrolhos group, 

 and it is known to breed in the Chatham Islands, to the south 



