2i6 British Birds. 



found in St. Helena, and alsci on the Galapagos and Hawaiian Islands in the 



Pacilic Ocean. It has a forked tail like Leach's Petrel, but is black, and the 



upper tail-coverts are tipped with lilack, while the outer tail-feathers are white 



at the base. The habits are doubtless similar to those ot the other Storm- 



Petrels, and the sin.i^le etfs' is laid in the crevice of a rock. It is white with a 



zone of reddish spots round the lariier end. 



The secondaries in this !;roup are only ten in number, and 



THE {|.,(j claws are flattened instead of being sharp and compressed. 



But one species has been found in British waters, viz., Wilson's 



STORM-PETRELS. „ , ,-, . . , ■ , ■ ■, ■ , r 



^ , . ., Petrel, Oceanttis occiunciis, which is easilv recoirniscd trom the 



Sub'jamily " ' 



OCEANITIDIN Ti other small Black Petrels by the yellow webs between its toes. It 



occurs sometimes in considerable numbers off our southwestern 



coasts, and its habitat extends over the greater portion of the southern seas, but it is 



not known from the American side of the Pacific Ocean. The single white egg, 



with the usual zone of reddish dots, is laid in the crevice of a rock or under 



a boulder ; it measures about an inch-and-a-quarter in length. 



The White-bellied Storm-Petrel differs in its light coloratiiMi 



I HE irom the rest of the Storm-Petrels, and has the claws ver}' broad 



WHITE BELLIED aiid flattened. It has twice been found within our limits, once 



STORM-PETREL. , ^ , . . ^, , , • , ■ , , 



,„ , , im the Lancashire coasts in IMovember, and once in the island 



{Pvlot^odroiua 



,n„yl„„ ) of Colonsav in January. It has a wide range in the tropical 



seas. Air. Ogilvie Grant found it breeding in the Salvr.ge 

 Islands, and obtained several of the eggs, which were placed at the end of a burrow. 

 No nest is made, and the single egg is white, with tiny spots of reddish or purplish- 

 brown, either sprinkled all over the surface or collected in a zone round the larg-.r 

 end. The length is nearly an inch-and-a-half. 



The Shearwaters are larger birds than an\- of ihe fore- 



going species of Petrel, and diher from them in several 



SHE.'\R\V.-\TERS. ' ,, , , . i ■ , , , •,■, ,- , • . ,- 



well-marked osteological characters. 1 he lamih' consists or 

 Fninilv 



„,,,,,.,,.,„,. the Fulmars and Shearwaters, the lormer having distinct 



lamelhe on the sides of the palate. One species of true 



I-'ulmar is fountl in Great Britain. 



In appearance the Fulmar \ery much resembles a grey Gull, 



' ■ ^' but it can of course be easih- distinguished by its tubular nostril, 

 (Fulmarus , . , . , ,', , , , , , ' , , ■ 



. which snows that it is a Petrel. Although its L;re\' and white 



glacialiS-) 



coloration is that of a Gull, its yellow bill and bluish feet ought 

 to make identification easy, in addition to the character of the nostrils noted above. 

 Its nesting places in Great Britain are confined to the Shetlands and the Hebrides, 

 the chief breeding place being apparently- on St- Kilda. It also nests in Spitsbergen 

 and the other northern islands, to Iceland, and Greenland. In its flight the I^'ulmar 

 resembles a Gull, and it has also the Gull-like habit of following a steamer for 



