i8 



British Birds. 



The Great Shearwater. 



The Sooty Shearwater. 



white tips to the lonf,' 

 upper tail-coverts. It 

 is white below, with a 

 patch of sooty-brown 

 in the centre of the 

 abdomen. The length 

 of the bird is over 

 nineteen inches, and 

 the \\m% twelve-and- 

 a-half inches. The tail 

 is short and rounded, 

 and not wedjjje-shaped 

 as in some of the other 

 members of the genus. It is found throughout the greater part of the Atlantic 

 Ocean, and visits Ireland and the western coasts of England and Scotland, some- 

 times in considerable numbers. It is generally seen in pairs, but sometimes in 

 small flocks, and it will feed on almost anything, while it is also an e.xpert diver. 

 Authentic details of the nesting of the species are still wanting. 



This species belongs to the smaller section of the genus 

 Puffimts, the general 

 colour of whose upper 

 surface is black, including 

 the head and neck. The under surface is 

 white, including the under tail-coverts, the 

 latter haxing only a little black along their 

 outer webs. The length is about fourteen-and- 

 a-half inches, and that of the wi::g from nine 

 to nine-and-a-half inches. Like the fore- 

 going species, the Man.x Shearwater is an 

 inhabitant of the Atlantic Ocean, and it breeds 

 in many parts of Ireland and on our western 

 coasts from the Scilly Islands to the Hebrides, 

 Orkney, and Shetland Islands, in suitable 

 localities. Although it is occasionally seen 

 during the day-time, the Manx Shearwater, 

 like most Petrels, is a night-flying bird. It 

 burrows into the peat or into the sand\'-soil 

 on a cliff, and lays its single white egg either 

 on the bare soil or on a few scraps of grass. 



or dead leaves of plants, which serve as an ^he Dusky Shearwater. 



apology for a nest. The Manx Shearwater. 



THE MANX 

 SHEAR\V.\TER. 



(Puffinus pujpiius.) 



