2o8 PETREL GROUP 



oceanic molluscs form the natural diet of the petrels ; but many ot 

 the species, like gulls, pick up the refuse thrown from ships. The 

 half-digested food forms an ill-smelling oily fluid, which is disgorged 

 in o-reater or less profusion by most of the species when wounded or 

 otherwise captured. 



" Mother Carey's chicken," as the storm-petrel is commonly termed 

 by sailors, is the typical representative of the whole group, and thus 

 the petrel par excellence. It might naturally be supposed that the 

 name petrel bears some reference to rocks, and etymologically it does 

 so ; but it actually means the " bird of St. Peter," and appears to have 

 been applied to the present species from the fact that when the bird is 

 skimming the surface of the waves in its usual fashion, its feet from 

 time to time strike the surface of the water, thus suggesting the idea 

 of walking on the waves. 



Although they have been divided into two such groups, all the 

 British petrels may be conveniently included in the single family 

 Procellariidai. The storm-petrel and its more immediate relatives 

 form a "-roup of genera in which the species are of small size ; all 

 bein^'- collectively characterised by the union of the two nasal tubes, 

 and by the second primary quill exceeding the others in length. The 

 storm-petrel and the fork-tailed petrel are further characterised by the 

 relative shortness of the shank of the leg, which is covered in front 

 with a number of six-sided shield-like scales, the presence of at least 

 thirteen secondary wing-quills, and by the outer toe being shorter than 

 the middle one. Together with one nearly allied Pacific species, the 

 storm-petrel differs from the other British representatives of the group 

 by the absence of any forking in the tail. 



In length the storm-petrel, which inhabits the Atlantic Ocean as 

 far south as the coast of West Africa and also the western portion of 

 the Mediterranean, measures only 6^ inches. Its sooty black plumage, 

 beak, and legs, relieved only by the white upper tail-coverts, the white 

 ed<^'-es to the greater wing-coverts, and a white patch below at the base 

 of the tail, coupled with its storm-loving habits, have doubtless earned 

 for the species its sailors' .sobriquet of "devil-bird." Immature birds 

 differ merely by the smaller amount of white below the tail and the 

 buff edgings to the greater wing-coverts ; while the down of the 

 nestling is sooty black both above and below. 



The wild Atlantic coast of Ireland is one of the favourite haunts 

 of the petrel, and to the natives of the storm-swept Blasket Islands, 

 forming the extreme western point of Kerry, these birds were at one 

 time of considerable importance. A rush drawn through the oily 



