214 



PETREL GROUP 



On the east coast of Scotland the fuhnar is by no means an un- 

 common bird, but as we pass south it becomes more and more rare, 

 although seen all along the English coast from Northumberland to Essex 

 at times, while it has occurred occasionally along the southern coast as 

 far west as Devon and Cornwall. To Ireland it is a rare and accidental 

 visitor, generally driven on shore b\' violent storms. 



The fulmar, except during the breeding-season, is a bird of the 

 open sea, where its great powers of flight enable it to keep pace 

 with a fast steamer without apparent effort. Garbage thrown from 

 vessels forms a large portion of its food, and to obtain nutriment of 



this nature fulmars ac- 

 company whaling vessels 

 for long distances. In 

 swooping at scraps of 

 offal these birds are said 

 to frequently alight feet- 

 first on the water, in 

 place of plunging in gull- 

 fashion. Fishes, especi- 

 ally herrings, are also 

 largch* eaten ; and the 

 eagerness of these birds 

 in rushing after the herr- 

 ing-nets is frequently so 

 great as to lead to their 

 capture. On the broken 

 grass)' slopes at the 

 summits of the St. Kilda 

 cliffs fulmars breed in vast numbers ; and the silence of these birds 

 in their nesting-haunts presents a remarkable contrast to the incessant 

 clamour of the kittiwakes breeding on the ledges of the cliffs below. 

 The single white egg is usually deposited in a hollow scratched 

 by the parent birds in the turf and often lined with herbage, tluring 

 the latter half of May, and b}' July the \oung are reported to be able 

 to fly. More rarel)' it may be placed on a bare rocky ledge, where it is 

 prevented from rolling down by being laid in a slight hollow. On the 

 turf-clad heights of St. Kilda .so numerous arc the sitting fulmars in the 

 middle of the breeding-sca.son that the whole surface of the ground is 

 flecked with white patches. The egg has a rough chalky-white texture, 

 and measures between 2^ and a fraction over 3 inches in its longer 

 diameter. To the natives of St. Kilda the bird and its eggs are as 



FULM.\K (D.\KK I'lI.XSK). 



