THE OSPREY. 



41 



of the great shearwater. Its habits are very 

 similar to those which I have mentioned as being 

 peculiar to the common hagdon, and with the 

 exception that possibly it is a little less noisy, 

 the description of the habits of one species maj' 

 be applied to the other. As the two species 

 mingle freely together, the black hagdon is 

 often captured with its less sootj' companions, 

 and is, of course, also used for bait by the 

 ".shack" fishermen. 



THE vvhMAR {/^'li/i/iartis i^/aa'a/is). 



This species, known by a variety of names to 

 the New England fishermen, such as "noddy", 

 " marbleheader ", and "oil bird" — called a 

 "stinker" on the west coast — is found on the 

 fishing banks north of Cape Cod in winter, and 

 also occurs in greater or less abundance from 

 Sable Island northwardly, during the summer 

 months, though it is most numerous in this 

 region during cold weather. The following 

 notes from my journal, which were made while 

 near the northwest part of the Grand Bank, may 

 prove of interest in this connection: 



February 7, 1879, — On ivesfcr>i edge of the 

 (.'rand Bank, latitude 44° 25' N., longitude 52° 

 58' W., "I saw several noddies this morning, but 

 for some reason they would not come alongside 

 of the vessel. I have seen one or more every 

 day (since January 30), but have had no chance 

 to get any". 



February 8, 1879. — Same place as above. "Saw 

 some noddies this morning and shot one, but did 

 not get him". 



iMarch 11, 1879, in latitude 45° 9', longitude 54° 

 58', I shot four noddies, and the following entry 

 is made in my journal under date of March 12: 

 "There have been great numbers of noddies to- 

 day. I shot two; but when the vessel swung 

 iijto the trough of the sea I could not shoot any 

 more". 



"" ISIarch 14. Have seen large numbers of nod- 

 dies this trip, and almost every day since we 

 have been here some of the burgomaster gulls — 

 a large white species. I shot several of the nod- 

 dies to-day, but the gulls are shy, and it is diffi- 

 cult to approach them near enough to obtain a 

 shot". 



I will add that the weather during the above- 

 mentioned time was extremely cold. On April 

 13 of the same year I made the following note: 

 "t have not seen a noddy this trip". We had 

 then been at sea about one week. On April 18, 

 1879, we were on Green Bank, when the follow- 

 ing entry was made: "I saw a noddy to-day for 

 the first time this trip". 



June 5, 1879. Eastern part of Banquereau. 

 "I have noticed a noddy now and then for the 

 last three days, but have not seen any before for 

 some time". 



Under date of July 29, 1879, the following en- 

 tr^' is made: "I have seen no noddies this trip".* 



The plumage of this species varies in color; 

 that of some of the birds, is of a uniform smoky 

 gray, and of others white, with black wings, and 

 some of the other feathers bluish. 



The fulmars are probably more abundant on 

 the Grand Bank than on any other of the fishing- 



grounds commonly resorted to by American 

 vessels, with the exception perhaps, of the hali- 

 but grounds in Davis Straits, or the Flemish 

 Cap to the eastward of Grand Bank, which are 

 not visited by many fishing schooners. 



The marbleheader is quite as greedy as the 

 hagdon, and quite as bold when in pursuit of 

 food; but unlike the latter, which is alwaj's 

 quarrelsome and noisy, the fulmar confines it- 

 self to a sort of chuckling sound, somewhat 

 resembling a low grunt. It will swallow a piece 

 of cod liver with even as great voracity as the 

 hag, but it rarely, if ever, seems to exercise the 

 cimning <jr caution of the latter in trying to 

 avoid the hook, and, as a consequence, it is more 

 easily captured. It is caught in the same 

 manner as the hag, but owing to its compara- 

 tively small numbers (jii the fishing-grounds, 

 the fishermen do not depend upon it so much as 

 a source of bait supply as upon Puffinus major, 

 since one would be likely to catch twenty, or 

 perhaps many more, of the latter, to one noddy. 

 When caught on a line and hauled into the boat 

 it frequently emits quantities of oily matter from 

 its nostrils, and often disgorges its food. This 

 peculiarity of the species which is not common 

 to the hagdon, has been remarked by others. 

 The hagdon will occasionally throw up the con- 

 tents of its stomach when caug^ht. but not as a 

 rule, so far as I have been able to observe. 



The fulmar subsists chiefly on small fishes, 

 and, doubtless, participates with the hagdon in 

 the pursuit of the squid; but I have no recollec- 

 tion of noticing in its stomach, as I have in that 

 of the hag. the presence of pieces of squid or the 

 beaks of that animal. I have, however, fre- 

 quently observed that the contents of the 

 stomachs of manj' of this species consisted 

 almost entirely of small fish. Like Puffinus. it 

 is very fond of oily food, which it swallows with 

 astonishing greediness. It devours large quan- 

 tities of codfish liver in a ravenous manner that 

 would astound one unacquainted with its habits, 

 and it certainly would tax their credulity to 

 believe statements that might be made bearing 

 on this subject. 



The fulmar is essentially an Arctic bird and 

 occurs in great abundance in the North, where 

 it is met with by whalers and halibut fishermen 

 in summer, at which season, according to the 

 accounts given by Arctic explorers, it g-oes there 

 for the purpose of incubation. 



"The fulmar is the constant companion of the 

 whale-fisher", says Scoresby, in his Arctic 

 Regions: "It is highly' amusing to observe the 

 voracity with which they seize the pieces of fat 

 that fall in their way; the size and quantity of 

 the pieces they take at a meal; the curious 

 chuckling noise which, in their anxiety for dis- 

 patch, they alwa^'s make, and the jealousy with 

 which they view, and the boldness with which 

 they attack any of this species that are eng-aged 

 in devouring the finest morsels. The fulmar 

 never dives but when incited to do it by the 

 appearance of a morsel of fat under water". 

 These peculiarities of the species agree exactly 

 with my own observations. 



The fulmar has frequently a ragged appear, 

 ance; the wings and tail-feathers being fagged 



*It may be offered as an explanation here that I was collecting these birds for scientific purposes, and therefore, 

 preferred to shoot them instead of catching them on a line. 



