16 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. XXV. 



only about eight or nine of them at the rookery were tenanted 

 by either young ones or aduUs. Both the cock and hen Prion 

 take their share of the burden of hatching out the young. They 

 often stay at home with their nestling during the daytime, instead 

 of proceeding to sea, over which they flutter, in calm weather, 

 like huge butterflies. 



— Bishop Mant has well described the various services rendered 

 by one species of petrel to man : — 



Yet may she coast more northern seas, 



Round Hebrid isles and Orcades, 



And Shetland onward, till more far 



Her course the icy mountains bar ; 



And there the kindred Fulmar seek, 



Her nostril broad, and crooked beak 



With yellow nail projecting ; whence, 



Instinctive weapon of defence. 



By nature taught, against his foes 



A stream of liquid oil he throws 



At random, gathered from the sea. 



His floating food ; more plenteously, 



As tending on the harpooner's sail. 



He shares the plunder of the whale. 



How is Nature's kindness shown 



When needed most ! From him alone, 



Free burgher on her common way, 



Himself to man an easy prey. 



By day supplied a grateful feast. 



Their ailments cured, their wounds redrest, 



Their lamp illum'd with evening light, 



With down their couches strewn by night, 



Saint Kilda's simple natives find ; 



Nor less a signal of the wind, 



As by his Sittings or repose 



Defined, the aeriel current flows, 



Mrs. Meredith, of Tasmania, sings : — 



Where mountain billows roll and loud winds sing, 



The Stormy Petrel, on untiring wing, 



Still skims along the ocean's troubled breast. 



And safely steers above each foaming crest ; 



As the prophetic herald glances by, 



The anxious sailor knows that danger's nigh. 



The carcasses of several of these Prions which had been recently 

 killed by tlie pair of Black-cheeked Falcons aforesaid were 

 scattered about the rookery, in which a peculiar musky odour was 

 noticeable. As it was nearly time for the boatmen to return, we 

 forthwith scrambled up the rocky face of a rough cliff to the 

 Gannet rookery, and on reaching the summit an enchanting 

 picture met our gaze. Crowning the highest part was a living 

 mass of white, composed of some 400 Gannets attending to their 

 young ones. We hurried forward to examine them more closely, 

 and as we did so many of them, rushing face to wind to the edge 



