CHAPTER 8 



THE TUBENOSES 



OF ALL THE BIRDS which frequciit the North Atlantic Ocean, the 

 petrels or, as they are known today to ornithologists, the tube- 

 noses, appear to be the most perfectly adapted to its frequent wild 

 moods and heavy storms. A chapter on their life-histories would be 

 incomplete, therefore, without a full discussion on the pelagic phases 

 — little understood until recently — of the petrel's year. Only those 

 who have seen from a ship at sea the fragile-looking storm-petrel or 

 the long-winged shearwater or the more gull-like fulmar ride out a 

 whole winter gale can realise, and admire and respect fully, this 

 perfection of adaptation to the extreme conditions of environment. 

 The more savage the gale, in fact, the more easily do these graceful 

 birds seem to ride upon the salty air, and skim the heaving surface 

 of the sea with more perfect mastery. Sustained by the winds, they 

 are able to glide nearer to ships, and the human observer is able to 

 study them. But formerly the superstitious mariner regarded the 

 appearance of the small petrels close to the ship as an ill omen, accom- 

 panied as they were by storms. 



The perfection of oceanic flight is seen best among the largest 

 petrels, the true albatrosses, which, in the Atlantic, are confined 

 principally to the southern hemisphere and rarely wander north of 

 the equator. The structure of the very long slender wing of the alba- 

 tross, with its long humeral bones and strong rigid primaries, makes 

 normal wing-beating, such as that of the storm-petrel, difficult, and 

 progression is almost entirely by gliding. The flight of the shearwater 

 is similar. A considerable air-speed is a requisite of continuous gliding; 

 albatrosses and shearwaters overtake, sail and soar around a fast- 

 moving steamer without difficulty, and are seen to beat their wings 

 seldom, and chiefly when, turning or mounting, they stall and lose 

 momentum for a second or two. 



The observer sees that they are able to accompany a ship without 



