332 Colonel C. Swinhoe on 



the storm petrels, simply dried, and a string inserted for a wick, 

 the exceedingly fatty nature of the birds causing them to be 

 adaptable to this purpose. 



The following note, which I came across amongst some mis- 

 cellaneous jottings, bears out what at first seemed difficult to 

 believe: — "Dr. H. Labourne mentions a curious i)eculiarity of 

 the stormy petrel, which has caused it to be styled the lamp-bird 

 by the fishermen of the island of St. Kilda. The flesh of the 

 bird is very oily, and the inhabitants of the island, who kill it by 

 thousands, utilise this property for domestic purposes ; they 

 insert a wick in the bird's bill, and obtain for an hour a light 

 that is sufficiently bright to serve their purposes." 



For a long time 1 tried in vain to get any specimens to illus- 

 trate this curious use of the bird, nor could I hear of any one 

 who had so seen them in use. This was owing to the fact that 

 in nearly all the islands, if not in all, the practice has died out 

 in favour of a better lighting appliance. At length I met with 

 a native of the Orkneys who seemed well acquainted with the 

 islands, and, although he himself had never seen the birds in use, 

 he appeared to know of some older men who had, and he obtained 

 for me some of the birds which I now exhibit, showing how they 

 were used for giving light. 



My correspondent also furnished me with some curious par- 

 ticulars regarding these birds-, which he detailed in a very quaint 

 manner. One was that the petrel birds come on shore in July to 

 hatch, but are not seen at any other time. Another was that 

 when he got them for me he said " it was no joke to get them 

 petrels, as they have to be dug deep out of the earth." This 

 sounds a paradox, but it refers to the fact that the birds build 

 at the end of long burrows made in the loose earth capping the 

 rocks and cliffs. When sending the birds he remarked that he 

 had no time to insert a string, so I could do that myself; and he 

 further stated that the birds were alive in his possession, but 

 that he killed them before sending, as they were such perishable 

 things. 



99. — Mimicry in Nature. 



(A Lecture delivered by Colonel Charles Swinhoe, F.L.S., at the 

 Tublic Hall, Croydon, on Wednesday, March 18th, 1891.) 



The subject of this evening's lecture is Mimicry in Nature, by 

 which I mean the extraordinary resemblance Nature has brought 

 about in the course of ages, by very slow degrees, of a creature 

 to its surroundings, so that it may become hidden and lost to the 



