14 procellariidj:. 



" P. major is very well known to the Scillonians, by whom 

 it is called Hackholt. They inform me it is a constant 

 visitant in the latter part of autumn, and represent its 

 manners on the water as resembling those of P. anglorum. 

 I recollect seeing fotir last year, through a telescope in 

 Mount's Bay. It was late in the afternoon, the wind blowing 

 hard from S.S.W., which accounted for their being so far in- 

 shore ; they are generally deep-sea goers. They had exactly 

 the flight of P. anglorum, and kept so close to the water as 

 almost to skim the tops of the waves. Mr. Clement Jackson 

 told me last spring that they appear some autumns off Looe 

 and Polperro in thousands." 



Genuine examples of the Great Shearwater have been 

 taken on the coasts of Devonshire and Dorset ; but on our 

 eastern shores there appear to be but few well-authenticated 

 occurrences of this species. A bird shot on the 10th of 

 January, 1874, near Flamborough, is in the collection of 

 Mr. J. H. Gurney, jun. ; and one captured near Spalding, 

 in Lincolnshire, was forwarded alive to the Gardens of the 

 Zoological Society of London (Zool. 1882, p. 464). Mr. 

 Cordeaux informs the Editor that in September 1881, this 

 species passed Flamborough in considerable numbers. Mr. 

 R. Gray does not include the Great Shearwater in his * Birds 

 of the West of Scotland.' 



In Ireland the Great Shearwater was obtained by Mr. 

 R. Warren, near Downpatrick Head, on the 22nd August, 

 1859 ; and Mr. Robert Davis, jun., of Clonmel, sent the 

 Author notice and a coloured drawing of two birds taken 

 respectively in the autumns of 1838 and 1839. Mr. Davis 

 says, '* I kept the second specimen alive for about a week, 

 but, not having a suitable place for that purpose, killed it 

 and set it up. As well as I can recollect the former speci- 

 men, this resembled it in every respect. It was, however, 

 more lively, and ran along very rapidly, with the breast about 

 an inch and a half from the ground. Having, on one occa- 

 sion, put it on a roof, it seemed to be more at ease on the 

 inclined plane afforded by that situation, than on a flat sur- 

 face ; it mounted rapidly to the top, though when it came 



