LARID®. 625 
at Weston-super-Mare, and specimens have been 
taken in all the neighbouring counties, even in those 
so far inland as Wilts and Gloucester. 
The food of this little Petrel consists chiefly of 
Mollusca, small fish and Crustacea, which it picks up 
amongst floating sea-weed, and of any greasy sub- 
stances which are found around fishing-boats or 
ships out at sea. 
The Forktailed Petrel breeds in sandy burrows 
or in holes in rocks. 
There is a peculiarity in the bill of this and of all 
the Petrels: extending part of the way along the 
base of the upper part of the upper mandible is a 
tube for the nostrils; from this tube the bird is said 
when wounded or angry to emit a nasty-smelling 
oily fluid. The bill is black; the irides dark brown ; 
nearly the whole of the plumage is sooty brown, ap- 
proaching to black in places, but growing paler on 
the wing-coverts and tertials—some of the feathers 
of these parts are only slightly edged with white; 
the upper tail-coverts are white; the primary quills 
are black; the tail is considerably forked and not 
quite so dark as the primary quills; the under tail- 
coverts are white on the sides, dark in the centre. 
This little bird is about the size of a Swift. 
The egg is white, of a roundish oval form, large 
for the size of the bird.* 
* Yarrell, vol. i., p. 673. 
