62 PROCELLARIIFORMES CHAP. 
surface, upon which they paddle to assist themselves. The 
Diving Petrels—and their allies to a limited extent—plunge 
through or beneath the billows, while all species may be noticed 
at times resting or swimming upon the water. Equally at home 
in storm or calm, they pass the greater part of their lives upon 
the ocean, and it seems impossible to doubt the fact that they 
sleep there also. Great difficulty is experienced in rising from 
a level surface, whether it be the deck of a ship or a grassy flat ; 
the birds scrambling along with flapping wings and_ occasional 
aid from the bill, until some shght dechvity or broken edge 
enables them to obtain a start. When taken from a nest in a 
burrow, they either drop to the ground like stones, or flutter off 
in a dazed condition, which lasts for several seconds, and renders 
them absolutely helpless. The cry is said in various cases to 
resemble a bray, a croak, a harsh cackle, a diabolical scream, a 
puppy’s whine, or a soft whistle, while the twittering or “ sing- 
ing” of Procellaria, Oceanodroma, and Oceanites in their holes is 
well known to those who have visited a Storm Petrel’s colony. 
The food consists of fish, crustaceans, cephalopods and other mol- 
luses, jellyfish, and the lke, Albatroses and Fulmars being said 
to force other species to part with their booty after the manner 
of Skuas, or even to devour nestlings. Herbage is rarely found 
in the stomach, but blubber of dead animals and scraps thrown 
from shipboard are eagerly swallowed, so that many of the 
largest forms are captured by concealing a hook in a piece of 
pork and trailing it in the water on a cork, when the bait 1s 
often greedily contested by every individual in the vicinity. 
Albatroses and other members of the Family which will take 
food from the surface of the sea descend upon it with elevated 
wings, to rise again with the morsel obtained, or to float upon 
the waves while enjoying it; Shearwaters commonly dash down 
with considerable impetus, and disappear after their prey for the 
moment; while the Diving Petrels procure their nourishment 
at a much greater depth. When handled, and perhaps especi- 
ally when taken from a nesting-hole, the birds bite severely, 
and eject a quantity of amber-coloured or greenish oil from the 
beak, followed as a rule by semi-digested food, the fluid possessing 
a strong smell of musk, which is also perceptible in the feathers 
and the eggs. The nest of the Albatros is usually a truncated 
cone or cylinder of mud, grass, leaves, and moss, with a shght 
