22 OCEAN BIRDS. 



the Alert,' remarks that in the Pacific the Storm Petrels are in the habit of kicking the 

 water with one leg while skimming the surface in search of food. This we have doubtless 

 all observed. He then goes on to say that the Atlantic Storm Petrels " steady themselves 

 on the water with both legs together," instead of giving this one-legged kick. Perhaps 

 the interpretation of this is that they are two different birds, the Pacific Storm Petrel 

 being Wilson's Storm Petrel, and the Atlantic the common Stormy Petrel. It is almost 

 impossible to tell them apart, at any distance from the ship ; but, having the bird in your 

 hand, it is as impossible to confuse them together, from the fact of Wilson's having 

 yellow patches on the webs of the feet. The bird is thus defined by Yarrell : — " The 

 bill is black; the irides dark brown; the head, neck, back, wing-primaries, and the tail- 

 feathers dark brownish black ; greater wing-coverts and the secondaries dark rusty brown, 

 lighter in colour near the end, with the extreme edges and tips white ; upper tail-coverts 

 white ; chin, throat, breast, and all the under parts sooty black, except some of the under 

 tail-coverts, which are tipped with white ; legs long and slender, with the toes and their 

 membranes black, but with an oblong greyish yellow patch upon each web."' In Ornithology 

 this bird is the only representative of the genus Oceanites. Some collectors mention the 

 under tail-coverts black instead of white-tipped. My specimens have them quite white, 

 and Gould colours them so in his 'Birds of Australia.' 



The Forked-tailed Petrel {Cymochorea leucorrhoa). — All "Mother Careys" remind me 

 of Swallows, but this one particularly, by reason of its forked tail, by which it is always 

 to be recognised. Describing this bird Audubon says : — " The species of this genus, with 

 which I am acquainted, all ramble over the seas, both by night and by day, until the 

 breeding-season commences; then they remain in their burrows, under rocks, or in their 

 fissures, until towards sunset, when they start off in search of food, returning to their 

 mates or young in the morning, and then feeding them. When you pass close to the 

 rocks in which they are you can easily hear their shrill, querulous notes; but the report 

 of a gun silences them at once, and induces those on the ledges to betake themselves 

 to their holes. The Forked-tailed Petrel emits its notes night and day, and at not very 

 long intervals, although it is less noisy than Wilson's Petrel. They resemble the syllables 

 'peur-wit,' ' peur-wit.' Its flight difi'ers from that of the other two species, it being 

 performed in broader wheelings, and with firmer flappings. It is more shy than the 

 other species; and when it wheels off, after having approached the stern of a ship, its 

 wanderings are much more extended before it returns. I have never seen it fly close 

 around a vessel as the others are in the habit of doing, especially at the approach of 



