712 FULMAR. 



nesting have white under parts, and their young in first plumage 

 resemble them — as I pointed out in ' Yarrell,' vol. iv. p. 5, as long 

 ago as 1884; but northward, a form with greyish under parts is also 

 observed, and the two forms are distributed in a somewhat perplex- 

 ing manner. In Iceland— where the species is very common — tlie 

 grey race is said to predominate at Grimsey and in the north ; the 

 same is the case on the western side of Davis Strait and Baffin 

 Bay, though at Ovifak in Cireenland the light-breasted bird nests in 

 myriads ; round Spitsbergen both forms are numerous ; and one or 

 both are found on Novaya Zemlya and Franz-Josef Land, though 

 neither can be traced eastward of the Kara Sea. In Bering Sea 

 and the North Pacific again, we meet with a light and also a very dark 

 variety, which American ornithologists distinguish sub-specifically. 

 In winter the Fulmar has been met with about as far south as lat. 

 43° in European waters, while in America it is well known on the 

 fishing-banks off Massachusetts and Maine as the ' Noddy.' 



The single egg is laid on a ledge or in a slight excavation on the 

 grassy shelf of a lofty cliff; its shell — which is roughly granulated 

 and has a strong musky smell — is at first pure white, with occasion- 

 ally a few minute reddish-brown spots : average measurements 2 -g 

 by 2 in. Large numbers of birds are annually taken by the St. 

 Kildans, who make use of the clear amber-coloured oil which the bird 

 vomits on being seized, and with which it nourishes the young. The 

 Fulmar is a constant attendant on whalers, sealers tSic. — who know it 

 as the ' MoUimoke ' — in order to obtain fatty substances and animal 

 offal ; but I never saw it take any while on the wing, and it always 

 settles on the water to feed, like an Albatross. The pinions are 

 often flapped slowly in an owl-like manner, but in scudding they are 

 held very straight — a peculiarity by which it may easily be dis- 

 tinguished from a Gull at a distance. I have recently seen a 

 statement that the Fulmar " is supposed to be one of the most 

 numerous birds in the world "'; but I am not aware of any valid 

 foundation for this belief. 



The adult has the front part of the bill yellow, sides yellowish- 

 white, tubular ridge olive-colour ; mantle and tail grey, quills dusky ; 

 head, neck and under parts usually white in European specimens, 

 but of varying shades of grey — as already observed — in many 

 northern examples, some of these being occasionally obtained in the 

 British Islands; legs and feet ash-colour. Length 19 in.; wing 

 1 2 "5 in. The young bird is slightly smaller and has a darker bill; 

 that part is also darker in the grey form. 



